The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said, "When the imam says 'Ameen,' then say 'Ameen.'" So when do we say 'Ameen' if the imam does not raise his voice for the 'Ameen'?

The questioner : When the imam says 'Ameen,' then say 'Ameen.' So when do we say 'Ameen' when we do not hear the voice of the imam saying 'Ameen'?

The Shaykh : The hadiths of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) explain one another. The explanation of this hadith is in another hadith, which is also agreed upon by al-Bukhari and Muslim, namely his saying (peace and blessings be upon him): When he says 'Ameen,' then say 'Ameen.' This is the time when the followers should pronounce the 'Ameen.' The clarification of this is that when the imam begins saying 'Ameen,' the followers must follow him in that; they should not precede him nor lag behind him. It is observed, with regret, that this recommended practice is abandoned in many of the countries I have visited and prayed behind their imams. The imam barely finishes saying "and not those who go astray" before the mosque is filled with the sound of them saying 'Ameen.' It is obligatory for every person praying, in general, to be alert and not heedless. A necessary consequence of this alertness is that one places every thing in its proper place. Among this is not preceding the imam in saying 'Ameen.' One should wait until he hears the imam begin with the elongated alif, "Aa," and then the congregation should follow the imam in the 'Ameen. Otherwise, first, they would be contradicting this explicit Prophetic command: "When he says 'Ameen,' then say 'Ameen.'" This is on the same level as his saying (peace be upon him): to the end of the hadith. Second, if they precede the imam, they lose that great reward which he (peace and blessings be upon him) promised the believers who say 'Ameen' behind the imam, which is: "Allah forgives him what has passed of his sin." He (peace and blessings be upon him) mentioned the angels here, indicating that, as their Lord described them truthfully, it is very obvious that the noble angels who attend the prayer with the Muslim congregation do not precede the imam as some of the worshippers do behind the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), as we are in the process of clarifying. So, when the Muslim adheres to this hadith by not racing ahead of the imam, his 'Ameen' coincides with the 'Ameen' of the angels. The Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) made this concurrence a legislated cause for the believer to attain the forgiveness of Allah for his sins. And from the favor of Allah (Mighty and Majestic) upon His servants is that, at the time He tested them with their nature as humans—testing them with desire and the instinct to follow one's own inclinations—they inevitably fall into some amount, much or little, of disobedience, because they were not created with infallibility like the angels, as indicated by his saying (peace and blessings be upon him) in the authentic hadith: Therefore, by the nature of being human, one must commit some sins, little or much, which, if Allah does not forgive them, would be a cause for incurring His punishment. Despite this nature which Allah (Mighty and Majestic) has stamped upon the humans among His servants, He has made for them legislated causes by which He forgives their sins. Some of these causes, glory be to Allah, are easy and do not require, for example, great effort, such as his saying (peace and blessings be upon him): and his saying (peace and blessings be upon him): .
The prayers require effort, preparation, and so on. But from the favor of Allah (Mighty and Majestic) is that He made a very easy cause to attain His forgiveness, with a little observation or struggle against the self. What is it? It is simply to watch the imam's recitation of "and not those who go astray" and hold yourself back until the imam begins to say "Aa." If you follow him, then you have become deserving of the forgiveness of Allah (Blessed and Exalted is He) merely by achieving this following. From this, it becomes apparent—and I have finished answering the question, so I will mention a benefit: the rulings of the Shari'ah correspond to one another. Those who go to the position that it is not legislated for the imam to raise his voice for the 'Ameen, their position or school of thought causes them to lose this virtue, because they are unable to apply this noble Prophetic command. They do not know whether to follow the imam's saying of 'Ameen immediately after he finishes reciting "and not those who go astray." They do not know that. Then they do not know whether the elongation called by the scholars of tajwid as "madd al-layn" in "and not those who go astray" is two, four, or six movements, so that they can in turn follow him in the 'Ameen. They cannot do that as long as the imam does not raise his voice for 'Ameen. So they lost this virtue because of their first error, and they fell into another error in losing this great favor. Therefore, it is the correct recommended practice that the imam raises his voice for 'Ameen, as came in the hadith of Wail ibn Hujr (may Allah be pleased with him) that he heard the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) when he reached the saying "and not those who go astray," say: This is a practical recommended practice by which he raised his voice. Another ruling followed from it, which is what I mentioned just now. That great favor from the Lord of the Worlds followed from that other ruling. So the Muslim should observe the imam's recitation in general, then his completion of the saying , then his beginning of the saying 'Ameen,' so that he follows him, thereby being a follower of the command and deserving of the reward.
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