What is the ruling on reciting al-Fatihah behind the imam in the loud prayers?

Abu Malik: Ah, he says that many people believe that reciting al-Fatihah behind the imam is obligatory for the ma'mum, whether the prayer is quiet or loud.

The Shaykh : Yes.

The questioner : They cite as evidence for this the hadith of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) and so on.

The Shaykh : Yes

The questioner : And we know, and perhaps your reminding us of the hadith has benefited us in a way that some of our brothers might have been unaware of, which is his saying (peace and blessings be upon him) But the argument of these people is their claim that the imam must remain silent so that the ma'mum can recite al-Fatihah behind the imam after... which allows the ma'mum to recite al-Fatihah. We want clarification on this specific issue, because the brothers here and among the other brothers present might object to one of them or argue with one of them using such hadiths, which are authentic without doubt, but perhaps their interpretation or explanation is not correct. We ask, may Allah bless you, for clarification on this fiqh issue, and... we ask permission for a minute, which few know correctly, may Allah bless you.

The Shaykh : You have spoken well, may Allah reward you with good. In fact, this issue is one of the precise matters in which disagreement has appeared since ancient times. Some of the schools of jurisprudence and imams say that reciting al-Fatihah behind the imam is obligatory in every prayer, whether it is quiet or loud. Opposing this school and this view is another view that is exactly the opposite, saying that remaining silent behind the imam is obligatory in every prayer, whether this prayer is quiet or loud. Between these two views is a third view, which, as Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah says, is the most just and the most correct. It is that the follower recites behind the imam in the quiet prayers and listens in the loud prayers, and does not recite anything at all. There is no doubt that mentioning the evidence for these three views is a matter that takes a long time and may involve some precision, and it requires that there be someone who has studied something of the principles of jurisprudence. Therefore, we see that we should approach the issue from the nearest path and say that the third view is the most just of the views and the closest to the truth, which is that one recites in the quiet prayers and remains silent in the loud prayers, because in that the evidences that the scholars who disagreed on this issue contested are gathered. First of all, we find before us the saying of our Lord (Blessed and Exalted is He) Yes, this verse is an explicit text in terms of the implication of its generality that it is obligatory for everyone who hears the Qur'an being recited to listen and pay attention. So listen to it and pay attention. Listening to it does not suffice for paying attention, because we find that some people today, on Friday when the khatib is delivering the sermon, you find some of the distracted ones holding the prayer beads and fiddling with them, thinking he is glorifying Allah while he is listening. So he is listening, but he is not paying attention. And so the verse came with both commands so that the listener devotes himself entirely to what he is hearing of the recitation, and does not occupy himself with his own specific dhikr, and from another angle, he says, "I am listening," because this hearing does not benefit him, due to the saying of the Exalted So the Exalted said because of your understanding and reflection on the noble Qur'an. So this verse obligates everyone who is behind the imam, if he is hearing his recitation, to pay attention to it, whether this recitation is of al-Fatihah or something else. As for arguing with the previous hadith , it is an argument by generality, and here lies the precision of the issue, and it must actually be addressed. The verse, by its generality, includes the prayer and includes al-Fatihah, because it is from the Qur'an, indeed it is the Mother of the Qur'an. The hadith, by its generality, includes every prayer. So which generality is applied to the other and specifies it? Here, some scholars say that the general text that remains in its generality and comprehensiveness, and into which no specification has entered, is stronger in its generality and comprehensiveness than the general text into which specification has entered. And at that time, the more general text is applied to the specified general text. And we mentioned in our previous discussion that the hadith has been specified, and some branches have been excluded from it. We mentioned from that the masbuq who caught up with the imam while he was bowing, and we said that he has caught up with the rak'ah even though he did not recite al-Fatihah. So what did the scholars do with the hadith ? They said, "There is no prayer for one who has not recited al-Fatihah of the Book, except for the one who caught up with the imam while he was bowing, so the recitation of the imam is his recitation." So the hadith here is a general text that has been specified, meaning its generality is weakened. Similarly, for example, the hadith of the one who recently embraced Islam and does not know how to recite al-Fatihah well, but he glorifies Allah, as we also mentioned this with some detail, so his prayer is valid even though he did not recite al-Fatihah of the Book. So what is said? "There is no prayer for one who has not recited al-Fatihah of the Book, except for the non-Arab who does not know how to recite al-Fatihah well." As for the verse, no specification has entered it at all. At that time, the one who is hearing the recitation is excluded from the hadith, implementing the verse and specifying the hadith. And it is wonderful that this school clarified to the first group, who said that recitation is obligatory even in the loud prayers, that it is not acceptable for the follower to recite while he is hearing the recitation of the imam. And so they found for themselves, or created for themselves, a way out and an exit, and they said, "The imam remains silent so that the follower can devote himself to reciting." So this is, as it is said, like being under the rain and then moving under the gutter. Why? He used his intellect and wisdom and found it not acceptable that the follower recites while he is hearing the recitation of the imam. So what did they do? They said to the imam, "Turn into a follower, and imitate the follower, listen so that the follower can recite." This is a reversal of the function of the imam. And this silence is one of the wonders that comes from some imams; they remain silent, and there is no silence in the Shari'ah in the prayer, because the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), as came in Sahih al-Bukhari and Muslim, had two silences for the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him): a silence at the opening of the prayer and a silence at the completion of the recitation of the Qur'an. And there was no long silence between the two silences except the first one. And so it came in Sahih al-Bukhari and Muslim from the hadith of Abu Hurayrah, he said: "The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) used to remain silent for a moment when he said the takbir for the prayer. So we said, 'O Messenger of Allah, what do you say in your silence between the takbir and the recitation?'" He said: to the end of the supplication. If there had been another long silence that allowed for the recitation of al-Fatihah, they would have asked the Messenger (peace be upon him) as they asked him in the first one, saying to him, "We see you remaining silent between the takbir of ihram and the recitation, what do you say?" He answered them. So if the Messenger had remained silent another long silence of that length, and also remained silent after al-Fatihah, why would he say, for example, "Let the follower recite"? There was nothing of this at all. So I say, as we said earlier, they created for themselves an exit from this internal, heartfelt discussion. It is not acceptable, it is not acceptable that Allah legislated for the imam to recite in some prayers loudly. Why? So that the follower would hear. So what is the meaning of saying to the follower, "Turn away from listening so that you recite for yourself"? It is not acceptable. So what do we do? We create a long silence. And yet, this long silence was not adhered to by many of these who remain silent; they remain silent for half a silence, and one hardly recites half of al-Fatihah before he starts reciting. Do you want to remain silent completely so that he recites al-Fatihah in its entirety, or do not remain silent and proceed with the recitation? And this is the nature of innovations in religion; it is not completed with the person. So this innovation is sufficient to convince the masses of people that the correct school is the school of Imam Malik and Imam Ahmad, who said, "Listen in the loud prayers and recite in the quiet prayers." This is the truth by which the evidences are gathered exactly. They have no argument except the hadith , and we have known that specification has entered it from several aspects. And here it is also said, "There is no prayer for one who has not recited al-Fatihah of the Book" if he is not hearing the recitation of the imam. But if he hears the recitation of the imam, the recitation of the imam is his recitation. And this is also acceptable by sound reasoning, because when a person hears from another, it is as if he recited it himself.
In fact, it is established in the authentic narrations that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said to one of his Companions, once to Ibn Mas'ud and another time to Abu 'Ayyub: He said: "I will recite the Qur'an to you, and it is revealed to you" He said: , so this follower who hears the recitation from the imam may find it more beneficial for him than if he were occupied with reciting the Qur'an himself. And as for the one who raises his voice so that others can hear him, this is the correct view, if Allah wills, that if the follower is hearing the imam's recitation, he should not recite anything of the Qur'an, not even al-Fatihah. However, if the prayer is silent, or if he is far from the imam such that the imam's recitation does not reach him, then in this case he must recite. And we ask Allah (Mighty and Majestic) to guide us all to the truth in which there is disagreement, by His permission, (Glorified and Exalted is He).

The questioner : ... Our Shaykh

The Shaykh : How?

The questioner : In questions that are ... .

The Shaykh : Yes.

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The Shaykh : Please go ahead.