The Shaykh’s mention of an incident that happened to him in one of the mosques of Damascus when he was brought forward to lead the Fajr prayer, and his words on the harms of breaking the row with the minbar and the like.

The Shaykh : I have mentioned this to you before, and I am mentioning it to you briefly because of the lesson in it. I was once brought forward to lead the Fajr prayer in the Upper Madiya Mosque, which is one of the old mosques with a minbar that breaks the row. It was the morning of Friday. When they brought me forward, I did not have Surat al-Sajdah memorized in its entirety. First, I did not have it memorized, and second, I hold the view that people should be alerted that maintaining the recitation of Surat al-Sajdah constantly and forever, even though it is a recommended practice, is not obligatory. So, I started with Surat Keif, and I read what Allah (Mighty and Majestic) made easy for me. When I bowed, everyone prostrated; it was their habit. The habit overcame them that the first takbir in the Fajr of Friday is for prostration, so they all prostrated. Those behind me felt that I was bowing and not prostrating, so they corrected their situation and joined me in bowing. As for those behind the minbar, they were prostrating, what Allah willed! [Everyone laughs!] Until they heard me say: , and there the chaos and "commotion" began. I don't know what they said: "ignorant" or such, may Allah know, meaning. After the prayer, we prayed with the congregation, and those people no longer knew what to do, poor things. I sat and admonished them and reminded them: "O people, are you Arabs or non-Arabs? If you are accustomed to the imam reciting for you Surat , do you not distinguish between and what Allah inspired me to say for a wisdom I am stating: ? Do you not distinguish between this and that? If this had happened in the lands of the non-Arabs, it would have been common; so how are you Arabs? But it appears that you are busy with the crops, the milk, the cattle, and the like."
The point is: all of this is among the harms of what? The minbar. Because the group that was directly behind me was able to correct the situation, but those did not feel anything until they heard: and so on, so their prayer became invalid. This is among the ill omens of contradicting the Sunnah.
And it may not enter the mind of many people, especially those who are new to connecting with the Sunnah. They say to you: "My brother, what is the problem if it is three steps or six steps?" You do not know what the problem is, but what was legislated based on the action of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) and his saying when he ordered a carpenter to make him a minbar, he made it for him with three steps. This is the recommendation of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) without doubt. Why? Because the goal of the minbar is the visibility of the person, and three steps are sufficient and blessed. Then it should not break the rows; three steps do not break the rows. This has been tested in some mosques where the people hold fast to the Sunnah. So, contradicting the Sunnah is always an ill omen and harm, but one may feel it who has a sense of the importance of the Sunnah, and one may not feel it whose mind and knowledge have become numb to what he found the people doing. For this reason, I say: one of the characteristics of the Sunni mosque is that its minbar is three steps like the minbar of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) first, and second, that it is in the middle of the mosque and not taken to the side of the mosque. This is another religious innovation! And the people have become today like the men of law who make laws from themselves, haphazardly sticking things together, not knowing if this is correct or not. Therefore, days come quickly and soon when they change their opinion in the law, changing their opinions in the constitutions. What is your opinion? The constitutions that are supposed to remain as they are, not changed or replaced, are being changed and replaced. Why? Because they are not a revelation from the Wise, the Praiseworthy.
The Muslims, unfortunately, the later generations do this. So their religion is under experiment. They put these long minbars that break the rows for hundreds of years. Finally, they woke up from their slumber and heedlessness. So they noticed: what is the benefit of breaking this row? They should have taken it to the side, the left or the right. Good. For what purpose, my brother? Do you not follow the Sunnah? The best of guidance is the guidance of Muhammad. There is no doubt that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) used to maintain this phrase: . So it is no surprise that we adhere to it constantly and forever, hoping that these heedless sleepers will wake up to this day, constantly, and he says: . And they know that the minbar of Muhammad was three steps. So they are not convinced by this except by experiments.
The last experiment, my lord, is not in the middle or in the corner there, but from above. It comes out from here and here, from above, exactly in the manner of the churches. So it is as if the mosques today have had applied to them the report of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) who speaks about Allah: . While the minbar with three steps achieves the purpose and does not impose this cost, and there is no showing off or boasting in it. And thus the Muslims live in experiments, and their religion is clear and evident, as he (peace and blessings be upon him) said: .
We ask Allah (Mighty and Majestic) to keep us alive upon the Sunnah, and to cause us to die upon it, and peace be upon you and the mercy of Allah.