Does the one who prays without a sutrah commit a sin?
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The questioner : Does the one who leaves off the sutrah commit a sin, O Shaykh?
The Shaykh : Which sutrah?
The questioner : The one for prayer.
The Shaykh : The one that is in front of him, I mean. If we say that it is obligatory, then he commits a sin. But the correct view is that it is not obligatory; the correct view is that the sutrah is a confirmed recommended practice (sunnah muakkadah), except for the ma'mum (one praying behind the imam), who does not take a sutrah, because the imam's sutrah is his sutrah. Accordingly, he does not commit a sin.
The Shaykh : Which sutrah?
The questioner : The one for prayer.
The Shaykh : The one that is in front of him, I mean. If we say that it is obligatory, then he commits a sin. But the correct view is that it is not obligatory; the correct view is that the sutrah is a confirmed recommended practice (sunnah muakkadah), except for the ma'mum (one praying behind the imam), who does not take a sutrah, because the imam's sutrah is his sutrah. Accordingly, he does not commit a sin.