Does the command to follow the imam require following him when he lowers his hands and when he sits for the rest, and the like?

The questioner : The questioner says: In the hadith: Is it the same ruling regarding following him if he lowers his hands and does not sit for the rest?

The Shaykh : The Shaykh says: That is the case, but some detail is necessary. The intent of this hadith is very clear, and the explanation of the intent came in some of its narrations; namely, his saying (peace and blessings be upon him): The intent of this hadith is that the unity of the Muslims should be apparent in this great pillar, which is prayer. So they do not contradict the imam if the imam has an opinion; they follow him in it when they pray behind him. And at that point, the following detail applies:
Whoever lowers his hands believing that this is the sunnah (recommended practice) is followed in that. As for the one who does not place them [at his sides] and lowers them out of negligence and laziness, he is not followed. And on this basis, all the postures are measured in which some imams may differ in something, such as the sitting for the rest, or raising the hands, or placing the hands on the chest. All these postures: if the imam differs in them believing that this is the sunnah (recommended practice), he is followed in that. But if he is negligent, he is not followed. We see, for example, many of the imams of mosques in some Arab countries; we know about him that he is of the Shafi'i school of jurisprudence. The Shafi'is, all of them, following their imam, hit upon the sunnah (recommended practice) when they went to the legitimacy of raising the hands at the bowing and when rising from it. But they do not raise them. Also, it is the sunnah (recommended practice) with them to sit for the rest, but they do not rest. Why? Because they do not care about performing the sunnahs (recommended practices). Whoever is of this description in his leaving of the sunnahs (recommended practices) is not following what he believes to be correct, but rather negligence and laziness. So here, he is not followed. Because the original principle in that is respecting his opinion, or respecting the opinion of his imam whom he followed and was convinced that he is correct in what he does. So whoever does something of the matters that contradicts the opinion of the one following him, the one following him must follow him, except if the imam is neglecting the doing of that and it is not from his following of his imam.
And this is a discussion that is long in reality, but I want to draw the attention of some people who are surprised by following the imam while they know that he may have erred. Who among us does not follow the imam if he forgets the middle tashahhud (testification) and stands up for the third rak'ah (unit of prayer)? Everyone who is behind him believes that he erred when he stood up for the third rak'ah (unit of prayer) and left the tashahhud (testification). So his leaving of the tashahhud (testification), if it is intentional, is a sin. And this is not conceivable to come from an imam, and it did not happen in the past nor in the present. But if it is from error and forgetfulness, it is necessary to follow him, as the explicit text came regarding that from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family).
And on this, the appearance of the form of prayer behind this imam with one appearance is, in fact, what makes the Muslims draw closer to one another, and the sectarian fanaticism that was once a cause for counting the imams in the same mosque and the Muslim's lagging behind in following the Muslim imam for nothing other than that he differs from him in the school of jurisprudence, goes away from them.
And how good— I say finally— how good is what the imam Abu Dawud narrated in his "Sunan" from Abdullah ibn Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) that when he prayed in the time of Uthman behind Uthman in Mina, Uthman prayed four [rak'ahs]. And all of them knew that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) in the Farewell Pilgrimage only prayed shortened [prayer] of two [rak'ahs]. But Uthman, for some reason—and we are not now in the position of explaining that—prayed four, completing it. And some of the Companions denied that to him, among them Abdullah ibn Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him). So some of his companions were amazed from him, where they saw him praying four [rak'ahs]. So it was said to him: How is that, and you mention that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) prayed two [rak'ahs] shortened? His answer—and this is the point of the poem—was: "Disagreement is evil." That is: contradicting the imam in the manner of his prayer is evil. So the one following must relinquish his personal opinion when he prays behind that imam. Then if he prays alone, or prays with people as an imam, he brings the sunnahs (recommended practices) that he sees as established sunnah (recommended practice) from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family).
Yes.