What does the traveling imam say when he prays behind him residents?

The questioner : My lord, regarding the imam, only...

The Shaykh : .

The questioner : When a person is a traveler who shortens and combines, or shortens and joins the congregation, and they put him forward to lead the prayer, he leads them. We sometimes see him say, "I am praying two rak'ahs, and your imam is shortening his prayer, so complete it."

The Shaykh : Or something like that.

The questioner : Or something like that. Is this the correct action, in accordance with the Sunnah?

The Shaykh : Yes, it is obligatory for him, if he leads the residents, to say, "Complete your prayer, for we are a traveling people."

Another questioner : After the taslim?

The Shaykh : This is how it was narrated from the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) with a chain containing weakness, and it is authentic from the Commander of the Faithful, 'Umar ibn al-Khattab: "Complete your prayer, for we are a traveling people." But it is not permissible for him to speak such words except after the closing salam...

Another questioner: Peace be upon you.

The Shaykh : And peace be upon you, and Allah's mercy and blessings. However, I see that this salam should be done secretly, not relying on an explicit text, but rather through fiqh and derivation. This is to fulfill his saying (peace and blessings be upon him): Because if he says "Complete it," that is speech that invalidates his prayer. But if he exits with a salam, his prayer is valid, even if done secretly, even if he is in a state of residence. But if he does it secretly while in a state of residence, he has contradicted the Sunnah, just as if he said the takbir secretly. But when he is an imam for residents, I see, as I said earlier, that his salam should be secret so that the worshippers do not get entangled in it. And unfortunately, the majority of people are overcome by heedlessness. The imam says the salam, and they say it with him, not realizing that they have to complete the prayer when they hear him say, "Complete your prayer, for we are a traveling people." Perhaps I should also say that, because I have tried this practically more than once with this explicit statement, I find them saying the salam with him in their extreme heedlessness!

Another questioner : If the imam informed them before entering the prayer...

The Shaykh : That is better. And glory to Allah, you reminded me of an incident that happened to me in Tabuk during one of my trips. It was not an 'Umrah or Hajj. We had a friend there whom we used to visit, and he had a mosque near his house. In the 'Isha' prayer, we went out to the mosque, and they put me forward. I whispered to him and said, "Man, the congregation is not used to seeing this, which they consider an innovation, that the imam prays two rak'ahs with them and tells them to complete their prayer. This is a strange matter." He said, "My brother, what does it concern you? We will teach them the Sunnah." I said, "By Allah, I am as eager as you, but I see that it may cause us a problem." He said, "It is none of your concern." So I gave a lecture on this observation I had made. Nevertheless, there was a commotion after the prayer. They objected to him, asking why he was praying like that, saying, "This is a strange man," and so on. They caused a commotion and disagreement. We also spoke a word in support of our brother's words, saying, "My brother, the Sunnah is like this. The Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), when he led a people, did not care about them, but rather prayed shortened." And it was narrated about him, as we said earlier, but it is authentic from 'Umar ibn al-Khattab that he was in Makkah, and you know Makkah has residents and they are foreigners, so he, the Caliph of the Muslims, would lead them in prayer, praying shortened, and say to them: "Complete your prayer, for we are a traveling people." The commotion there or here, what Allah wills, there were thousands who did not care in the path of teaching people the Sunnah!

The questioner : Is the shortening of the imam in such a case from the category of obligation?

The Shaykh : How?

The questioner : The shortening of the imam...

The Shaykh : Yes, exactly.
Al-Halabi : Our Shaykh, the issue of shortening the prayer, or rather your leading the prayer, did you in your last 'Umrah pray in a mosque?The Shaykh : Rabi' and you shortened and did this, and there was a commotion?

The Shaykh : Not the last 'Umrah, in some of the 'Umrahs?
Al-Halabi : I mean, recently, the important thing is... becauseThe Shaykh : Rabi' tells us that this time when we performed Hajj, she said that afterThe Shaykh : he came out, there was chaos, and some people were complaining to the Prince of Madinah, and I don't know what...

The Shaykh: Yes.
Al-Halabi : This confirms the commotion that arises from applying the Sunnah.

The Shaykh : I tell you that this question that Abu Yahya asked me, I have tried it practically. People are in strange heedlessness. People, I mean, are people of habits and traditions. We were talking as we were coming here about the rituals of Hajj that most pilgrims neglect. I said, Muslims today in their worship of their Lord are like some employees with their bosses. They hardly believe that they are getting rid of the responsibility. They leave and so on. Muslims in worship, one of them wants to take the shortest path to get it over with. What is Hajj? For example, stoning the pillars, if he could throw them with his hand in one day and be done with it. And our Lord said in the noble verse: Nevertheless, this dispensation was not enough for them. They want to rush even before that. And this one says, "I have appointed someone to stone on my behalf," and very strange things. It is as if Hajj now they want it to be a trip, but it is worship. And as he (peace and blessings be upon him) said: So glory to Allah, people today are in heedlessness. Their worship is a habit, rarely is any of it raised to Allah, Mighty and Majestic. O Allah, amen.

Another questioner : Our Shaykh, regarding the prayer, how Allah, Blessed and Exalted is He, initially prescribed the prayer as fifty, so Allah, Blessed and Exalted is He, by His mercy, favored us and stopped it at five. Otherwise, how would we have been able to perform it fifty times?

The Shaykh : And some ignorant, heedless people with little faith say to you, "My brother, this hadith is not authentic! How can Allah prescribe fifty prayers and then the Messenger comes down and passes by Musa, and he says to him, 'What did Allah prescribe for you?' He says to him, 'Fifty prayers.' He says to him, 'Go back to your Lord and ask Him for relief.' I have tried, the people before you could not bear this worship. So the Messenger of Allah kept reviewing with his Lord until He said to him: We benefit from this hadith the mercy and kindness of Allah to His servants. And they take it rationally, how he would go and come back, and so on. Our Lord wants to show His favor, mercy, and forgiveness to His servants. Yes.