What is the ruling if the imam’s place is higher than that of the ma’mum?
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
Q: E. M. - From Tiranah, he asks and says: Is it permissible for the imam in prayer to be higher than the ma’mum, meaning: is the mihrab higher than the rest of the mosque?
A: There is no harm in that if the elevation is slight, because the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) prayed on the minbar, then descended and prostrated, and said after the taslim:Sahih Muslim 544a It is agreed upon as authentic. Likewise, it is permissible absolutely if he is with some of the ma’mum, because the need may call for that often, and success is from Allah.
A: There is no harm in that if the elevation is slight, because the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) prayed on the minbar, then descended and prostrated, and said after the taslim:
I have done it so that you should follow me and learn (my mode of) prayer.
إنما فعلت هذا لتأتموا بي ولتعلموا صلاتي
Source
binbaz.org.sa
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.