What is your opinion on the obligation of following the imam, even if he omits a sunnah from the sunnahs? There are some issues we hope you will answer.

The questioner : We have heard your statement regarding the obligation of following the imam, even if he omits a sunnah from the sunnahs of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). There are some issues that arise regarding this statement of yours, the most important of which is that this statement causes great hardship. This is because it requires all the worshippers to monitor how the imam prays so that they can follow him; otherwise, there would be no barrier to your statement regarding the obligation of following the imam in the detail attributed to you. And with your permission, as you know,The Shaykh : (may Allah preserve him), the imams differ in their prayers according to their differences in their schools of jurisprudence. Obliging the worshippers with this ruling requires them to observe the manner of the imam's prayer. And as you know, hardship is lifted from these imams. Also, this is a matter that is widespread. Furthermore, none of the previous imams or the precise scholars have said this statement. In fact, the books of jurisprudence are almost devoid of this issue. We hope that your eminenceThe Shaykh : will answer the aforementioned issues with some detail, because the occasion warrants it. May Allah guide you and straighten your steps?

The Shaykh : The question is not valid in its original form, because my opinion was misunderstood. I did not say, and I will not say, even in a dream, that it is obligatory for the one who holds this opinion or part of it to monitor the imams. I do not say this.

The questioner : He does not say that this is your opinion, but he says: this is an objection to your opinion.

The Shaykh : No, the objection is based on this understanding.

The questioner : Well, of course, that is correct... it is based on this understanding, is it not so?

The Shaykh : It is like this. The question is: we heard the recording... this statement of yours that you quoted does not necessitate the claimed hardship. This is because every worshipper who prays in a mosque is in one of two states: either he knows this imam, for example, whether he places his hands on the navel or below the navel, or he knows nothing of that. If he knows, he does what the imam does, in order to realize the principle: "The imam was made to be followed, so do not differ with him." This is not my opinion or my view; it is the text of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him). And if he does not know, he acts according to the sunnah that he knows. So what is the issue here, and what is the obligation? This is one thing. The second thing, in the first scenario, he entered the mosque knowing that the imam, for example, places his hand below the navel; he knows this, but he forgot, and his habit of following the sunnah and praying according to the sunnah overcame him, so he prays like this. But if he remembers, he returns and follows the text that commands following the imam or not differing with him. So there is no hardship in the matter that can be used to contradict the original principle, which was explicitly stated and commanded in the authentic hadiths, some of which I mentioned earlier. So there is no obligation; rather, the issue should be examined as a rule: is it correct in terms of its evidence, or is it on the brink of a collapsing cliff because there is no evidence for it that obligates the one who is obligated to adopt it? As for the obligation, the original premise is not valid. And I think it is now clear to you that everything that came after the word "obligation" is that we are not obligated by it or to answer it, because as it is said, "Can the shadow be straight while the stick is crooked?" Do you have anything now, after it has been clarified to you that there is no obligation? Either you know or you do not know, either you remember or you do not remember, so there is no hardship and no obligation. So research the topic as they say in our region in Syria: "The carpet is Ahmad's," with complete frankness and freedom.

The questioner : Most of the imams are from the Maliki school, so in their prayer they let their hands hang down, and they contradict the sunnah in much of their prayer. In most of the prayer, they contradict the sunnah. Do we follow them? How?

The Shaykh : This question is incorrect.

The questioner : They do not know the sunnah.

The Shaykh : No, starting from this is incorrect. You must study the issue from its origin, meaning: is the follower obligated to follow the imam? Of course, the answer will be yes. Now, whether he errs or is correct, the issue narrows for you, so pay attention. Whether he is correct or errs, or only in what he is correct in, and he is not followed in what he errs in?

The questioner : In what he is correct in or errs in.

The Shaykh : Okay, you are with us now. Why do you follow him in what he errs in?

The questioner : Because I am following the imam.

The Shaykh : But he erred. Frankly, as is not hidden from you, it is submission to the rulings of the Shari'ah and not responding to traditions. These may be traditions whose character is following, but whose reality is innovation. You said that no scholar, meaning, said this opinion. In fact, I say that no scholar said that from the disliked times in which prayer of voluntary prayers and the preacher is delivering the sermon is disliked. No one said this statement, but Al-Albani says it. But when he says this, he does not contradict them, and this is one of the wonders. Why? Because they said, with their differences, of course, between the Hanafis and the Shafi'is: the Hanafis say that when the preacher ascends the pulpit, there is no prayer and no speech. But the Shafi'is say that when one enters the mosque, he must pray two rak'ahs as the greeting of the mosque. So we say according to the opinion of the Hanafis to some extent, who say that there is no prayer, but they did not limit this to the disliked times. The disliked times are three according to some, and five according to others, and the others are a detail of some of the three times, but no one said: six. But I say six. But I say: I contradict them in style, but I do not contradict them in belief and thought. Now, regarding the hadith , there is often disagreement now. The imam stood up to the fifth rak'ah in the four-rak'ah prayer, he forgot the tashahhud, they said to him: Glory be to Allah. Some returned and some did not, and some say it is not permissible to return. Excuse me, this scenario is about the middle tashahhud. Some people say that if one stands up from the second prostration of the second rak'ah to the third rak'ah and forgets the first tashahhud, and is reminded, and returns to the tashahhud, his prayer is invalid. Why? They say because he moved from a pillar to a pillar.
The point is that we say that if some people say something contrary to the sunnah in these incidents, but the sunnah is our imam and the righteous predecessors are our role model. So when the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) placed this hadith as revelation from Allah to him, it was to solve problems that might occur. Some problems occurred in the early time that might not even cross our minds to occur in this corrupt time.
But let us look at what the worshippers did, and among them were undoubtedly great scholars. In Sahih al-Bukhari, we will not take you far, that a man from the governors, perhaps he was in Kufa, al-Walid ibn 'Uqbah, prayed the Fajr prayer with the people. How many rak'ahs? Four rak'ahs. Today, based on the lack of belief in this principle that Al-Albani holds, and he thinks that no one holds it, if we see the imam pray four rak'ahs for the Fajr prayer, what do we do? We follow him as our reality, as a general culture, we follow him and do not intend to differ? No, we do not follow him, of course, because it is known with certainty that the Fajr prayer is two rak'ahs. He stood up, brother, and prayed a third rak'ah, and by Allah, it was a mistake. Okay, what about the fourth? The problem did not end yet. When he prayed four rak'ahs and said the taslim, he said to them: "Shall I add more?" Can you imagine this incident happening today? I do not imagine
Al-Halabi : I think he was bearded

The Shaykh : It was a drinker, and the drinker does this. No one repeated this prayer, and I am not hiding the truth. It is possible that some people go to 'Abd al-'Atim and repeat the prayer; this is possible, but is it obligatory for them? No. Why? Because when the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: , to the end of the hadith , and in the other narration , he intended by this to obscure the signs of the fitnah (trial, discord or temptation) that might occur as a result of opposing the imam. So the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), as we learned from him in matters other than this incident, repels the greater evil with the lesser evil. This is a principle we understand from the hadiths of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), including this hadith . How, my brother, is he praying like this? By Allah, I have prayed behind some imams in Saudi Arabia where I criticize them for placing their hands on their chests after raising their heads from ruku' (the bowing of prayer). I say this is a bid'ah (religious innovation) and I have done it. Do you believe it or not, as you wish? I did this driven by the principle. I believe that this is a noble scholar and that he is seeking the truth like me, or perhaps better than me. So I did not devalue my following of him in one of these details. I follow him not because he is correct in this; as I said, you follow him and he is mistaken. Why? To realize the principle that "the imam is appointed to be followed." Then, if those imams you are pointing to pay attention to this issue, do you think the result will be that they come closer to you or that they will turn away from you? This benefit in this detail is sufficient; it is said that it brings [benefit].

The questioner : ... ؟

The Shaykh : They are lacking, yes, this is correct. But we are now discussing to clarify that the Sunnah, as he (peace and blessings be upon him) said: , in the other hadith , the issue is what is being researched as a principle . After that, it is not our concern to inquire about its results, as long as the foundation is correct. So what is built upon what is valid is valid, and what is built upon what is defective is defective. That is sufficient.