What is the ruling on the follower reciting Surat al-Fatihah?

The questioner : May Allah reward you with good. A questioner asks, “O Shaykh, is it obligatory for the follower to recite Surat al-Fatihah in every rak'ah of the tarawih prayer?”

The Shaykh : Yes, it should be said: Is the recitation of al-Fatihah obligatory for the follower, whether in the obligatory prayer or the voluntary prayer, in tarawih or otherwise? This issue is a matter of scholarly disagreement among the scholars.
Some scholars say that the follower has no recitation required of him, neither in the silent prayers nor in the loud prayers, and that if he says the takbir for entering prayer, opens with the basmalah, and remains silent until the imam bows, his prayer is valid. His prayer is valid even if he does not recite, whether in the silent prayers like Zuhr and 'Asr, or in the loud prayers like Fajr, Maghrib, 'Isha', and the tarawih prayer.
And some of them said: The recitation of al-Fatihah is obligatory for the follower in every prayer, whether silent or loud, obligatory or voluntary.
And some of them said: The recitation of al-Fatihah is obligatory for the follower in the silent prayer but not in the loud prayer, because in the loud prayer he listens to the recitation of the imam.
So the issue is one of dispute among the scholars. And when there is a dispute among the scholars, to what do we refer? What? To the Book and the Sunnah, by the saying of Allah the Exalted: and His saying: . So we say to these scholars, may Allah have mercy on them and pardon them: The reference in your disagreement is to the Book and the Sunnah.
So let us look at those who said: There is no recitation required of the follower at all. They cited as evidence that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: .
. They said this is general for both the silent and the loud prayers.
And those who said that it is obligatory in all cases cited as evidence the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him): .
And those who distinguished, saying that the follower is not required to recite in the loud prayer but is required to in the silent prayer, said: Because when the imam recites in the loud prayer, he has recited for himself and for others.
For this reason, when the imam says: , the follower says “Ameen.” So the recitation of the imam is for him and for those behind him, and for this reason they say “Ameen” to his supplication . This is a supplication, so the people say “Ameen” to it. They said: If the recitation of the imam is a recitation for him that suffices him, the evidence for this is the saying of Allah, Blessed and Exalted is He: . The address was to Musa and Harun, and it is known that the one who was supplicating was Musa alone. Musa (peace be upon him) said: . The one supplicating was Musa, but because Harun (peace be upon him) was with Musa and was saying “Ameen,” the supplication of Musa became a supplication for him as well. So the recitation of the imam is a recitation for the follower if the follower hears it and says “Ameen” to it. This view is strong in terms of reasoning, but the truth is more deserving of being followed, and that is that the recitation of al-Fatihah is obligatory for the follower in the silent and the loud prayer. The evidence for this is what the people of the Sunan narrated from 'Ubadah ibn al-Samit (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) turned away from the Fajr prayer and said: meaning the recitation, or . Yes, he said: . This is an explicit text in the place of dispute, so it is necessary to refer to it. However, al-Fatihah is dropped from the follower if he is a masbuq, meaning if he arrives and the imam is bowing, then he says the takbir for entering prayer and bows, the recitation is dropped from him in this rak'ah. The evidence for that is the hadith of Abu Bakrah (may Allah be pleased with him). Abu Bakrah is not Abu Bakr; Abu Bakrah (may Allah be pleased with him) arrived and the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) was bowing, so he hurried and bowed before reaching the row, then he completed his prayer. Then the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) turned away from the prayer and asked who had done it? Abu Bakrah said: I did. He said: . And he did not tell him to make up the rak'ah. This indicates that if the masbuq arrives and the imam is bowing, and he says the takbir for entering prayer and then bows, this rak'ah is sufficient even if he does not recite al-Fatihah in it, because of this hadith, and because he did not catch the standing, which is the place of recitation, so the recitation was dropped following the standing, following the standing. Yes.