What is the ruling on iq'a' between the two prostrations? And is following the imam obligatory?

The Shaykh : Now I want to mention something else on this occasion: iq'a' between the two prostrations. Iq'a' between the two prostrations is part of what we specify with the hadith of Ibn 'Umar, which is standing upright on the toes between the two prostrations. Ibn 'Abbas was asked, as in Sahih Muslim, about iq'a' between the two prostrations, and he answered that it is a sunnah of your Prophet, or he answered that it is permissible in the beginning. They said: "We do not see it as anything but roughness for a man." He said to them: "It is the sunnah of your Prophet." How do you say that something the Messenger used to do is roughness for a man? So your question, without blame, the answer has preceded it. We have a general hadith: "The sunnah of prayer is such and such." We have a detailed hadith, the hadith of Abu Humaid: "Sit cross-legged in the first tashahhud, and sit in the tawruk position in the last tashahhud." After that, there is no need for us to say, what is the difference between the three-unit and four-unit prayers, because he did not mention a four-unit prayer, nor a three-unit prayer; he only mentioned two tashahhuds: sit cross-legged in the middle tashahhud, and sit in the tawruk position in the last tashahhud.

The questioner : ... .

The Shaykh : Yes, so we act upon the hadith in this way. Yes.

The questioner : Follow in the matter of tawruk. Two things: First, is there a hadith or did it occur with the wording ? And the second thing, I asked the brother, does the imam sit in the tawruk position or not? So it seems you want to build something on that. What is it?

The Shaykh : Yes. Regarding the first question, this wording you asked about is found in some of the hadiths about tawruk in the last tashahhud. This wording is not taken without the explanatory wording that we presented earlier, which mentions sitting cross-legged in the middle and tawruk in the last. As for what I thought was the brother asking while he is a follower behind the imam, that is because some scholars, past and present, see the obligation or the legitimacy of maintaining the sunnahs of prayer, even if the imam does not perform them. And there is another group of scholars who see following the imam in everything he does, as long as he is excused. And I adopt this opinion. So if the imam, for example, does not know tawruk, why? Because he is Hanafi in madhhab. Then we do not do tawruk. Why? To not contradict him? The evidence is abundant. What concerns us now is the general text: until he said, peace be upon him: . So we find in this hadith that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) ordered the one who is able to stand, which is a pillar as we all know, to leave this standing. Why? So that he does not contradict the imam. So he would order him to leave a sunnah that he believes in, while the imam does not see it. And if the imam saw it and left it intentionally, the prayer is valid. And if the imam did it by holding fast to the sunnah, and the follower contradicted him while knowing that it is a sunnah, his prayer is also valid. What? His prayer is valid, but he has sinned by contradicting the imam. So he is sinful whether the imam did it or left it, if he contradicted the imam in action or omission. Now the discussion is about tawruk. If the imam, like the Hanafis, for example, does not see this sitting in the tawruk position, then we do not do it, because the Messenger said: . Here a doubt arises: the imam is mistaken. My brother, the imam is mistaken in your view. This is first. And second, if he is mistaken, he is excused, and the excused one has his ruling and his respect, except in a case of stubbornness and defiance where he fights the sunnah and opposes the people of the sunnah. In that case, he contradicts the imam. And what is the glory, as they say? But if the imam was raised on a madhhab, and this madhhab does not see, for example, this tawruk, then it is not befitting for the one who does tawruk to contradict the imam. And this is a rule: . Do you not see that if the imam, for example, stands up to the third rak'ah and forgets the tashahhud, he is mistaken, but you follow him, and you are certain that he is mistaken. Why do you follow him? This is the sunnah, and this is what the hadith tells you: . This is what I wanted to say to him: if the imam does not do tawruk, do not do tawruk. But since it became clear that his intention is to annoy people, the answer, as you know, is that he must improve his sitting in the tawruk position. Yes.

The questioner : Okay, what if he descends on his hands?

The Shaykh : Everything is like this. Everything is followed. If he descends on his hands, he descends on his knees like a beast, or for example, he places his hands under his navel, or he does not raise his hands. All these matters are followed. And in our following of him, we do not lose anything, contrary to what many people imagine. Because when we leave one of these sunnahs, following the imam, we do that first, to follow the first imam, the imam who has no second, and he is our Prophet (may Allah's prayers and peace be upon him). Second, we left this sunnah not out of laziness, nor neglect, nor showing off, nor compromise, nor anything else, but we left this sunnah for Allah, for Allah. As long as we followed the Messenger of Allah, we left this sunnah for Allah. And here you should keep in mind the meaning of the saying of our Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him): .

The questioner : O our Shaykh, what is in the hadith ?

The Shaykh : This is the end of the hadith, or does it have a continuation? Do you not keep the hadith in mind?

The questioner : I do not keep it in mind.

The Shaykh : You only remember the end of the hadith.

The questioner: Yes.

The Shaykh: Glory be to Allah!

The questioner : I forgot.

The Shaykh : The beginning of the hadith is:

The questioner :

The Shaykh : Look, you are the one who remembers the hadith.

The questioner : I forgot.

The Shaykh : I forgot it. Okay, means what is known by the Shari'ah, right? Okay, we are now discussing what is known. Is it known by the Shari'ah that if the imam makes a mistake, we put down our stick, we mock him, and we argue with him while we are praying for Allah? Or do we follow him? What is the known thing?

The questioner : That we follow the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him).

The Shaykh : This is a deviation. This is us. We are praying now behind an imam. Following the Messenger, what is obligatory upon us? That if the imam makes a mistake, we follow him? Or we contradict him?

The questioner : We follow him?

The Shaykh : So this is the known thing.

The questioner : Even if you clarify to the imam that he is mistaken with evidence?

The Shaykh : Raise your voice. Look, the arrow of Abu Ahmad is long.

The questioner : Even if you clarify to the imam that he is mistaken with this and with the evidence?

The Shaykh : The issue here does not concern the one who clarifies, but the one for whom it is clarified. This is for two reasons, and this is a very important point in our present day. The first reason concerns us as callers to following the Sunnah: every individual among the people of the Sunnah today, if he learns an issue, thinks he has become an imam in it, but that is not the case. He remains as he was before, an ignorant person who knows nothing except this issue he is researching. He heard this issue from Zayd or Bakr or someone from the scholars, he was convinced by it, and he began to apply it. But... so we do not think that the Sunnah was clarified to him, my brother, and that this imam followed the Sunnah. This is an aspect concerning the one for whom it is clarified. I saw that the one who clarifies, in many cases, is unable to establish the proof against the one who opposes him, do you understand? Especially in our time, because scholars today who have strong knowledge of the Book and the Sunnah to refute those who oppose the Sunnah are very, very rare. But, praise be to Allah, the call to the Sunnah is proceeding, and people will apply it, but not everyone is qualified to establish the proof against others and those who oppose the Sunnah. This is with regard to the one who clarifies. Let us return to the one for whom it is clarified. Imagine that he was afflicted with a knowledgeable, virtuous man. We cannot imagine now that this one for whom it is clarified was convinced, because there are very old remnants in him. It is like an illness; it is not possible to cure it as soon as the doctor treats it, why? Because it is rooted, requiring continued treatment, and barely does he heal and recover. This is like the patients in their hearts, in their opposition to the Sunnah of their Prophet. So, it is not merely by the one who clarifies establishing the proof that the general public are convinced. The scholar must imagine that the proof has been established against the one for whom it is clarified, especially since this is a more precise image, especially if this one for whom it is clarified has a demeanor that says, "O earth, swallow me, no one is above you." He is a knowledgeable man and a jurist, and perhaps he issues fatwas for people. And one of our weak, poor brothers comes to him and says, "You have opposed the Sunnah; the Sunnah is such and such." His words are correct, but he does not have, as they say today, a background and legal evidence to come and clarify it to this knowledgeable man who is arrogant with his knowledge and proud, walking upon the earth with arrogance. So it should not be imagined that merely because a Sunni or Salafi met a follower of a madhhab and clarified it to him, the proof has been established. That is a mistake. But it is better that we clarify the proof. As some contemporary callers said a good word: "Cast your word and walk away." Do not sit and hold them by the throat, except like what is told about that Kurd. He found a Jewish man on the road, and the Kurds in our land used to carry weapons recently, with a dagger here in his belt. This Kurdish Muslim found the Jew, drew the dagger like this, and wanted to threaten him. He said to him, "Convert to Islam or I will kill you." He said to him, "It is up to you. What do I say?" He said to him, "By Allah, I do not know." ... The poor man did not know how to teach him the testimony that there is no god but Allah, and so on. So do not hold people by the throats and say to them, "Unless you do such and such." My brother, . I think I have given you the answer to your question? But you took a little time with me, is that all right?

The questioner : May Allah reward you with good.