If the imam stands up for the fifth rak'ah in a state of forgetfulness, do we follow him or not? And what is the fatwa of the Shaykh al-Islam on this matter?

The questioner : All right, Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah (may Allah have mercy on him) issued a fatwa in his *Majmu' al-Fatawa* that if the imam stands up for the fifth rak'ah, the followers should not follow him. Does this contradict the hadith of Ibn Mas'ud in the two Sahihs that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) prayed the Dhuhr prayer with five rak'ahs?

The Shaykh : I have no doubt about that, and we know that many scholars issue this opinion. We hope to hear evidence for this opinion so that we can weigh it, but as far as I know, we have not found any evidence for it. On the contrary, we found the opposite, which is what you pointed out regarding the hadith of Abdullah ibn Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him). Nevertheless, I know that some of those who hold that opinion interpret the hadith of Ibn Mas'ud. It is perhaps appropriate to remind those present of the hadith of Ibn Mas'ud so that the matter becomes clear to them, because the question was general. The hadith of Ibn Mas'ud, as in the two Sahihs, states that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) prayed the Dhuhr prayer with his companions one day and prayed five rak'ahs with them. When he finished the prayer, they said, "O Messenger of Allah, did you add to the prayer?" He said: They said, "You prayed five rak'ahs." So the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) prostrated the two prostrations of forgetfulness, then finished the prayer, and then he (peace and blessings be upon him) said: . The story ends here. Those who say that if the imam stands up for the fifth rak'ah, he should not be followed, say that this incident occurred at a time when the legislation had not yet been completed. We say, in response to this objection or this answer, that if that were the case, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) would have clarified the ruling on this issue if it occurred after the completion of legislation, that is, after the revelation of the saying of Allah the Exalted: . However, since the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) died and ascended to the highest companion without bringing anything new to modify what his companions did with him (peace and blessings be upon him), the answer we quoted earlier from those people is rejected and refuted. This is especially true because we have a general evidence in which the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) commands us to follow the imam completely and totally, and it is not our concern whether he was right or wrong. That is his saying (peace and blessings be upon him): , and in another narration: . The full hadith is well known: . We observe in this hadith that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) made the completion of following the imam consist of the follower leaving what he is originally required to fulfill, otherwise his prayer would be invalid. That is standing, for the one who is able to stand. We found that the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) in this authentic hadith dropped this pillar for the one who is able to perform it, for nothing other than to achieve complete imitation of his imam and not to appear to oppose him. Since that is the case, we take from this a very great warning: if the imam stands up for the fifth rak'ah in a state of forgetfulness, why do we say we do not follow him? Because they return to the principle that whoever stands up for the fifth rak'ah while remembering has invalidated his prayer. This is because, as they say in some countries, "the extra is the brother of the deficient." So whoever prays Maghrib with two rak'ahs intentionally, his prayer is invalid; whoever prays Fajr with three rak'ahs intentionally, his prayer is invalid; and whoever prays the four-rak'ah prayer with five, his prayer is also invalid. They say that if the imam stands up for the fifth rak'ah in a state of forgetfulness and the follower is remembering, he should not follow him. We say, no, rather he should follow him after reminding him and opening the matter to him, as is the Sunnah. If the imam does not realize that he is in the fifth rak'ah, he naturally should not return. We should follow him, just as we followed him in what we left of the pillars of prayer. Leaving a pillar of the prayer invalidates the prayer, and standing up for the fifth rak'ah intentionally also invalidates the prayer. But the one who removed the invalidity in the first case or scenario is the one who removes the invalidity in the other case as well. Therefore, with our respect and appreciation for our imam, Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah, we say frankly that we are not Taymiyyis. If we wanted to be Taymiyyis, I personally would be a Hanafi, especially since my fathers and grandfathers were also followers of a specific school. But since we were reminded by the grace of the Sunnah that it is not obligatory, rather it is not permissible, for a Muslim to prefer the saying of anyone over what came in the Book and the Sunnah, we leave the opinion of Ibn Taymiyyah to him, believing that he is rewarded in any case. But it is not permissible for us in any way to imitate him and turn away from the legal evidence to some of which we drew attention earlier. This is all I have, and may Allah reward you.
Al-Huwaini: May Allah bless you.