What is the ruling on following an imam who recites qunut in the Fajr prayer?
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The questioner : An imam who recites qunut in the Fajr prayer and raises his hands.
The Shaykh : And upon you be peace, and the mercy of Allah and His blessings.
The questioner : The imam, I mean, and it was his habit to recite qunut in the Fajr prayer, so does the ma'mum have to raise his hands to follow the imam in the prayer?
The Shaykh : Yes, if the imam does that out of religious devotion and not out of stubbornness or fanaticism, he should be followed.
The questioner : To the imam.
The Shaykh : Ah, based on the previous hadith, and this is actually a matter of precision; for he (peace and blessings be upon him), in the previous hadith where we mentioned its beginning:. This hadith is a very great text regarding the fact that the one praying must follow the imam, even if it requires him to leave a pillar that is obligatory upon him; a pillar, not just something obligatory, it is not... or a sunnah; because we all know that among the pillars of the prayer without which the prayer is not valid is standing, as He (the Exalted) said: [Al-Baqarah 2:238]. If a man prayed an obligatory prayer while sitting and he was able to stand, his prayer is invalid; unlike the voluntary prayer; for the Lawgiver has permitted praying the voluntary prayer while sitting, but He made its reward half of the reward of the standing prayer. As for sitting in the obligatory prayer without illness or excuse, the prayer is invalid. Nevertheless, if the imam prays sitting due to illness, then those behind him, even if they are all healthy, must pray sitting with him; to realize this general principle: Sahih al-Bukhari 1236.
The context of this hadith is that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) was one day riding a mount of his when he fell, and he was injured in his armpit in his arm. The time for the Zuhr prayer came, and he prayed with them while sitting. Due to the severity of the impact, he (peace and blessings be upon him) was unable to pray standing. He (peace and blessings be upon him) noticed that the people behind him were praying standing; because this is what is obligatory in the first place, and it is customary that they always pray behind him (peace and blessings be upon him) standing. So he gestured to them while in prayer to sit, so they sat. And when he finished the prayer, he (peace and blessings be upon him) said: to the end of the hadith.
So we observe here that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) ordered his strong, healthy companions to sit because he was sitting. He was unable to stand, so he was excused. But the followers were able to stand. However, the wise Lawgiver considered them excused for not praying standing in order to follow the imam who is praying sitting while excused. For this reason, we say: When the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) mentioned his saying:Sahih al-Bukhari 378, this was not by way of specifying the conditions of following the imam, but rather by way of illustration. There is a difference between it being a specification and it being an illustration; meaning, as examples mentioned by the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) to affirm the principle: Sahih al-Bukhari 1236.
And we know, for example, that if the imam forgets the first tashahhud and stands up, it is upon some of the followers to alert him, to open it for him with the word: Subhan Allah (Glory be to Allah). If he remembers, he returns, and this has details which I may mention soon. If he does not remember, he continues standing, having left the tashahhud here. It is permissible to recite the tashahhud in error; we follow him in this error; because he is excused. And so extend this to all the disputed issues that have occurred among imams. If the imam is praying a prayer in which he contradicts the Sunnah while believing he is following the Sunnah, we do not contradict him. But as we said earlier, if he leaves the Sunnah either out of negligence or out of fanaticism, we, for example, find many imams who pray according to the Shafi'i madhhab, but they do not sit in the second tashahhud. Here, following him is not appropriate, because he is neither following the Sunnah nor following his imam. Here we contradict him; because he contradicted the Sunnah and contradicted his imam, so he is negligent and lazy, not excused. So the rule is: if he is excused from the contradiction, he is followed; otherwise, he is not.
= -- In the name of Allah -- =
...
Another questioner : ... .
The Shaykh : ... they can, but unfortunately, people...
Another questioner : ... .
The Shaykh : Subhan Allah! How have people deviated from the Sunnah, and unleashed their minds on the rulings, thinking that the secret is in Surat al-Sajdah, the prostration verse, and nothing else, while the importance lies in the entire surah and what it contains of admonition and reminder of the resurrection and rising, and the like. So it never suffices or is enough to read the prostration verse without the entire surah.
The Shaykh : And upon you be peace, and the mercy of Allah and His blessings.
The questioner : The imam, I mean, and it was his habit to recite qunut in the Fajr prayer, so does the ma'mum have to raise his hands to follow the imam in the prayer?
The Shaykh : Yes, if the imam does that out of religious devotion and not out of stubbornness or fanaticism, he should be followed.
The questioner : To the imam.
The Shaykh : Ah, based on the previous hadith, and this is actually a matter of precision; for he (peace and blessings be upon him), in the previous hadith where we mentioned its beginning:
The imam was made to be followed, so when he says takbir, you say takbir, and when he recites, you listen, and when he bows, you bow, and when he says: Allah hears the one who praises Him, then you say: Our Lord, to You is praise, and when he prostrates, you prostrate, and when he prays standing, you pray standing, and when he prays sitting, you all pray sitting.
إنما جُعِل الإمام لِيُؤتمَّ به ، فإذا كبَّر فكبِّروا ، وإذا قرأ فأنصتوا ، وإذا ركع فاركعوا ، وإذا قال : سمع الله لِمَن حمده ؛ فقولوا : ربنا ولك الحمد ، وإذا سجد فاسجدوا ، وإذا صلى قائمًا فصلوا قيامًا ، وإذا صلى جالسًا فصلوا جلوسًا أجمعينand stand before Allah, devoutly obedient.
وَقُومُوا لِلَّهِ قَانِتِينَThe Imam is to be followed
إنما جُعِل الإمام لِيُؤتمَّ بهThe context of this hadith is that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) was one day riding a mount of his when he fell, and he was injured in his armpit in his arm. The time for the Zuhr prayer came, and he prayed with them while sitting. Due to the severity of the impact, he (peace and blessings be upon him) was unable to pray standing. He (peace and blessings be upon him) noticed that the people behind him were praying standing; because this is what is obligatory in the first place, and it is customary that they always pray behind him (peace and blessings be upon him) standing. So he gestured to them while in prayer to sit, so they sat. And when he finished the prayer, he (peace and blessings be upon him) said:
If you had just now done what the Persians did with their great ones, standing on the heads of their kings, the imam was made to be followed, so when he says takbir, you say takbir.
إن كدْتُم آنفًا أن تفعلوا فعل فارس بعظمائها يقومون على رؤوس ملوكهم ، إنما جُعِل الإمام لِيُؤتمَّ به ، فإذا كبَّر فكبِّرواSo we observe here that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) ordered his strong, healthy companions to sit because he was sitting. He was unable to stand, so he was excused. But the followers were able to stand. However, the wise Lawgiver considered them excused for not praying standing in order to follow the imam who is praying sitting while excused. For this reason, we say: When the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) mentioned his saying:
and when he bows, bow and when he prostrates, prostrate
إذا ركع فاركعوا ، وإذا سجد فاسجدواThe Imam is to be followed
إنما جُعِل الإمام لِيُؤتمَّ بهAnd we know, for example, that if the imam forgets the first tashahhud and stands up, it is upon some of the followers to alert him, to open it for him with the word: Subhan Allah (Glory be to Allah). If he remembers, he returns, and this has details which I may mention soon. If he does not remember, he continues standing, having left the tashahhud here. It is permissible to recite the tashahhud in error; we follow him in this error; because he is excused. And so extend this to all the disputed issues that have occurred among imams. If the imam is praying a prayer in which he contradicts the Sunnah while believing he is following the Sunnah, we do not contradict him. But as we said earlier, if he leaves the Sunnah either out of negligence or out of fanaticism, we, for example, find many imams who pray according to the Shafi'i madhhab, but they do not sit in the second tashahhud. Here, following him is not appropriate, because he is neither following the Sunnah nor following his imam. Here we contradict him; because he contradicted the Sunnah and contradicted his imam, so he is negligent and lazy, not excused. So the rule is: if he is excused from the contradiction, he is followed; otherwise, he is not.
= -- In the name of Allah -- =
...
Another questioner : ... .
The Shaykh : ... they can, but unfortunately, people...
Another questioner : ... .
The Shaykh : Subhan Allah! How have people deviated from the Sunnah, and unleashed their minds on the rulings, thinking that the secret is in Surat al-Sajdah, the prostration verse, and nothing else, while the importance lies in the entire surah and what it contains of admonition and reminder of the resurrection and rising, and the like. So it never suffices or is enough to read the prostration verse without the entire surah.
Source
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The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.