Advice from the Shaykh to a man who criticized the imam for lengthening the Fajr prayer.

The Shaykh : We pray the Fajr prayer in the mosque. Who is here who prays with us? What is the name of the mosque? The one in the hill, what is its name?

The questioner : Al-Haddadah.

The Shaykh : Al-Haddadah. We pray Fajr there. One day, while we were praying the sunnah, we heard one of the men sitting in the first row turn toward the imam, who had finished the greeting or the sunnah and sat down. He was talking to him, talking and talking, and started raising his voice. Then he said to him, "It is haram, O Shaykh, fear Allah. You are making things difficult for the people and being severe. The Messenger of Allah said: and so on. We understood at that point why the uprising was happening. This imam actually has good recitation according to the principles of recitation and tajwid, and he lengthens the recitation, the humility, the bowing, and so on. We prayed behind this imam and left the mosque, and I said to some of our brothers, "What do you think? Should we speak to this man?" They said, "By Allah, this is a good thing indeed." Our brother Abu Abdullah went out and saw him, and there he was coming out. He said to him:The Shaykh : He wanted to see you. The man came, and we started a long discussion with him, and he was arguing with this hadith. And naturally, what should I call him, a disputing opponent, but without knowledge. And it is very natural that at the end of the discussion, he would be defeated by me, because if he is disputing, I am disputing with him even more, but I will overcome him in the end with knowledge. Finally, we agreed that the next day we would hold a session on the issue in the mosque, because the man claimed a call against this imam, saying to you, "His tashahhud is four minutes long, something unbelievable, the tashahhud alone is four minutes." We agreed that the next morning.

The questioner : Did you lend him the time?

The Shaykh : It is a strange thing, by Allah. We prayed Fajr the next day. I acted as if I did not know the man was not there, and I did not actually see him. And I went out, and a man came, and it became clear to me later that the man is polite and eager for knowledge, because he became, among all the group, one who would come and stand in front of me while I am reciting the ten takbirs and ask a question. Before this eagerness for knowledge showed itself, he came and said to me, "If you would give us a word about this issue." I said to him, "The issue has become a forgotten matter, and we spoke to the man. The man did not respond to me, so I will continue on my way." I opened the car door to pass by, and there the man was coming. He said, "Where is the promise?" I said to myself, "By Allah, this is good. We have never been tested with someone so eager as this." I said to him, "By Allah, I am with the promise, but I did not see you. Are you ready?" He said, "Yes." I returned to the mosque and prayed two rak'ahs, renewing the greeting of the mosque, because I wanted to sit after I had gone out. Then I started to speak. We spoke as Allah the Exalted pleased. But the summary, I said to him—his name is Abu Safwan, I think—I said to him, "O Abu Safwan, the saying of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him): It is not up to us. The Messenger placed restrictions and set guidelines so that the issue does not become chaos. Perhaps a man will come and say, "My brother, if we recite al-Fatihah, the prayer is valid," and I say to you, the prayer is valid, but where is the sunnah? This is first.
Second: This easing was reported to us by the Companions from the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) in the following wording: I said to him, "What is the meaning of this hadith?" It means that the recitation of the Messenger with al-Saffat in order for the people is not outside of the easing; this is easing. So the easing is not up to us. And I explained to him how the five prayers differ in recitation, one longer than the other, and the longest is the Fajr prayer. And therefore, we do not have to blame an imam. I will not tell you that he is praying according to the sunnah. No, the sunnah is longer than what he does. Do you see? And he is not pleased with it. It is only that our duty regarding the Messenger, as the poet said:
"So imitate them, even if you are not like them, for imitating the noble ones is success."
We try to imitate the prayer of the Messenger, but where are we from the prayer of the Messenger? We brought him witnesses of his lengthening in the night prayer, and how Hudhayfah, when he followed him and he opened with Surat al-Baqarah, imagine my heart dropped. Al-Baqarah! But he excused himself that perhaps he would reach the head of a hundred verses and bow. He said, "So he continued." He stopped saying, "Perhaps the second hundred," until he finished all of al-Baqarah, and started with Ali 'Imran, then a third of al-Ma'idah, then returned to al-Nisa. Four surahs from the longest surahs in the Qur'an in the mushaf, in what? In one rak'ah.

The questioner : Where is this?

The Shaykh : In Sahih Muslim.

The questioner : We need from 'Isha to Fajr just to finish.

The Shaykh : Yes, that is what you say. The important thing is that I also brought him the story of the noble Companion Abdullah ibn Mas'ud, whom the Messenger testified to with his saying (peace and blessings be upon him): Let him read it according to the recitation of Ibn Umm 'Abd. This is a noble man who said: Something that cannot be endured or borne.

The questioner : Do you mean he does not pray, or he sits instead of standing, my Shaykh?

The Shaykh : I mean instead of sitting. And this reminded me that we said to this Abu Safwan, "My brother, you are arguing that the one with urinary incontinence, the one with such and such, and so on. For you, my brother, pray sitting. Allah said: Also. This religion is ease, but the ease is not up to us. This Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) used to lead the people with al-Saffat in order. The problem now is revolving around interpreting the texts according to desires. As for adhering to the sunnah in understanding them, that is more precious than red sulfur.

The questioner : And some of the people of knowledge indicated that the original is facilitation, so they opposed the sunnah in the name of facilitation.

The Shaykh : Yes, indeed, glory to Allah.

The questioner : Easing means erasing.

The Shaykh : That is how it is, in their opinion.

The questioner : In Fajr, my Shaykh, I wish you would come with al-Saffat and the like.

The Shaykh: Allahu Akbar.

The questioner : Shaykh, the time of the 'Isha prayer, is it for half the night or for Fajr?

The Shaykh : Half the night.

The questioner : Okay, it has become half the night.

The Shaykh : It has. If it has become, stand up for prayer. But how did it become?

The questioner : From the setting of the sun to the rising of the sun.

Another questioner : How did you calculate? The time is now nine.