Does the follower follow the imam in prayer even if he deviates from the Sunnah, such as reciting the qunut in the Fajr prayer?

The Shaykh : The imam recited the qunut in the Fajr prayer and raised his hands. The follower’s habit was to recite the qunut in his Fajr prayer. So, is the follower required to raise his hands and follow the imam in the raising?

The Shaykh : Yes, if the imam does that as a matter of religious conviction and not out of stubbornness or partisanship, he should be followed.
The student : It is obligatory to follow him.

The Shaykh : Yes, based on the previous hadith. In fact, this issue has a degree of precision. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), in the previous hadith where we mentioned its beginning, said: . This hadith is a very significant text regarding the obligation of the worshipper to follow the imam, even if it requires him to leave an obligatory pillar. It is not just a pillar that is not obligatory, nor a pillar or a Sunnah. Because we all know that among the pillars of prayer, without which the prayer is not valid, is standing, as Allah the Exalted said: . If a man prays the obligatory prayer while sitting, and he is able to stand, his prayer is invalid, unlike the voluntary prayer. The Lawgiver has permitted praying the voluntary prayer while sitting, but He made its reward half of the reward of the standing prayer. As for sitting in the obligatory prayer without illness or excuse, the prayer is invalid. Nevertheless, if the imam prays sitting due to illness, those behind him, even if they are all healthy, must pray sitting with him to realize this general principle: . The context of this hadith is that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) was one day riding a mount when he fell off and was injured in his ankle, his arm, and his shoulder. The time for the Zuhr prayer came, and he prayed with them while sitting due to the severity of the shock. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) was unable to pray standing. He noticed that the people behind him were praying standing, because that is what is originally required. It is customary that they always pray behind him (peace and blessings be upon him) standing. So he gestured to them while in prayer to sit, and they sat. When he finished the prayer, he (peace and blessings be upon him) said: . To the end of the hadith. So we observe here that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) ordered his strong, healthy companions to sit because he was sitting. He was unable to stand, so he was excused. But the followers were able to stand. However, the wise Lawgiver considered them excused for not praying standing, in order to follow the imam who is praying sitting while excused. For this reason, we say that when the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) mentioned his saying: , this was not by way of limiting the completion to that, but rather by way of illustration. There is a difference between it being a limitation and it being an illustration, meaning as examples mentioned by the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) to affirm the principle: .
And we know, for example, that if an imam forgets the first tashahhud and stands up, some of the followers must alert him by saying "Subhan Allah" (Glory be to Allah). If he remembers, he returns to it. This is subject to details, which I may mention soon. If he does not remember, he continues standing. In this case, the tashahhud, the sitting for the tashahhud, and the recitation of the tashahhud were left out by mistake. We follow him in this mistake because he is excused. And so it is with all the disputed issues that have occurred among imams. If the imam is praying a prayer in which he deviates from the Sunnah, but he believes he is following the Sunnah, we do not contradict him. But as we said earlier, if he leaves the Sunnah out of negligence, then following him is not applicable here, because there is no follower of the Sunnah and no follower of the imam. Here we contradict him because he deviated from the Sunnah and deviated from his imam. He is negligent and lazy, and not excused. So the rule is: in what is excused regarding deviation, follow him; otherwise, do not. In the name of Allah.
The student : The prostration in the Friday morning... If you can’t, sit, let us...

The Shaykh : ... .
The student : There were people... who would recite the prostration verse and not complete it... and then prostrate.

The Shaykh : Glory be to Allah! How have people deviated from the Sunnah and imposed their minds on the rulings they imagine... The prostration verse and nothing else, while the importance lies in the entire surah and the admonition and reminder of the Resurrection and the rising therein, and the like. So it never suffices or is enough to recite the prostration verse without the entire surah.