What is the ruling on the practice of some of our brothers in Ramadan, where they pray four rak'ahs of the night prayer with the imam, then delay the rest and pray them in congregation at the end of the night in the same mosque?
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The Shaykh: Yes.
The questioner : Hello, peace be upon you.
The Shaykh: And upon you peace.
The questioner : How is our Shaykh doing?
The Shaykh : Praise be to Allah, I am well.
The questioner : May Allah keep you well.
The Shaykh : May Allah preserve you. How is Ziyad?
The questioner : May Allah preserve you and bless you.
The Shaykh : If Allah wills, I am well.
The questioner : Praise be to Allah.
The Shaykh : You are welcome.
The questioner : May Allah reward you with good.
The Shaykh : May Allah preserve you.
The questioner : Our Shaykh, we want to outdo you. I have two questions.
The Shaykh: Go ahead.
The questioner : The first: regarding some of our brothers in the last ten nights, they pray with the imam, of course, this is in the night prayer. They pray four rak'ahs with the imam, then delay the rest and pray them in congregation at the end of the night in the same mosque where they prayed, of course, the complete prayer led by the regular imam.
The Shaykh: Yes.
The questioner : What is your guidance on this? I mean, what is your opinion?
The Shaykh : By Allah, this question has become frequent recently in Ramadan.
The questioner: Yes.
The Shaykh : My answer to that is that the matter varies from mosque to mosque.
The questioner: Yes.
The Shaykh : So if there is agreement in the mosque on the imam, and he prays a prescribed prayer, then they should not disperse.
The questioner : Very good.
The Shaykh : As was the case in the time of 'Umar when he gathered the Companions around Uthman ibn al-Athir.
The questioner: Yes.
The Shaykh : And the people would pray behind him, and 'Umar said, as it came in al-Bukhari: "What a good innovation this is, and the one who sleeps from it is better."
The questioner: Yes.
The Shaykh : He is referring to the fact that delaying the night prayer is better.
The questioner: Yes.
The Shaykh : But if the matter is between delaying and hastening with the congregation, then hastening is, I mean, closer to the Sunnah.
The questioner : Very good.
The Shaykh : Therefore, one should strive to return to what the earliest generations were upon.
The questioner: Yes.
The Shaykh : And that is maintaining the unity of the congregation and performing the prayer in its first time, as that is easier for the majority of the worshippers, and not delaying and dividing the night prayer into two halves.
The questioner: Yes.
The Shaykh : And secondly: dividing the congregation into two groups.
The questioner: Yes.
The Shaykh : This is what we see and we encourage it. But if there is an imam who does not respond to the Sunnah, for example.
The questioner: Yes.
The Shaykh : And the people or some of the people do not respond to the imam, even if he is upon the Sunnah, because he likes to lengthen it a bit, then the matter becomes two-sided.
The questioner: Yes.
The Shaykh : The preference varies from place to place, and I was asked about this yesterday in the mosque, so I cannot give one ruling for all the mosques.
The questioner: Yes.
The Shaykh : The imam is the one responsible for preferring one of the two views.
The questioner: Yes.
The Shaykh : This is what I have, and Allah knows best.
The questioner: Yes.
The questioner : Hello, peace be upon you.
The Shaykh: And upon you peace.
The questioner : How is our Shaykh doing?
The Shaykh : Praise be to Allah, I am well.
The questioner : May Allah keep you well.
The Shaykh : May Allah preserve you. How is Ziyad?
The questioner : May Allah preserve you and bless you.
The Shaykh : If Allah wills, I am well.
The questioner : Praise be to Allah.
The Shaykh : You are welcome.
The questioner : May Allah reward you with good.
The Shaykh : May Allah preserve you.
The questioner : Our Shaykh, we want to outdo you. I have two questions.
The Shaykh: Go ahead.
The questioner : The first: regarding some of our brothers in the last ten nights, they pray with the imam, of course, this is in the night prayer. They pray four rak'ahs with the imam, then delay the rest and pray them in congregation at the end of the night in the same mosque where they prayed, of course, the complete prayer led by the regular imam.
The Shaykh: Yes.
The questioner : What is your guidance on this? I mean, what is your opinion?
The Shaykh : By Allah, this question has become frequent recently in Ramadan.
The questioner: Yes.
The Shaykh : My answer to that is that the matter varies from mosque to mosque.
The questioner: Yes.
The Shaykh : So if there is agreement in the mosque on the imam, and he prays a prescribed prayer, then they should not disperse.
The questioner : Very good.
The Shaykh : As was the case in the time of 'Umar when he gathered the Companions around Uthman ibn al-Athir.
The questioner: Yes.
The Shaykh : And the people would pray behind him, and 'Umar said, as it came in al-Bukhari: "What a good innovation this is, and the one who sleeps from it is better."
The questioner: Yes.
The Shaykh : He is referring to the fact that delaying the night prayer is better.
The questioner: Yes.
The Shaykh : But if the matter is between delaying and hastening with the congregation, then hastening is, I mean, closer to the Sunnah.
The questioner : Very good.
The Shaykh : Therefore, one should strive to return to what the earliest generations were upon.
The questioner: Yes.
The Shaykh : And that is maintaining the unity of the congregation and performing the prayer in its first time, as that is easier for the majority of the worshippers, and not delaying and dividing the night prayer into two halves.
The questioner: Yes.
The Shaykh : And secondly: dividing the congregation into two groups.
The questioner: Yes.
The Shaykh : This is what we see and we encourage it. But if there is an imam who does not respond to the Sunnah, for example.
The questioner: Yes.
The Shaykh : And the people or some of the people do not respond to the imam, even if he is upon the Sunnah, because he likes to lengthen it a bit, then the matter becomes two-sided.
The questioner: Yes.
The Shaykh : The preference varies from place to place, and I was asked about this yesterday in the mosque, so I cannot give one ruling for all the mosques.
The questioner: Yes.
The Shaykh : The imam is the one responsible for preferring one of the two views.
The questioner: Yes.
The Shaykh : This is what I have, and Allah knows best.
The questioner: Yes.
Source
www.al-albany.com
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.