Explaining the recommended practice of the resting sitting after the second prostration and before standing up.

The student : ...Is it better for a person to ... sit for the resting sitting, or to follow the people ...

The Shaykh : Ah, there is no doubt that this resting sitting is a confirmed Sunnah; but you must look into the issue regarding the worshipper who is keen to revive the Sunnah of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), and not regarding someone next to him who does not do it or does do it, that is a separate matter we do not discuss here; rather, it should be ... the resting sitting is a confirmed Sunnah because the Companions who transmitted to us the description of the Prophet's (peace and blessings be upon him) prayer mentioned the resting sitting as part of the description of the Prophet's (peace and blessings be upon him) prayer. It came in the hadith of Malik ibn al-Huwayris that "the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), when he was in an odd number of his prayer, would not stand up ... then he would stand up placing his hands on the ground." Similarly, this sitting came in the hadith of Abu Humayd al-Sa'idi. Abu Humayd al-Sa'idi was in a gathering one day, and there were about ten of the Companions of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) present. He said to them: "Shall I not pray for you the prayer of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him)?" They said: "You are not the most knowledgeable of us about his prayer," meaning ... they said, what is the difference between us and you? You were with the Messenger, and we were with him too. He said: "Yes." They said: "Then show us so we can see." He then described the prayer of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) as he had seen the Messenger perform it, including his mention of this resting sitting. Their response was to acknowledge his precise care in preserving the Sunnah regarding prayer. They said to him: "You have spoken the truth; this was how the prayer of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) was." Unfortunately, this description was not adopted by the well-known and followed imams among the majority of Muslims, such as Abu Hanifa, for example, and the Imam ... He raised an objection or a doubt regarding this sitting, while acknowledging its authenticity from the Messenger (peace be upon him). The doubt he raised was that perhaps he did it out of need, and when the Messenger became old, meaning when the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) aged, the Companions of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) saw him doing this, and one of them, Abu Humayd al-Sa'idi, seemed to be challenging them in the previous hadith; then they had no choice but to say to him
The Shaykh: "You have spoken the truth; this was how the prayer of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) was." If you want to say that this sitting is not part of the description of the Messenger's prayer, but that he did it because he was old, meaning because his body was heavy, meaning because he needed it, while you, O young people, do not need it, so do not do it; how could this matter and this reality be hidden if it were ... based on eyewitnesses from the noble Companions of the Messenger? This is far from the truth. Therefore, Imam al-Nawawi (may Allah have mercy on him), among his virtues, is that he emphasizes in his great and truly magnificent book, "al-Majmu' Sharh al-Muhadhdhab," that he advises the worshipper to maintain this sitting, for it is authentic and established from a group of the Companions of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), and this ... yes?
The student : The resting sitting before standing up?

The Shaykh : Yes, he does not stand up immediately. The worshipper does this sitting if he prays alone or prays as an imam. Then, if he prays as a follower behind an imam who does not sit for the resting sitting, he follows him. And this is what I intended to clarify.
The student : Following the imam ... does he not know whether he does it or not?

The Shaykh : If I said "perhaps he does not know," the expression would be correct, but "he does not know"?
The student : Perhaps ...

The Shaykh : And that is why I told you "perhaps he does not know."
The student : But he must know; ... because one day he will be near him and will know the description of his prayer, that he prays like this, and he will base his action on whether he sits for the resting sitting or not.

The Shaykh : Yes, look, may Allah reward you. Let us give a very clear example. You must have prayed once or more behind an imam and seen him sit for the resting sitting, and you have prayed hundreds of prayers away from him where you do not see him. You see him and you do not see him. In this prayer where you are praying away from him, you see him, and you do not see him. That is, you see him with the eye of the heart, not with the physical eye; because you learned from the previous days when you were able to pray behind him that he does the resting sitting. So, if you pray in the last rows, you should do what he does because you know that he performs this Sunnah. Therefore, this doubt is not a problem. It is said to a person: do what you know. Do what you know. If you know that this imam sits for this sitting, do it. And if you know that he does not do it, follow him. The third scenario is, and I do not know whether this imam does the resting sitting or not, because I have not seen him in previous days, I have not seen him. In that case, maintain the Sunnah until it becomes clear to you that he does not do it, so that you do not lose the obligation of following the imam.
The student : And the same thing applies.

The Shaykh : Everything, yes.
The student : ... one topic ...

The Shaykh : Your saying "one topic" is good news ...