Report on the issue of the ruling on reciting al-Fatihah behind the imam in the loud prayers.

The Shaykh : Is the festival prayer a prayer or not? And what about the prayer for rain?
The student: Likewise.

The Shaykh : Praise be to Allah. How do you ask? The funeral prayer is also a prayer, and it is obligatory to recite al-Fatihah in it. We mentioned the prostration for forgetfulness, the prostration of gratitude, and the prostration of recitation; there is no recitation in them because they do not involve standing. They cited the saying of Allah, Blessed and Exalted is He: They said this is general, and that the follower is a follower of his imam. They also cited a rational meaning, which is: how can we oblige the follower to recite al-Fatihah in the loud prayers when he has heard it from the imam and said "Ameen" to it? The listener who says "Ameen" is like the doer, based on the saying of Allah, Blessed and Exalted is He, in the story of Musa and Harun. Musa, peace and blessings be upon him, said: Then Allah the Exalted said: It is known that the one making the supplication was Musa, as stated in the Qur'an, but Harun was saying "Ameen," so Allah the Exalted made the supplication of Musa the supplication of Harun. This indicates that the recitation of the imam in the loud prayers, which the follower hears and says "Ameen" to, is a recitation for him. So they cited both the text and the meaning. They said: if we do not say that the recitation of the imam is a recitation for the follower in the loud prayers, then what is the benefit of the loudness at that time? And what is the benefit of the imam reciting while the follower recites? This opinion, as you see, is a very strong opinion in terms of evidence and reasoning. But
The fourth opinion is that reciting al-Fatihah is obligatory for the imam, the follower, and the one praying alone. They cited the generality of the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) and his saying: or This was said by the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) when he finished the Fajr prayer, and it is a text in the place of dispute. They answered the evidence cited by those who distinguish between the quiet and loud prayers by saying that the saying of Allah the Exalted: is general, and it is specified by what?
The student : By the evidence

The Shaykh : By the evidence indicating the obligation of reciting al-Fatihah. So the meaning is: if the Qur'an is recited, then listen to it and pay attention, except for al-Fatihah, which is obligatory. They cited a rational meaning and analogy that there is no benefit in the imam reciting loudly if it does not suffice for the recitation of the follower, saying that this is an analogy against the text, so it is not considered. In truth, we bear witness to Allah, Mighty and Majestic, that if it were not for the hadith of 'Ubadah ibn al-Samit, the clear and obvious opinion would be that if the follower hears the recitation of his imam, there is no recitation required of him, because he hears it and says "Ameen" to it, so it is like his own recitation. But what do we say when the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said, after finishing the Fajr prayer, "Do not do so except with Umm al-Quran"? Yes, according to this opinion, they say that it is dropped for the follower if he is late and did not catch the recitation of al-Fatihah. These people cited the hadith of Abu Bakrah (may Allah be pleased with him) -May Allah have mercy on you- and he did not order him to make up the rak'ah in which he only caught the bowing and what came after it. If he had not caught it, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) would have ordered him to make it up, just as he ordered the one who does not settle in his prayer to repeat his prayer. This is clear, so the latecomer is excluded from this according to this opinion.
Now, if he catches part of al-Fatihah and then the imam bows, meaning he entered with the imam and caught part of al-Fatihah and then the imam bowed, do we say that he completes it and then follows, even if the imam rises from the bowing? The answer is no. If he is able to catch it before the imam rises, he does so. If he is not able, yes, he bows, because he is now a latecomer and he wants to catch the bowing. If he completed al-Fatihah, he would miss the bowing. There is a fifth opinion, stronger than these opinions, which says that reciting al-Fatihah is obligatory for the imam, the follower, the one praying alone, the latecomer, and the one who caught the prayer from the beginning. Some of the later scholars went to this, including al-Shawkani in his explanation of al-Muntaqa. He said it is not dropped. He answered the hadith of Abu Bakrah by saying that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) said to him He said: But this answer is invalid because the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) said: The word "do not repeat" – we look at whether the meaning is "do not repeat" in terms of hurrying to catch the bowing? Or the meaning is "do not repeat" in terms of bowing before entering the row, because all of this happened from Abu Bakrah? Or the meaning is "do not repeat" in terms of counting the bowing if you did not catch al-Fatihah? All of this is possible. So let us look. We say: as for the first, "do not repeat" in terms of hurrying, what is that?
The student: ...

The Shaykh : Correct, it is said "do not repeat." The second, "do not bow before entering the row," is also correct: do not bow until you enter the row. The third has a possibility, there is a possibility, but it is made unlikely by the fact that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) did not order him to cancel this rak'ah. If this action were rejected, meaning not reciting al-Fatihah in the case of being late, if it were rejected, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) would have clarified it to him, just as he clarified it to whom? What? Yes, to the one who prayed and did not settle. So the correct opinion now in this issue is that reciting al-Fatihah is obligatory for the imam, the follower, and the one praying alone in the quiet and loud prayers, except for the latecomer. And as I told you, if it were not for the hadith of 'Ubadah ibn al-Samit, the determined opinion would be to distinguish between the quiet and loud prayers, and that if a person hears the recitation of al-Fatihah from the imam, it is dropped from him because he listened to it and said "Ameen" to it.