The Shaykh’s remarks on the ruling regarding racing the imam with the ameen.

The Shaykh : Before I leave, I consider it my duty to remind our brothers who pray of a mistake that the majority of them commit, which is racing the imam with the ameen, racing the imam with the ameen. Perhaps you all know that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) used to say: This hadith, and you are, praise be to Allah, Arabs. Even if, meaning, if the standard Arabic language has gone down the drain for most Arabs today, there is still a natural remnant of it. So, as Arabs, we all understand his (peace be upon him) statement mentioned just now: Rather, they understand at least that when he starts with ameen, they should start with ameen. What happens today in every mosque is that the imam barely finishes saying: before the mosque behind him erupts with ameen. He does not even take a breath to separate: from his saying: ameen. Because, by the Shari'ah, the last verse of al-Fatihah ends with: And since the Sunnah states: meaning, one does not recite al-Fatihah in one breath, or two, or three, but verse by verse as it was revealed: and so on. Consequently, he says: The surah has ended. So here, it is not permissible for the imam to connect...
It is not permissible for the imam to say, for example: "And not the astray, ameen," because it is contrary to the Sunnah to connect a verse to a verse. So, a fortiori, it is contrary to the Sunnah to connect what is not a verse to a verse. Ameen is not a verse; it is a supplicatory phrase. What does ameen mean? "O Allah, accept." So, since it is contrary to the Sunnah to say: it is contrary to the Sunnah, and rather, each verse is separate. So, it is even more so that the last verse of al-Fatihah should be separated from the ameen that follows it. So, what should the imam do? You must keep these meanings in mind in every prayer you perform in the congregational prayer. The imam is going to say: Either he extends the elongation here for six counts, as is in the science of tajwid, or at least two counts according to some opinions. So, either he says: , or he says: , or he says: for six counts. So, you must control your breaths when you hear the imam reciting al-Fatihah, especially when he reaches its end, so that you hear him start with ameen. At that time, you start with ameen. Do not let the imam finish his ameen like people do, let alone let him take a breath like people do. Rather, the opposite of all that, you race him with ameen. This is a mistake, and there is great loss in this mistake. Because the Lord of the Worlds, out of His grace to His believing servants, has made easy for them the means by which they obtain the forgiveness of Allah.
I mean, look: How much effort is this? How much did he spend of his wealth? And so on. Here: What is the gain?
Subhan Allah! I am amazed by this hadith and others like it. The means is easy, and yet people are turning away from it. They run around performing many 'Umrahs, especially the ignorant ones who perform an 'Umrah, go to the Mosque of Aisha, and perform a second 'Umrah, and I have been told of a third and fourth. So, it is true of them: There is no benefit in this running around, whereas here, just control your breaths and listen to the imam saying: A... Say with him: ameen. How easy is the matter? And behind it is the greatest reward, which the Muslims have lost due to their ignorance and heedlessness. And peace be upon you and the mercy of Allah and His blessings.