about the imam praying in the mihrab, knowing that the sutrah is far from him?
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The questioner : The sutrah in prayer... The imam prays facing a wall, and the worshippers are behind him. So the imam takes the place of... a full row, and those behind him have about two and a half meters or more between them and the wall. If there is no mihrab, or if there is a mihrab, the imam takes the place of his prostration inside the niche in the wall. Then, after the prayer, the voluntary prayer (sunnah) would be performed facing a real sutrah. Either, if he prays without a mihrab, they will have to move forward, and the whole mosque will have to move forward again after the prayer for the sunnah, and it will become a mess...
The Shaykh : So, in your opinion, we must deepen the mihrabs so that the imam is submerged in them...
The questioner : No, the mihrab takes...
The Shaykh : I know the mihrab you mean now, but the meaning of your words leads us to deepen the mihrab so that his standing position is with the wall to his right and to his left, in which case...
Another questioner: ... When he takes the passage from the wall and inside the mosque, the passage for the imam, the worshippers behind him still have space to take a sutrah...
Another questioner: Beautiful words...
The Shaykh : No, I think you have not visualized the issue as I want to say. At least, you gave the worshipper a sutrah of one and a half meters!
The questioner : ... .
The Shaykh : Well, one and a half meters does not require precision... an equation. The ratio here is approximate, not definitive. Precision is in the legal rulings, not in the hypotheticals. So you gave the worshipper one and a half meters.
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : Good. So if the wall is here, the first row needs one and a half meters between it and the wall. If you give the imam what you placed on the level of the wall, as I assume and said, then in that case, based on your suggestion and observation—because I do not consider it a suggestion, but an observation in any case—then in that case, you want to give the imam one and a half meters into the mihrab. By length, this is necessary. Otherwise, if he wants to move back, for example, we say that the mihrab is, for instance, one and a half meters. The second meter, he has to take it from the floor of the followers behind him. So if this is the wall and the mihrab, and here is this northern wall and this right one, the imam must, in order to be able to prostrate away from the sutrah by thirty centimeters as you say, have to go back half a meter. Because we gave every worshipper one and a half meters. The half meter, he takes it from the calculation of what? Those who pray behind him. So if you want to settle this issue truly, especially since you are an engineer, you must deepen what? The mihrab!
The questioner : ... .
The Shaykh : But allow me a moment, my lord. This whole problem is not applicable at all, especially if you remember with me where the minbar went, which cuts across the rows of the worshippers!
The questioner : This is a mistake.
The Shaykh : Good, a mistake. If this is a mistake, then the correct answer is: what is the correct answer? That if the minbar has three steps according to the Sunnah, the imam stands with the last step, and the wall is smooth with no mihrab at all. In that case, he does not bother the others. As for them wanting to move forward, that is not a problem, because you do not imagine that everyone will pray in rows? No, for example, one person goes to a pillar and another to... yes?
The questioner : ... .
The Shaykh : No problem, but those who move forward are taken as a sutrah... It is not necessary for you to imagine that those who want to pray the post-prayer or pre-prayer sunnah pray in rows like the congregation... It is not necessary to imagine this. We are the most eager people to pray with a sutrah, whether it is a person sitting or a person praying. But to impose on them that they take rows as they were praying behind the imam, this is not necessary at all. In fact, we also cut that this is contrary to the Sunnah. That is, obliging people to adhere to rows in their prayer for the pre-prayer and post-prayer sunnah is contrary to the Sunnah.
The Shaykh : So, in your opinion, we must deepen the mihrabs so that the imam is submerged in them...
The questioner : No, the mihrab takes...
The Shaykh : I know the mihrab you mean now, but the meaning of your words leads us to deepen the mihrab so that his standing position is with the wall to his right and to his left, in which case...
Another questioner: ... When he takes the passage from the wall and inside the mosque, the passage for the imam, the worshippers behind him still have space to take a sutrah...
Another questioner: Beautiful words...
The Shaykh : No, I think you have not visualized the issue as I want to say. At least, you gave the worshipper a sutrah of one and a half meters!
The questioner : ... .
The Shaykh : Well, one and a half meters does not require precision... an equation. The ratio here is approximate, not definitive. Precision is in the legal rulings, not in the hypotheticals. So you gave the worshipper one and a half meters.
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : Good. So if the wall is here, the first row needs one and a half meters between it and the wall. If you give the imam what you placed on the level of the wall, as I assume and said, then in that case, based on your suggestion and observation—because I do not consider it a suggestion, but an observation in any case—then in that case, you want to give the imam one and a half meters into the mihrab. By length, this is necessary. Otherwise, if he wants to move back, for example, we say that the mihrab is, for instance, one and a half meters. The second meter, he has to take it from the floor of the followers behind him. So if this is the wall and the mihrab, and here is this northern wall and this right one, the imam must, in order to be able to prostrate away from the sutrah by thirty centimeters as you say, have to go back half a meter. Because we gave every worshipper one and a half meters. The half meter, he takes it from the calculation of what? Those who pray behind him. So if you want to settle this issue truly, especially since you are an engineer, you must deepen what? The mihrab!
The questioner : ... .
The Shaykh : But allow me a moment, my lord. This whole problem is not applicable at all, especially if you remember with me where the minbar went, which cuts across the rows of the worshippers!
The questioner : This is a mistake.
The Shaykh : Good, a mistake. If this is a mistake, then the correct answer is: what is the correct answer? That if the minbar has three steps according to the Sunnah, the imam stands with the last step, and the wall is smooth with no mihrab at all. In that case, he does not bother the others. As for them wanting to move forward, that is not a problem, because you do not imagine that everyone will pray in rows? No, for example, one person goes to a pillar and another to... yes?
The questioner : ... .
The Shaykh : No problem, but those who move forward are taken as a sutrah... It is not necessary for you to imagine that those who want to pray the post-prayer or pre-prayer sunnah pray in rows like the congregation... It is not necessary to imagine this. We are the most eager people to pray with a sutrah, whether it is a person sitting or a person praying. But to impose on them that they take rows as they were praying behind the imam, this is not necessary at all. In fact, we also cut that this is contrary to the Sunnah. That is, obliging people to adhere to rows in their prayer for the pre-prayer and post-prayer sunnah is contrary to the Sunnah.