When some people hear the imam say: "You alone we worship and You alone we ask for help," they say: "We seek help from Allah." And when they hear some verses of punishment, they say: "There is no power and no strength except with Allah"

The questioner : Some people, when they hear the imam say , say: "We seek help from Allah." And when they hear some verses of punishment, they say: "There is no power and no strength except with Allah" or "I seek refuge in Allah"?

The Shaykh : Yes. As for the follower saying this when the imam says "You alone we worship and You alone we ask for help," there is no basis for it in the Sunnah, and it is not appropriate for him to say it. This is because the imam's recitation will be responded to by the follower with "Ameen" at the end of al-Fatihah, and this suffices in place of saying "We seek help from Allah."
As for seeking refuge when a verse of warning is recited, or asking for mercy when a verse of mercy is recited, this has a basis in the Sunnah. However, this was reported only in night prayer, as in Sahih Muslim from the hadith of Hudhayfah, who said that he prayed with the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), and he would not pass a verse of punishment without seeking refuge, nor a verse of mercy without asking. This is in night prayer. As for obligatory prayer, it was not reported from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) that he did this. Therefore, we say that in night prayer, a person should pause at verses of warning and seek refuge, and at verses of mercy and ask. As for daytime prayer, this was not reported from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), but if one does it, there is no harm. And if the follower does it, there is no harm, provided that it does not distract him from listening to his imam.