Ibrahim Shuqqa’s remarks on the issue of saying “Ameen” in prayer.

Abu Malik: O brothers, may Allah bless you. We prayed Maghrib here just now, and when I said , we split into two groups. One group waited until I started saying “Ameen,” so they said it with me. The other group preceded us with this word, or with the “Ameen.” Our Shaykh, may Allah reward him with good, indicated to me that I should clarify this issue, or what the ruling is, or how the saying of “Ameen” behind the Imam should be done. So I say: May Allah bless you. The Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) clarified in a collection, in some hadiths, which are famous and well-known, from which we know how to say “Ameen” behind the Imam. And of course, this requires some attention so that we may discern the matter, because some hadiths may appear to their reader or listener to be different in wording, yet in reality they are not different or contradictory in meaning. The Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), when he said: , would say “Ameen” and raise his voice with it. First, this indicates the prescription of the Imam saying “Ameen” by raising his voice. And in it is a refutation of those who say that saying “Ameen” behind the Imam is not prescribed. Among those who say that saying “Ameen” behind the Imam is not prescribed are the Shafi’is, the Shafi’is who follow the school of Imam al-Shafi’i, adhering to Imam al-Shafi’i, thinking that they are following him, that they are following him. And Imam al-Shafi’i (may Allah have mercy on him) holds the opposite view in his book *Al-Umm*. He says that the Imam says “Ameen” and raises his voice with the “Ameen,” and the followers say “Ameen” behind him, they say “Ameen” behind him. Also, the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) says in another hadith: إذا قال الإمام: ولا الضالين فقولوا: آمين When the Imam says: “and not the astray,” then say: “Ameen.”. And in another hadith he says: . There is no contradiction between the two hadiths, because some people understand from the first hadith, when the Imam says: , that as soon as he says “and not the astray,” they start saying “Ameen” behind the Imam. And in this, they miss a matter we mentioned, which is that the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) would recite the “Ameen” audibly. And this means that his reciting the “Ameen” audibly would have no benefit here if the followers said “Ameen” as soon as the Imam said: , and did not wait for the Imam to say “Ameen” first, or at least to start saying “Ameen,” so that they say it behind the Imam. Therefore, the prescribed thing, O brothers, is to wait until the Imam finishes reciting al-Fatihah in its entirety, from “Praise be to Allah” to “and not the astray,” and the followers do not precede him with the “Ameen” until they hear him say “Ameen,” then they say it with him. And by doing so, they all secure the virtue that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) referred to in the aforementioned hadith, which is this virtue: the angels say “Ameen” with the Imam, so whoever’s “Ameen” matches the Imam’s “Ameen,” his previous sins are forgiven. This is what I have, and may Allah reward our Shaykh with good for having alerted us or reminded us of this issue.