The Shaykh’s (may Allah have mercy on him) detailed explanation of the characteristics of the imam whom the ma'mum must follow in all their prayers.

The Shaykh : Here, this hadith leads us to some detail required by the previous generalization. So I say: Before I proceed, let me remind you that this hadith: came in a correct wording that is more eloquent in its indication. He said: Do not differ with him. If the imam does not raise his hands, I raise mine; this is differing with him. If the imam does not sit for the rest, I sit; I lag behind him, and so on. Judge by this: if the imam places his hands here and I place them there, I am contradicting him. So I say: The Hanafi imam places them here, and I intend to follow him, and so on. This is the rule. But I said, so I will say something that clarifies what I generalized earlier. I say: The principle is this. I entered a mosque and did not know its imam, but it became clear to me, either at that moment or before, that he contradicts the Sunnah by which Allah has made us religious. For example, as was the case in the discussion, he does not sit for the rest, but I know that this imam is one of two types: an excellent imam who loves the Sunnah, but he is not convinced, like most of the Hanbalis you see, that this is a Sunnah of prayer. Rather, as Ibn al-Qayyim (may Allah have mercy on him) said in *Zad al-Ma'ad*, that the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) was heavy, yes, so he was heavy. And this is one of the worst things to say, that he was heavy, even though the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) . They attributed the rest, which has no refutation and no room for refutation, to the fact that this is not from the Sunnahs of prayer, but because the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) was heavy and his body was heavy, so he would lean and rise like this. What do we say about Imam Ibn al-Qayyim? Is he ignorant? Far be it from Allah! But this is his personal conviction. Well, there are scholars who follow him in this. So this is the one who is followed and not contradicted. As for a man who is fanatical about the madhhab, and the Sunnah becomes clear to him, and this Sunnah becomes clear to him, but he is fanatical about the madhhab over the Sunnah. He does not say, "By Allah, this did not appear to me, and I see as Ibn al-Qayyim and others said," and so on. So here, the difference is: if we know that he is convinced like this, we follow him, even if he is following an error. As for the one from whom we know that he is fanatical against the Sunnah and contrary to the Sunnah, we give him no weight; we contradict him and give him no weight. I think an imam from these four imams, and they differ even in prayer. Well, Imam Abu Hanifah stands and prays as an imam and places his hands below the navel, so I cannot say he is ignorant, and I cannot say he is fanatical. And Abu Yusuf and Muhammad ibn al-Hasan and Imam Zufar, and whatever you want, until we reach this time. So if a man is a scholar and is convinced that this is the Sunnah, we follow him. But if it becomes clear to us, as we see in some imams of mosques, that they are fanatical against the Sunnah, then these have no sanctity, because we made them have sanctity by following their imams. Ah, but if it becomes clear that they follow them, preferring their following over the Sunnah, then they have no value. I mention, and you know without doubt, that I said in the description of prayer that placing the hands after standing is a religious innovation; the placement is a religious innovation. But I remember once I prayed behind Ibn Baz, or more than once, but I remember once, so I placed my hands after standing, even though I described it as not being from the Sunnah, because I saw that the one in front of me was not like these imitators, ignorants, and fanatics, and so on. So I did like his action, and so I do. But these are rare. Keep in mind that these are rare, because most imams are ignorant and fanatical, and so on. So on this basis, we take it as a rule that we follow the imam in his prayer, even if he is mistaken in his view, but he must be excused; he must be excused in my view for this error. But if he is fanatical against the Sunnah, I give him no weight.

The questioner : And how does it become clear to us?

The Shaykh : This is by experience, that yes, this is by experience, yes.

The questioner : And if, for example, he is a follower of one of the imams, what do we say about this?

The Shaykh : You follow him out of respect for the imam, because this person is excused. I consider him excused, or not excused, and the excuse differs from person to person. Ah, I told you earlier regarding the scholar imam, he is excused. I gave you an example with Abu Hanifah and the students, then I reversed it with some of the fanatics. Now, regarding the common people, these are also excused, yes, these are also excused, because we cannot say to them, "Exert independent legal reasoning and know the Sunnah, and the Sunnah is like this," because no matter how knowledgeable you are in your field, this man does not know. So he is excused in following his imam. The important thing is that the issue revolves, as is said in the principles, "The ruling revolves with the cause in existence and absence." So the cause here is the excuse. His excuse may be that he is a scholar who is not convinced by the view, or his excuse may be that he is not a scholar.