Is it permissible for a man to lead the people in the Ramadan night prayer while reading from the mushaf?

The questioner : A second question: Is it permissible for a man to lead the people in the Ramadan night prayer while reading from the mushaf?

The Shaykh : The scholars have differed on this issue since ancient times; some of them permitted it, and some of them disliked it. I align myself with those who disliked it for two reasons. The first reason.
And before this, so that I do not miss giving him advice, I direct it to this brother to make things easier for him: When he entered the gathering, he greeted every one of those sitting, saying "Peace be upon you," "Peace be upon you," "Peace be upon you," "Peace be upon you." That is tiring, and you say, "Peace be upon you," and by Allah, it relieves you; because when you say "Peace be upon you," it includes everyone. Therefore, this relieves you, if Allah wills.
We say, for two reasons:
The first reason is that it was not the practice of the Salaf; the righteous Salaf did not lead the people in the Ramadan night prayer with the mushafs in their hands, and this is very natural. Why? Look at how the results differ; because their imams were not like our imams. Their imams were scholars; they were preservers of the Book of Allah (Mighty and Majestic). Today, most of our imams are "unskilled," no offense intended, unskilled; because being an imam has become a job like any other job of the state. So it is supposed that the imam memorizes a large portion, if we do not say he memorizes the entire Qur'an from beginning to end; so that he memorizes a large portion of the words of Allah (Mighty and Majestic) so that he leads the people and they do not get bored of his recitation; because the nature of a person is boredom, and even if he is listening to the words of Allah, he gets bored. But when the imam varies it, every few days he hears what? A new verse, especially when he focuses his mind on what the imam is reciting, the benefit becomes double. So the first matter is because the righteous Salaf did not lead the people with the mushafs in their hands.
The second reason is understood implicitly: that if we open the door to permitting imams to lead the people from the mushaf, we divert the imams from caring about memorizing the Qur'an; knowing that memorizing the Qur'an is not an easy matter. And the Messenger (peace be upon him) pointed to this matter by saying: . You, O Arabs, do you know this statement that the Messenger (peace be upon him) said?

Another questioner: Yes.

The Shaykh : , thus the Qur'an slips from the chest of the memorizer unless he remains standing over it with memorization. People today seek ease. When you tell people to read from the mushaf, you have relieved them, and this is not among the objectives of the Shari'ah. The objectives of the Shari'ah are that you encourage them to care, as he (peace be upon him) said: . Understood. What does it mean? The scholars interpreted it in two ways; the first way : meaning: be content with it so that you do not seek by it the reward of this world without the Hereafter, as some reciters do today, unfortunately; where they are invited on the occasion of deaths and funerals, the famous reciter or the famous qari is invited, and he agrees with them on a specified wage to read for them—for example—Surah Yasin for the soul of the deceased, and according to the length of the recitation is the length of the wage; because it has become a trade. This is what the Messenger (peace be upon him) pointed to turning away from by saying: ; meaning: be content with the recitation of the Qur'an instead of obtaining the reward of this world.
The second meaning, and it is a meaning I say is very sound; ; meaning as he (peace be upon him) said in another hadith: , and more authentic than that is his saying (peace be upon him): , and another hadith:
So singing with the Qur'an is a very desirable matter, but the intention with this singing in this second meaning is not that we read the Qur'an on musical scales and Western laws; this is something we should elevate the Qur'an above, because it is the words of Allah (Mighty and Majestic). Rather, the Qur'an should be read as he (peace and blessings be upon him)—or as he (peace be upon him)—said: . The best of people in recitation is the one when you hear him reciting the Qur'an, you think that he fears Allah.
As for this melodic modulation, this rising and falling, and that intonation that some reciters follow: Allah, may Allah increase you in such, O Allah send blessings upon the Prophet, from the shouting and wailing; this is never of the proper conduct in the recitation of the Noble Qur'an. Rather, it is obligatory for the listeners to pay attention to what is recited to them from the Book of Allah and to reflect upon it. As for this shouting and wailing, it diverts them from paying attention to what is recited to them from the words of Allah (Blessed and Exalted is He).
So the point is that his saying (peace be upon him): is interpreted with two meanings; . For this and that, we do not see the legitimacy of reading in the Ramadan night prayer specifically from the mushaf.
In some ...