The ruling on the imam reading from the mushaf during prayer.

The questioner : It means a strange phenomenon that is spreading in the countries now, which is reading from the mushaf in the tarawih prayer. What is the ruling on the imam who reads, and is the prayer of the ma'mum invalid or not invalid?

The Shaykh : As for the prayer, it is undoubtedly valid, because this worshipper or this imam who reads from the mushaf in front of him, and this worshipper who follows behind him, have not neglected a condition of the validity of the prayer or a pillar of it. As for the ruling, the scholars have two opinions on the issue: one is permissibility, and the other is dislike. And dislike is what we adopt for two reasons. The first is that this phenomenon, which has spread now among the imams of the mosques on one hand, and among some of the followers on the other hand—where it has reached us that some of the followers also carry the mushaf in their hand to open it for the imam if he forgets—this phenomenon that has spread now in this time is undoubtedly not something that existed in the era of the righteous Salaf. And long ago the people of knowledge said, "Every good is in following those who came before, and every evil is in the innovation of those who came after." So the imam carrying the mushaf, let alone the follower, is a newly invented matter that was not widespread or known in the era of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), nor in the era of the Companions and the Tabi'un, and the rest of the three centuries attested to as the best. This is the first point. And whoever has a question about what he may hear from my answer, I hope he does not rush to direct the question, because this will necessitate cutting off the answer, and this may harm the speech of the responder first, and may harm the understanding of the listeners second. So I say, and I hope you pay attention to what I say, because some people study what is in their minds and do not pay attention to what is cast into their minds, so they rush to direct a question stemming from their own mind and not from what was cast into their intellect. So I say, I hope you pay attention to what I said just now. This phenomenon was not widespread in the era of the righteous Salaf, not in the era of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), nor in the era of the Companions, nor in the era of the rest of the three centuries attested to as the best. This is the first point. And secondly, adopting this custom as a means to open for the imam if he forgets is a means that, as you know, is first a religious innovation, and secondly—and this is the intended point now with this second matter—it contradicts a noble and very important Prophetic guidance, which is his saying (peace and blessings be upon him): What does "keep up with this Qur'an" mean? It means make your habit its study and repetition until it settles in your minds and in your chests and does not slip out of them as camels slip out of their ropes. So the camels, although they are tied with a rope, still usually stray because of the nature of ferocity that predominates in their character. The Noble Qur'an, as its Lord the Lord of the Worlds described it in His speech addressing the Prophet (peace be upon him): So the Qur'an is heavy, and there is no wonder in that, for it is the speech of Allah (Mighty and Majestic). And therefore it came in the authentic hadith that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), when the Qur'an was revealed to him while he was on his camel, the camel could not bear his weight, so he dismounted because of the heaviness of the Noble Qur'an. As for the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), Allah (Mighty and Majestic) enabled him to bear this Qur'an, but with some difficulty as well, where his forehead would sweat on a cold day because of the heaviness of the revelation. So this Noble Qur'an does not remain in the chests except with keeping up with it and following up its review. So if it is said to the imams of the mosques, either by word or by implication, that there is no harm in taking the mushaf and reading from it in your leading of the prayer, this will be an unlegitimate means that contradicts his saying (peace and blessings be upon him): Meaning, the imams will decrease. I do not say the memorizers, but I will say the imams will decrease, because unfortunately we find in the Islamic world many memorizers of the Noble Qur'an, but we do not find them as imams in the mosques. And on the contrary, we find imams of the mosques who have no memorization, and therefore they rely on the means of depending on reading from the Noble Mushaf in leading the people in their recitation from the Qur'an. And therefore we say, as he (peace and blessings be upon him) said: Meaning, take care of its study and memorization, and do not rely on the mushaf in your leading of the people, because this will divert you from keeping up with it. And it is agreed upon by all Muslim scholars that every means that contradicts a legislated Sunnah is a misguided religious innovation. This is said even by the scholars who divide religious innovation into two types: good and bad. Even those who came with this division that contradicts the correct Sunnah—and we are not now in the position of explaining that—even those who divided religious innovation into two types, good and bad, say that the misguided religious innovation is that which contradicts the Sunnah of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), whether it is a verbal Sunnah or an action Sunnah. And now you have contradicted, or whoever among you led the people from the mushaf has contradicted the Sunnah of the Prophet and the righteous Salaf in action and word. His action (peace and blessings be upon him): he did not lead the people from the mushaf. His word: to the end of the hadith. Now the time is up for you, in the name of Allah.

The questioner : I mean, our Shaykh, do we say that these people love to be praised for what they have not done?

The Shaykh : We do not say that. We only say that they think they are doing well, but they will end it, if Allah wills, when they know the truth. Where is the imam of the mosque?

The questioner : Do not call the adhan until the imam of the mosque gives you permission...

The Shaykh : On dates, so this is a recommended practice... Did you hear what I said? Where is this? Did you hear what I said just now?