What is the ruling on the imam pausing after al-Fatihah?

Question:
What is the ruling on the imam pausing in prayer after al-Fatihah? I have heard that it is a religious innovation.

Answer:
The well-known reports in the hadiths mention two pauses: after the first takbir, which is explicitly indicated in the place of the opening supplication, and the second at the end of the recitation before bowing. These are the two preserved pauses. A third pause after reciting al-Fatihah has been narrated, but there is no clear evidence for it, so it is better to leave it out.
As for calling it a religious innovation, I do not see it as appropriate to call it a "religious innovation," but it is better to leave it out. A light pause that is not prolonged is the best. Whoever does it by following the words of some scholars and some narrations that contain some weakness, the matter is broad and easy, if Allah wills. There should be no strictness in this, but it is better to leave it out.
The ma'mum recites even if the imam recites. He recites al-Fatihah and then listens. If the imam is reciting, he recites al-Fatihah quietly and then listens to his imam in the prayers where recitation is loud. As for the prayers where recitation is quiet, the ma'mum recites al-Fatihah and whatever is easy for him with it in the first and second rak'ahs, and in the third and fourth rak'ahs he recites al-Fatihah like the imam. But in the prayers where recitation is loud, he recites only al-Fatihah and then listens.