If a student of knowledge settles in a community that does not know the Sunnah, is it permissible for him to ease the prayer for the people and then gradually accustom them to the Sunnah, or should he implement the Sunnah directly?
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The questioner : Shaykh, may Allah bless you, if a person is a student of knowledge and settles in a community that is not of the Sunnah in any way, who do not know anything of the Sunnah, and he is their imam, if he comes to apply the Sunnah as it is in the prayers with the lengthening of the recitation and the like, it may be difficult for the followers. Is it permissible for him to shorten the prayers at first and then gradually accustom them to it, or should he start with the Sunnah directly?
The Shaykh : Did you sleep?
The questioner : I do not know...
The Shaykh : I answered Mas'ud. Did you hear our answer, Mas'ud? Did you hear it?
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : We said that if the imam is a regular one, he must implement the Sunnah. But if these people are not accustomed to it, he does not implement it all at once, but rather gradually. As for the one who is visiting, he does not depart from their custom. For example, I know that the imam of this mosque shortens the prayer, and I was late, and they told me to pray, so I led them. In this case, it is better for me to do as their imam does, provided that he does not neglect the obligatory matters.
The questioner : May Allah reward you. The situation you described may lead to neglecting all the Sunnahs and not implementing any of them in lengthening the prayers, due to his effort to gradually progress and ascend, meaning he does not lengthen the Fajr prayer and does not lengthen the 'Isha' prayer.
The Shaykh : For example, if he reads, for instance, ten lines, after two or three days he reads twelve lines, and so on, until the time ends.
The Shaykh : Did you sleep?
The questioner : I do not know...
The Shaykh : I answered Mas'ud. Did you hear our answer, Mas'ud? Did you hear it?
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : We said that if the imam is a regular one, he must implement the Sunnah. But if these people are not accustomed to it, he does not implement it all at once, but rather gradually. As for the one who is visiting, he does not depart from their custom. For example, I know that the imam of this mosque shortens the prayer, and I was late, and they told me to pray, so I led them. In this case, it is better for me to do as their imam does, provided that he does not neglect the obligatory matters.
The questioner : May Allah reward you. The situation you described may lead to neglecting all the Sunnahs and not implementing any of them in lengthening the prayers, due to his effort to gradually progress and ascend, meaning he does not lengthen the Fajr prayer and does not lengthen the 'Isha' prayer.
The Shaykh : For example, if he reads, for instance, ten lines, after two or three days he reads twelve lines, and so on, until the time ends.