Continuation of the explanation of the statement of Imam al-Nawawi (may Allah have mercy on him) regarding what he quoted: "."

The Shaykh : And we send peace and blessings upon our Prophet Muhammad, and upon his family and all his Companions. As for what follows:
We have previously discussed multiple issues that fall under the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) . Included in this is for a person to perform the pillars of the prayer. The pillars are the verbal or physical acts without which the prayer is not valid and does not stand. Among these is the takbirat al-ihram, where a person says upon entering the prayer "Allahu Akbar". The prayer cannot be established except with this. If a person forgets the takbirat al-ihram, comes and stands in the row, then forgets and begins reciting and praying, his prayer is not valid and is not established at all, because the prayer is not established except with the takbirat al-ihram. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said to a man whom he taught how to pray: . Therefore, the takbir is necessary, and he (peace and blessings be upon him) was consistent in doing so.
Also among these is the recitation of al-Fatihah. Reciting al-Fatihah is a pillar without which the prayer is not valid, due to the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), or rather due to the saying of Allah the Exalted: . This is a command, and the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) clarified this ambiguous reference in his saying: , indicating that this is al-Fatihah. He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: , and said: or , meaning it is defective and not valid. Reciting al-Fatihah is a pillar for every person praying, whether the imam, the follower, or the one praying alone, because the texts regarding this are general and do not exclude anything. If Allah and His Messenger did not exclude anything, it is obligatory to rule with generality, because if there were an exception, Allah and His Messenger would have clarified it, as Allah the Exalted said: . There is no authentic, explicit hadith from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) regarding the dropping of al-Fatihah for the follower, neither in quiet nor loud prayers. However, the difference between quiet and loud prayers is that in loud prayers, one does not recite anything except al-Fatihah and remains silent to listen to the recitation of your imam, whereas in quiet prayers, one recites al-Fatihah and other things until the imam bows. But the Sunnah indicates that an exception to this is when a person comes and the imam is already bowing. If he comes and the imam is bowing, the recitation of al-Fatihah is dropped from him. The evidence for this is what al-Bukhari narrated from Abu Bakrah (may Allah be pleased with him): . Because the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) knew that what drove Abu Bakrah to hurry and bow before reaching the row was the eagerness to catch the rak'ah, so he said to him: , meaning do not return to such an action, so you bow before entering the row and hurry . The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) did not order him to make up the rak'ah that he hurried to catch. If he had not caught it, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) would have ordered him to make it up, because the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) does not delay clarification until the time of need, for he is a messenger, and a messenger will convey whenever the need for conveying arises. Since the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) did not say to him, "You did not catch the rak'ah," it is known that he did catch it. In this case, al-Fatihah is dropped from him.
There is also a reasoning along with the evidence, which is that al-Fatihah is obligatory only while standing, and standing in this case has been dropped in order to follow the imam. So when standing is dropped, the obligatory remembrance within it is dropped. Thus, the evidence and the reasoning indicate that the one who comes and the imam is bowing should say the takbirat al-ihram while standing and not recite, but bow directly. However, if he says the takbir for bowing a second time, that is better. If he does not say it, there is no blame on him; the first takbir is sufficient for him. This is regarding the recitation of al-Fatihah.
A person must recite al-Fatihah while standing. As for what some people do when the imam stands for the second rak'ah, for example, you find that this follower sits and recites half of al-Fatihah while sitting, then stands up while being able to stand. We say to this man that your recitation of al-Fatihah is not valid. Why? Because al-Fatihah must be in a state of standing, and you are able to stand, yet you recited it or part of it while sitting, so this recitation is not valid.
As for what is added beyond al-Fatihah, it is a recommended practice in the first and second rak'ahs. As for the third rak'ah in Maghrib, or the third and fourth in Zuhr, 'Asr, and 'Isha, it is not a recommended practice. The recommended practice is to restrict oneself to al-Fatihah after the two rak'ahs. If one occasionally recites something extra in 'Asr and Zuhr, there is nothing wrong with it, but the principle is to restrict oneself to al-Fatihah in the two rak'ahs after the first tashahhud if it is a four-rak'ah prayer, or the third rak'ah if it is a three-rak'ah prayer.
Among the pillars of the prayer is ruku' (bowing). Ruku' is bending down in reverence to Allah Mighty and Majestic, because you realize that you are standing before Allah, so you bend in reverence to Him Mighty and Majestic. For this reason, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: , meaning say: "Subhan Rabbi al-'Azeem". Because ruku' is reverence by action, and "Subhan Rabbi al-'Azeem" is reverence by speech. So the two reverences come together, in addition to the original reverence, which is the reverence of the heart for Allah, because you do not bend like this except for Allah in reverence to Him. So three reverences come together in ruku': the reverence of the heart, the reverence of the limbs, and the reverence of the tongue. The heart feels or realizes that you bowed in reverence to Allah. The speech says: "Subhan Rabbi al-'Azeem". The limbs bend your back. And success is from Allah.
Praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds. And I send prayers and peace upon our Prophet Muhammad, and upon his family and his Companions, and those who follow them with excellence until the Day of Judgment. As for what follows:
We have previously discussed what was facilitated of the speech regarding establishing the prayer. We mentioned what Allah willed for us to mention, and we reached the point of ruku' and that it is a pillar of the prayer. The obligatory thing in it is bending such that a person is able to touch his knees with his hands. Slight bending does not suffice. It is necessary to bend your back until you are able to touch your knees with your hands. Some scholars said that the obligatory thing is that it be closer to complete ruku' than to complete standing, and the outcome is similar. The important thing is that it is necessary to bend the back.
Among what is required in ruku' is that a person be straight in the back, not curved, and that his head be level with his back. He should place his hands on his knees with fingers spread apart, and keep his upper arms away from his sides, and say: "Subhan Rabbi al-'Azeem", repeating it. And he says: "Subhanaka Allahumma Rabbana wa bihamdika, Allahumma ghfir li". And he says: "Subuh" — may Allah have mercy on you — "Subuh Quddus Rabb al-Mala'ikah wa al-Ruh".
Among the pillars of the prayer is sujud (prostration). Allah Mighty and Majestic said: . Bow and prostrate. And the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: . So sujud is necessary because it is a pillar without which the prayer is not complete.
And he says in his prostration: "Subhan Rabbi al-A'la". Consider the wisdom that in ruku' you say: "Subhan Rabbi al-'Azeem", because the posture is one of magnification. In sujud you say: "Subhan Rabbi al-A'la", because the posture is one of lowering. So a person lowers the highest part of his body, which is the face, to the lowest part of his body, which is the feet. So you see in sujud that the forehead and the feet are in one place, in one place.