A man saw an imam in the mosque during the Fajr prayer reading the prostration verse from the mushaf, splitting it into two halves. What is the ruling on this action?

The questioner : A questioner says, “O honorable Shaykh, I saw an imam in the mosque during the Fajr prayer reading the prostration verse from the mushaf, splitting it into two halves. What is the ruling on this action?”

The Shaykh : Do you mean in the Fajr of Friday?

The questioner : The Fajr of Friday.

The Shaykh : In the Fajr of Friday, the sunnah is for a person to read in the first rak'ah: the prostration verse in full, and in the second rak'ah: in full. There is no harm in reading from the mushaf when there is a need for it, but one should not divide the prostration verse into two halves, because if he divides it into two halves, he has turned away from the sunnah of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), and he is not more knowledgeable about the interests of the Ummah than the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). If he wants to follow the example of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), let him follow the sunnah. As for splitting what the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) made a single part, that is a great error. So we say: Read Alif Lam Mim, Tanzil, the prostration verse, in the first rak'ah in full, and read: in the second rak'ah in full. If you do not do that, read other surahs. As for bringing the sunnah and splitting it, that is clearly questionable. One might say, “If the congregation reads with them the surah of the prostration in full in the first rak'ah and the surah of Al-Insan in full in the second rak'ah, they will get tired and bored.” We say: Praise be to Allah, whoever gets tired or finds standing difficult, let him sit. No one can force the sunnah of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), because disliking the sunnah—may Allah protect us and you from that—is not a trivial matter. Yes.

The questioner : May Allah preserve you and guide your steps.