Abu Hazim said: “Sahl bin Sa’d As-Sa’idi used to give preference to the young to lead his people in prayer. It was said to him: “Do you do that, when you have such seniority (in Islam)?” He said: “I heard the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) say: ‘The Imam is responsible. If he does well, then he will have the reward and so will they, but if he does badly, then that will be counted against him but not against them.’”
Read More..It was narrated that Salamah bint Hurr, the sister of Kharashah, said: “I heard the Prophet (ﷺ) say: ‘A time will come when the people will stand for a long time and will not be able to find any Imam to lead them in prayer.”
Read More..It was narrated from Abu ‘Ali Al-Hamdani that he went out in a ship in which ‘Uqbah bin ‘Amir Al-Juhani was present. The time for prayer came, and we told him to lead us in prayer and said to him: “You are the most deserving of that, you were the Companion of the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ).” But he refused and said: “I heard the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) say: ‘Whoever leads the people and gets it right, the prayer will be for him and for them, but if he falls short, then that will be counted against him but not against them.”
Read More..It was narrated that Abu Mas’ud said: “A man came to the Prophet (ﷺ) and said: ‘O Messenger of Allah! I stay behind and do not perform the morning prayer (in congregation) because of so-and-so, for he makes it too long for us.’ I never saw the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) preaching with such anger as he did that day. He said; ‘O people! There are among you those who repel others. Whoever among you leads others in prayer, let him keep it short, for among them are those who are weak and elderly, and those who have pressing needs.’”
Read More..It was narrated that Anas bin Malik said: “The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) used to make his prayer brief but perfect.”
Read More..It was narrated that Jabir said: “Mu’adh bin Jabal Al-Ansari led his companions in the ‘Isha’ prayer and he made it long. A man among us went away and prayed by himself. Mu’adh was told about that and he said: ‘He is a hypocrite.’ When the man heard about that, he went to the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) and told him what Mu’adh had said to him. The Prophet (ﷺ) said: ‘Do you want to be a cause of Fitnah (trial, tribulation), O Mu’adh? When you lead the people in prayer, recite “By the sun and its brightness,”[Ash-Shams 91] and “Glorify the Name of your Lord the Most High,” [Al-A’la 87] and “By the night as it envelopes,” [Al-Lail 92] and “Recite in the Name of your Lord.’”[Al-‘Alaq]
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