The Ruling on Following the Imam?

The questioner : Shaykh, you said that the one who prays behind a Hanafi imam follows the imam in his prayer. Do you mean by "following" that he does not raise his hands, does not place his hands on his chest, or does not move his finger during the tashahhud?

The Shaykh : He does what the Hanafi imam does.

The questioner : What is the evidence for this?

The Shaykh : .

The questioner : But the wording of the hadith is not about the takbir, the ruku', the rising from ruku', and the amen, is it?

The Shaykh : Do you mean by this last question that you understand the hadith to restrict following the imam to only these matters? If you mean that, you are mistaken. If you mean something else, perhaps I can understand it from you.

The questioner : I meant that.

The Shaykh : I meant that. Well, if you mean that, you are the first to contradict what you said.

The questioner : How, my Shaykh?

The Shaykh : Well done. The hadith says: . These are six things mentioned in the hadith. If you mean, as I told you and you affirmed, that following is limited to these matters mentioned in the hadith, then I told you that you are the first to contradict what you said. How? Here is the answer: If the imam forgets the first tashahhud and stands up for the third rak'ah, do you follow him or not?

The questioner : I follow him.

The Shaykh : This is not mentioned in the hadith.

The questioner : Yes, well, and if the imam was... the prayer, I mean.

The Shaykh : This is because I wanted, by telling you that you are the first to contradict what you said, for us to establish a principle and proceed from it. You and those like you, who are enthusiastic about following the Sunnah, think that following a Hanafi imam who does not raise his hands is a contradiction of the Sunnah. But the one who finds the imam praying while sitting and sits with him is contradicting a pillar, because standing is a pillar. So if the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) commanded us to follow the imam in leaving a pillar while he is excused, then it is even more so that he commanded us to follow the imam in something less than that while he is excused. I gave you an example you know, and you gave the correct answer: the imam forgot the first tashahhud and stood up for the third rak'ah, and you said, "I follow him." This is from the Sunnah, and there is a specific text regarding it. Perhaps this text is what makes the path to the correct answer easy for you, even though some issues may come to you like the one we are discussing now, for which there is no specific text, yet you are obligated to follow. Now let us suppose a scenario that has been asked about repeatedly: the imam forgot the first tashahhud, then remembered and returned to the tashahhud after he had stood up. What do you do?

The questioner : The first tashahhud?

The Shaykh : Yes, the first one.

The questioner : And he returned?

The Shaykh : And he returned, yes.

The questioner : Following the imam, we return with him as well.

The Shaykh : You do not say "following the imam" and then not do it. You say, "I follow him" or "I do not follow him." Okay? What is the evidence?

The questioner : For following the imam.

The Shaykh : If you return to the hadith that you mistakenly thought was limited to the matters explicitly mentioned, and you did what you did, then both of us are correct, if Allah wills. What did you do? You took the principle: . That is it. So you now feel that the Muslim who wants to understand the religion wants to build on a principle. In this issue we are discussing, what is the principle? . There is another very important hadith: . Do not differ with him in what? Also in limited matters? No, in everything he does, not out of stubbornness or arrogance, but out of the misconception that this is the Sunnah and this is correct. We do not contradict the imams at all. . So we benefit from this hadith in many parts other than the parts mentioned in the full hadith. And on this basis, we say: what the hadith mentioned is not by way of restriction, but by way of example. Likewise, a more important question will come to us than the previous one: if the imam prayed Zuhr five times and stood up for the fifth rak'ah, what do you do?

The questioner : We remind him.

The Shaykh : You remind him. If he remembers, you follow him. If he does not remember...

The questioner : We sit.

The Shaykh : Did you follow him?

The questioner : I did not follow him.

The Shaykh : Why?

The questioner : Because he added to the prayer.

The Shaykh : Did he add to the prayer intentionally or by mistake?

The questioner : But I reminded him.

The Shaykh : No problem, I am asking you: intentionally or by mistake?

The questioner : By mistake.

The Shaykh : By mistake, that is the answer. Does the fact that you reminded him reveal to you and expose his heart that he remembered?

The questioner : No, of course not.

The Shaykh : So what does it benefit? It benefits me to hear you say: "But I reminded him." The important thing is to know that when you reminded him, he remembered with you. In that case, he becomes stubborn, so he is not followed. But is it permissible for any of us to know what is in the hearts? Of course, we are not Sufis to reveal what is in the hearts. So why did you contradict him? Because you are not filled with the principle of his saying: . This is one thing. And there is another, which is perhaps a text closest to the subject, even though some of those who contradict this text have answered it. In the two Sahihs, from the hadith of Abdullah ibn Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him), he said: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) prayed Zuhr five times one day. When he finished the prayer, they said to him: "Did you add to the prayer?" He said: "No." They said to him: "You prayed five times." So he prostrated the prostration for forgetfulness, then finished the prayer, then said: . Here we direct a question: Why did the Companions of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) follow the Messenger in this addition, the fifth rak'ah to Zuhr? In my knowledge, there are two answers: The one I adopt, because they adopted more than we did what they heard directly from their Prophet: . At the end of the hadith: . They understood from this hadith the obligation of following the imam, even if the error was intentional and the prayer became invalid, because the one who prays the obligatory prayer while sitting while he is able to stand has an invalid prayer. So when the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: , every Arab Muslim, or one with an Arab instinct, understands that he is excused. It does not mean the stubborn, arrogant one who contradicts the Shari'ah, i.e., the one who is unable . When they understood from it that the Wise Lawgiver inspired His Noble Prophet to make it clear to the people that it is obligatory for the followers to follow the imam absolutely, whether he erred in something that if intentional would invalidate the prayer, or in something less than that, because they understood this jurisprudence and were surprised that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) prayed five times, they followed him. This is one opinion.
The second opinion: And this is, in my view, the weaker one, of course. They said: They followed him because they were in a time when the Shari'ah had not yet been completed. It is possible that it occurred to them in their minds that a new law might have been revealed. So they knew Zuhr was four, but it might have become five. And therefore they followed the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him). This is actually something that can be said, but the first opinion is stronger, because this is just a thought, and we have only a possibility of it, whereas in the first opinion we have a text. And secondly, and this is a very, very important matter, we found that the Companions of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) and those who followed them with goodness applied the general text in a case much more dangerous than praying the four-rak'ah prayer as five. In Sahih al-Bukhari, it is narrated that a governor of the Umayyads, perhaps 'Uqbah ibn al-Walid, do you remember with me al-Walid ibn 'Uqbah? It might be so. He prayed with the people, and among them were Companions and Successors. He prayed Fajr four times, not three, four rak'ahs. Then when he finished the prayer, he said: "Did I add to you?" None of them repeated the prayer. Why? Because the Messenger said: . So he bears the responsibility for the errors he commits. If it was by mistake, he is not held accountable by Allah. And if it was intentional, but the followers do not know that, then he is the guarantor. So we follow the imam in every large or small contradiction, and we consider it from the Sunnah, indeed from the obligations, as long as it has not become clear to us that he intends to harm the prayer. As for the fact that this is his madhhab and he is, in our view, mistaken, we do not increase the division of the community, and we realize the saying of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) in general, which is better and more lasting.

The questioner : Regarding most of the Hanafi madhhab, they hasten in the prayer, meaning they do not complete the ruku' and sujud, nor between the two prostrations, nor between the ruku'. Do we follow them as well?

The Shaykh : You have taken the answer. You do not need to follow him; do not pray with him, my brother.

The questioner : How do I pray there? You struggle with him; if you do not pray with him, he says: "You are a disbeliever and a Wahhabi."

The Shaykh : Then this lesson benefits you completely.

The questioner : In the text of the hadith, which is the hadith of the one who prays badly , as long as he hastens in the prayer, his prayer is invalid. So how does one follow the imam in that?

The Shaykh : We have finished with all of this.

The questioner : Do not struggle.

The Shaykh : I am telling you: do not fight.

The questioner : I mean, if you do not pray with them, do not live with them, because we are there in Afghanistan, and the imams who lead the people are Mawlawis; they are Hanafis.

The Shaykh : I am telling you: pray, my brother. I am not telling you not to pray.

The questioner : Prayer is one thing, and this is another.

The Shaykh : The issue is more important than the qunut. I am telling you: pray behind him. Your argument using the hadith of the one who messed up his prayer is an argument in its proper place, but is this the imam you are praying behind? Does he not settle down in the prayer out of spite for settling down in prayer, and thus out of spite for the hadith? Or is he convinced that this prayer is permissible?

The questioner : No, their school of thought is that they do not settle down in the prayer.

The Shaykh : Do not prolong the answer. Say: the best of speech is what is brief and effective. I am telling you: is he hastening in the prayer and not settling down in it out of spite for the hadith, or is this his school of thought?

The questioner : This is his school of thought.

The Shaykh : But this is the answer. Do not sit there wasting our time.

The questioner : But he knows the Sunnah.

The Shaykh : There are others who want to ask here and there. Do not waste our time. The important thing is that in the end, you understood the rule. The rule commands you not to look at the opinion of the imam who disagrees with you, but to look at the imam’s opinion: is he deliberate, or is he convinced of this opinion? If you know that he is convinced, then you have no responsibility if he messed up the prayer. But if you know that he is deliberate, stubborn, knows the Sunnah, and deviates from it, then we tell you: do not pray behind him.

The questioner : And if it serves the purpose that we leave the jihad in this place, O Shaykh, the Afghans are not what you are hearing. I mean, there in the trench, everyone prays according to the Hanafi school. If you do not follow them, you pray with them, delaying the prayer and advancing the prayer as they do. For example, we delayed the Fajr prayer until before the sunrise, and we delayed the 'Asr prayer until before the Maghrib.

The questioner : My dear, you have taken the way out now. You are assuming the opposite now. You have taken the way out.
The student : He is telling you now: do what the imam does, if he is convinced of what he is doing and not stubborn, I mean.

The questioner : What if he is stubborn?

The Shaykh : Why are you assuming this hypothesis? You are in one trench. Is this strange? Why do you assume a hypothesis in which you are not convinced? And you answered me just now that he does this out of dislike, didn’t you say this? Why are you now assuming a hypothesis that stands between you and continuing the jihad with these people who are afflicted with taqlid (following a scholar without knowing his evidence)? Why do you assume a hypothesis contrary to what you believe? Go ahead, my brother, what do you have?

The questioner : A small question, but regarding the topic here.

The Shaykh : No, it is the previous one here.

The questioner : Following the imam in prayer. You said: if the imam prays according to a school of thought, or opposes the Sunnah, or opposes the commands that came in the prayer from the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), then we follow him. We are commanded to follow the imam, and the imam and the followers, and the entire Ummah (the Muslim community) are commanded to follow the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) as he used to pray. So, if the imam opposes the Sunnahs that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) did in the prayer and brings in things that might invalidate the prayer, do the followers follow him in that as well?

The Shaykh : May Allah forgive you, you are repeating the previous research. Did you not get the answer to this question?

The questioner : I can say: that the imam brings in things.

The Shaykh : This is not your time. I am not asking you what you say; I am asking you if you got the answer to this question in the discussion that took place between me and the brother? Because it is wasting time now. Everyone raises their finger wanting to ask a question. You are now asking the same question that was discussed and we finished with it. Be patient a little. What is the problem with the speech you heard just now? You are saying: that all Muslims are commanded to follow what?

The questioner : The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him).

The questioner : This is correct speech. Have you heard from us the opposite?

The questioner : I heard that we follow the imam in opposing the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him).

The Shaykh : Allahu Akbar (God is the Greatest). We follow the imam in following the Messenger in his saying: May Allah forgive you. We follow the imam who made a mistake and who left a pillar or forgot something, applying the saying of the Messenger: And now the discussion that took place between me and the brother will return. You follow the imam if he makes a mistake, or not?

The questioner : In what?

The Shaykh : In the things I mentioned previously. Is forgetfulness a mistake?

The questioner : Incorrectly.

The Shaykh : Okay, if a person has an idea, I mean, a school of thought, he is mistaken, is his prayer valid in the sight of Allah the Exalted, or not valid?

The questioner : Allah knows best, I do not know.

The Shaykh : Okay, ask this question since you know what your role is. If you do not know what your role is?

The questioner : I ask.

The Shaykh : Why do you not ask? Is it not more deserving that you learn that a man adopted an opinion and it is a mistake in the sight of Allah, and he worshipped Allah based on this mistake, is his prayer accepted by Allah the Exalted or rejected? You say: Allah knows best. You do not know that the imams differ and the Companions differ, do you know or not? So you need many lessons to understand this issue. You do not know that some imams say: if blood comes out, it invalidates the wudu' (the ablution for prayer), and another says to you: if a gush of blood comes out, his wudu' is valid?

The questioner : I know that.

The Shaykh : What is the correct one?

The questioner : It is that the wudu' is not invalidated.

The Shaykh : Okay, and does touching a woman invalidate the wudu' or not?

The questioner : I do not know.

The Shaykh : You do not know the correct one? Did they differ or not?

The questioner : Yes.

The Shaykh : Assume whatever you want. This one who touches the woman does not perform wudu', and if touching a woman invalidates the wudu', we come to perform wudu' on you. They were convinced and understood the verse that it is intercourse, and the other understood that it is external touching. So, this one who prayed like this, or this one who prayed like that, does that mean one of them has his prayer accepted by Allah and the other is invalid? Then the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said, and this is the end of the speech because it will not end: Have you heard this hadith before? What do you have? What does "for you and upon them" mean? Does it not mean your prayer is valid and the mistake is upon them? What do you have?