The ruling on the imam's pause after reciting al-Fatihah

Q: What is the ruling on the imam's pause after al-Fatihah, and I have heard that it is a religious innovation?

A: What is established in the hadiths are two pauses: the first is after the opening takbir, and this is called the pause for the opening supplication; the second is at the end of the recitation, before the imam bows, and it is a brief pause that separates the recitation from the bowing.
A third pause after reciting al-Fatihah has been reported, but the hadith regarding it is weak, and there is no clear evidence for it, so it is better to leave it out. As for calling it a religious innovation, there is no basis for that, because the disagreement on this point is well-known among the scholars. For those who recommend it, there is a semblance of evidence, so one should not be strict about it. And if someone does it by following the words of some scholars, based on what came in some hadiths indicating its recommendation, there is no blame on him, and one should not be strict about this, as mentioned earlier.
The ma'mum recites al-Fatihah during the imam's pauses. If the imam does not have a pause, the ma'mum recites al-Fatihah even while the imam is reciting, and then he listens to the imam, based on the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him): We said: Yes. He said: It was narrated by Imam Ahmad and al-Tirmidhi with a good chain of narration. This applies to the prayers where the recitation is loud. As for the prayers where the recitation is quiet, the ma'mums recite al-Fatihah and whatever of the Qur'an is easy for them to recite with it in the first and second rak'ahs of the midday and afternoon prayers. And success is from Allah.