If the imam prays sitting down due to an ailment, should we pray sitting behind him?

The questioner : The Shaykh: Sometimes the imam prays, for example, half-sitting in the tashahhud or half-bowing because of his illness or an ailment. Do the ma'mums have to follow him in that sudden movement, I mean?

The Shaykh : If they are able to, it is obligatory for them, based on his saying (peace and blessings be upon him): This is a very clear command, and there is nothing here that might cause hesitation in the mind of some scholars or some students of knowledge, based on what is mentioned in some books of scholars that this hadith is abrogated. Some of them say that this is abrogated. By what was it abrogated? They said it was abrogated by the prayer of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) in his deathbed illness, where he prayed sitting and his Companions stood behind him. The answer to this is from two aspects, and I believe this is important knowledge for our brothers, the students of knowledge, to know.
The first aspect is that the original rule is that if his action (peace and blessings be upon him) conflicts with his statement, it is not permissible to resort to the abrogation of the statement by the action. Rather, the first stage is to reconcile and combine the statement and the action, whether the statement is a command and the action is contrary to it, or the statement is a prohibition and the action is contrary to it. It is not befitting for a scholar to abrogate the commanding or prohibiting statement by his action (peace and blessings be upon him) that is contrary to it. No, rather, before anything else, one should attempt to reconcile the statement and the action. If the reconciliation between them conflicts and the scholar is unable to achieve this reconciliation, then it is necessary to claim abrogation in one of them. It is not necessary to say that the statement is the abrogator of the action, or that the action is the abrogator of the statement. Rather, the matter is shared between the two according to the surrounding evidence of the issue in which the verbal hadith and the practical hadith conflict. This is the first point.
And secondly, if we reach the conflict, then it is necessary to seek the earlier of the two. If the earlier one is the action, then his statement (peace and blessings be upon him) is the abrogator of it. If the earlier one is the statement and the action is the later one, and reconciliation is possible as we said in the first possibility, then reconciliation is obligatory. Our hadith here can be resolved by both aspects. The first aspect is that the action—excuse me—that the command in its general form implies obligation. So his saying If we assume that his action (peace and blessings be upon him), i.e., in his deathbed illness (peace and blessings be upon him and his family), was the last thing, then it is not permissible for us to say that this abrogates the command. Rather, we say it abrogates the obligation, because there is no conflict between a permissible action and a recommended command, because it is permissible to do it and permissible to leave it. So the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) here indicated by leaving this command, which is originally obligatory, that this command is not for obligation but for recommendation. But if it is the opposite, completely, then in that case the action here is the abrogated one, and the command remains in its general form, which is obligation. Keep what you have, for it was reported in a correct mursal hadith from Tawus, one of the great Tabi'un who met many of the Companions, that he narrated from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) regarding an incident in this same incident that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) said to them: If this is the case, it is more likely that the action is the abrogated one and not the statement. One last thing, and this is very important. We benefited from the words of Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah (may Allah have mercy on him). And I say this first in the context of verifying a word for the people of knowledge: "One of the blessings of knowledge is attributing every statement to its speaker." This is the first point. And secondly, to teach you, O brothers sitting here, that no one of you should issue a fatwa independently if he is not qualified for it, but rather he should say, "I heard so-and-so and so-and-so from the people of knowledge say such-and-such," so that he does not raise his head and Satan greets him saying, "You have become one of the people of knowledge and one of the people of fatwa." "One of the blessings of knowledge is attributing every statement to its speaker." For this reason and that, I mention that I benefited from what follows from the words of Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah. And this is mentioned because it is from the pearls of knowledge and its rarities. Otherwise, all the knowledge we benefit from, we benefit it from whom? From those who preceded us among the scholars. But if one of us wanted to say, "I benefited this from so-and-so," it would mean the session would be spent talking about whom we benefited from. So here we have an excuse not to attribute every statement to its speaker if it is a known, common matter. But if it is a rare, obscure matter like what I will say quoting Ibn Taymiyyah, because its rarity and obscurity honor the speaker, and in that case, it is not permissible for me to raise my status and position with the knowledge of another, because I would be, God forbid, among those who fall under the generality of his saying (peace and blessings be upon him): I say that Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah (may Allah have mercy on him) mentioned, in the context of his refutation of those who go to the abrogation of the previously mentioned verbal hadith, that this is not possible. Why? Because his saying (peace and blessings be upon him): has a cause. This cause, as it came in *Sahih Muslim* from the hadith of Jabir ibn 'Abd Allah al-Ansari (may Allah be pleased with him), that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) said: This is the cause of the arrival of the previous hadith. And he mentioned the hadith and said at its end, as you heard: Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah (may Allah have mercy on him) says, "A ruling like this, which is tied to a cause—the cause of imitating the disbelievers—this cause cannot be said to be abrogated, for it is a cause that lasts until the Day of Resurrection. Therefore, it cannot be said that the command to sit, which is caused by avoiding imitating the disbelievers, is abrogated. Rather, it is possible to modify this command, which implies, as we always and forever say, obligation in its origin. It is said that the obligation is what was abrogated. And do not forget this with me. If we assume that it is established with us that this action was after that command, but if that is not the case, then his saying (peace and blessings be upon him): remains on its apparent meaning, first of all, i.e., the command, and its implementation and perfection until the Day they are resurrected." This is what I wanted to clarify on this occasion.
The Shaykh: May Allah help you. Welcome, and peace be upon you. May Allah help you, and peace be upon you and the mercy of Allah.