What is the ruling on the follower preceding the imam in saying "Ameen"?

The Shaykh : There is an error—my brothers!—among some of the worshippers that is widespread in the mosques, not in the mosques of a specific town, but in all Islamic lands—unfortunately—we do not exclude even the two Sacred Mosques from this; and that is: the followers preceding the imam in saying "Ameen," even if there were only the general ruling, which is his saying (peace and blessings be upon him): . If there were nothing in this matter except this general hadith, which in its indication means that the one being followed must be a follower of the imam and not preceding him, or getting ahead of him; how much more so when there is a specific hadith related to this issue, which is his saying (peace and blessings be upon him): . Excuse me, and his saying (peace and blessings be upon him): ?! This hadith is very explicit: . Now, before the imam says "Ameen," the followers raise a loud voice that echoes in the place; they say: "Ameen," while he—someone like my case—has not yet finished: . And so I remind you—and the reminder benefits the believers: it is obligatory for every worshipper in congregational prayer to pay attention to the recitation of the Qur'an by the imam, because it is a prayer with loud recitation, and to reflect: First: on what he hears of the Qur'an. Second: to hold his breath when the imam reaches his saying: . He does not move his tongue with "Ameen" before he hears the imam begin with "Ameen," before he hears the imam begin with "Ameen," not before the imam finishes reading ! This is a very, very grave error. And its gravity is that he sins before his Lord, because he contradicts his saying (peace be upon him): . And its gravity is that he loses the forgiveness of his Lord for a very easy reason, what is it? Hold your breath, do not precede the imam with "Ameen"; for if you do that—meaning: you do not precede him with "Ameen"—your "Ameen" matches the "Ameen" of the angels. Where are these angels? It does not concern us; whether they are on earth in the mosque, among those who attend in shifts, exchanging at the 'Asr prayer, one shift going up and one coming down, or they are the angels of the sky, and this is mentioned in some hadiths; the angels of the sky say "Ameen"; so if his "Ameen" matches the "Ameen" of the angels, his previous sins are forgiven. So this is a very great gain. If one of us lived the life of Noah (peace be upon him) to attain this forgiveness, the price would be cheap, let alone that the matter does not require more than gathering one's thoughts behind the imam who recites loudly in prayer, and observing and following his recitation verse by verse; so when he reaches the end of al-Fatihah, at that time, do not begin by saying "Ameen" until the imam himself begins with "Ameen." And the wisdom in the legislation of the imam reciting "Ameen" loudly is to realize this Prophetic command that leads to the forgiveness of Allah (Mighty and Majestic); otherwise, if the imam said it secretly—as some imams do—who contradict the Sunnah and do not recite "Ameen" loudly. If he said "Ameen" secretly or did not say it, how can we be able to match our "Ameen" with the "Ameen" of the angels who do not precede the imam? It is not possible. Therefore, it was part of the perfection of the legislation that it was made a Sunnah for the imam to recite "Ameen" loudly; so pay attention to this ruling first, and to this benefit second; perhaps we will thereby attain the forgiveness of Allah (Blessed and Exalted is He), even if it is in one prayer on one day. Yes.

The questioner : O Shaykh! You read according to the recitation of Hafs from 'Asim, and this recitation is not read with: . I do not know how you read it, I mean!

The Shaykh : Yes! Why is it not read?

The questioner : It was not read, I mean, in the recitation of Hafs from the recitation of 'Asim.

The Shaykh : I understood! Do not repeat to me what I said, you answer my question.

The questioner : Yes.

The Shaykh : Why is it not read?

The questioner : It is like this—meaning—one of the conditions of the recitation is that it was only read by some of the other three: like Hamzah and...

The Shaykh : My brother! Do not repeat to me, why? Is it forbidden?

The questioner : By Allah! I do not know.

The Shaykh : And if you do not know, you are talking to someone who does not know, my brother! I am going to tell you something: the seven imams of the reciters, and above them three, making a total of ten, these are like the four imams in jurisprudence, and above them zero with the four: forty, all of them are these are imams who exercise independent legal reasoning; so if the Hanafi school—for example—does not permit raising the hands in prayer; a Muslim man lived a long time in the Hanafi school, and he knows that raising the hands is disliked to the extent of prohibition, and then he became convinced that there are authentic hadiths from the Messenger that he used to raise his hands in prayer, he contradicted the Hanafi school in this detail following the Sunnah, is that not permissible? I ask you?

The questioner : Yes, it is permissible.

The Shaykh : Okay, and also he contradicted the recitation of Hafs in this recitation, he followed another recitation established in the Sunnah by way of mass transmission, is that not permissible? Say it is permissible and do not be afraid.

The questioner : Regarding the "Ameen," the "Ameen" behind the imam, in a hadith that may be difficult for some people to understand, it is found in Sahih al-Bukhari: .

The Shaykh : Yes.

The questioner : So this may be difficult to understand.