Does the follower follow the imam in all his actions, even in leaving the sunnahs established from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him)?

The questioner : May I ask you, Abu Layla, about your fatwa to us regarding following the imam, based on the saying of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him): to the end of the hadith. You issued a fatwa for us and asked us to follow the imam in all his actions, even if he recites the qunut with the innovated qunut, that we should recite it with him. So, by analogy, if an imam who is rigidly attached to the Maliki school prays with us and lets his arms hang down, do we do the same as him?

The Shaykh : Yes, the rule is general, and it has no specification except within the limits of the guidelines we mention, which are: if this imam is applying what he worships Allah with, we follow him, whether he contradicts the Sunnah or agrees with the Sunnah. But if he is an imam who contradicts the school of jurisprudence that agrees with the Sunnah, and he leaves the Sunnah to keep pace with people, for example: an imam of the Shafi'i school who recites the Basmala aloud, does not raise his hands when bowing and when rising from it, and does not sit in the tawruk position in prayer, we contradict him because he does not do that out of religious conviction or creed, but rather out of laziness and negligence, or out of keeping pace with people. This is unlike, for example, if we followed a Hanafi who does not raise his hands, because he considers raising the hands to be disliked, and disliked to the extent of being forbidden, so we do not raise our hands. Finally, we arrive at your example: a Maliki who lets his arms hang down. If he does that out of personal conviction, then the rule applies. But there are people who first follow their school of jurisprudence which they are convinced of, whether they are excused or not, and that is their account with Allah. Second, he may have an opinion and independent legal reasoning. For example, if I pray behind an imam whom I believe is a scholar qualified to derive rulings and he places his hands after bowing, I do the same as him, even though when I pray for myself or as an imam I do not do that. But when the general people have no school of jurisprudence, I do not do as they do, because they have no opinion. So, the rule can be defined by the following: First, he does it out of creed, meaning out of religious conviction, this is his school of jurisprudence, and this is what he sees, and we cannot burden all people to become scholars qualified to derive rulings or followers of the Sunnah, because not everyone is given the environment that explains the Sunnah to them. Another final point: the one who lets his arms hang down, for example, has never heard the hadiths, and the proof has not been established against him, so we follow him. But if the proof is established against him by explaining the Sunnah, and it is our strong suspicion that he is a man who is rigidly attached to his school of jurisprudence against the Sunnah, then we also do not follow him. Is that clear?

The questioner : It is clear. The answer may be simple, if Allah wills.

The Shaykh : Please, go ahead. Yes.