Chapter #32 المُُوَافِق والمَسْبُوق والإمَامMuwafiq, Masbook and Imam

 Know who is Muwafiq
 Understand Shuroot of an Imam
 Know when one could be Masbook

Muwafiq

One who gets enough time for reading Fatiha in his Imam’s standing (قِيَام) is called موافق. He should complete Fatiha and he is excused to delay his standing قِيَام up to three long Arkaan(أَرْكَان).  Some of the reasons of excuses are:

1. Reading Sunan such as افتتاح and تَعَوُّذ.
2. Ma’moom’s Fatiha reading is slow compared to a moderate reading.
3. Having doubt about reading Fatiha before his Rukū.

If he couldn’t complete Fatiha even after three long أَرْكَان of Imam, he should join Imam immediately and substitute it with an extraركعة.

Masbook

One who didn’t get enough time for reading Fatiha in his Imam’s standing (قِيَام) is called مَسْبُوق.

One could be مَسْبُوقif

1. He Joined Imam who has already read Fathia.
2. He was unable to stand from Sujood until imam is preparing to do Rukū.
3. His imam is reading Fathia more than moderate speed.

Masbook is excused from reading Fatiha on the condition that he stays simultaneously with his imam in Rukū.

• Immediately after Takbeeratul Ihram, a Masbook should start reading Fatiha. If he started readingافتتاح or تَعَوّذ, then he should read same amount of Fatiha.
• It is Sunnah for Masbook not to stand unless imam completed two Salaam.

Conditions of Imam

1. Ma’moom should believe that his Imam’s Salaat is valid.
2. Imam should not be a Ma’moom.
3. The Salaat of Imam should not require to be repeated.
4. He should not be Ummiyy (أُمِّيّ/one who is unable to recite Quran).
5. Female should not stand as imam for males.

A مُتَيَمَّم (Tayammum having person) could be imam of مُتَوَضِّئ (Wudu having person) and a person praying in sitting position can be imam of a person praying in standing position.

It is مَكْرُوه to follow the following Imams:

1. The immoral (فَاسِق).
2. Innovator (مُبْتَدِع/one who follows Bid’ah or misguided innovation in the religion).
3. One who reads letters of Quran wrongly but it doesn’t change the meaning.

It is valid to follow any kind of Imams either righteous or wicked. The reward would be according to the status of Imams. Whenever a following an Imam is مَكْرُوه, the reward of جَمَاعَة is missed.

When choosing a Imam, one who has more knowledge (الأَفْقَه) is preferred to one who can read Quran well (الأقْرَأ). The both are preferred to one who is pious (الأَوْرَع).

This is excerpts from the book Salaat (Brief rulings of Prayer in Shafi Madh’hab) by Abdu Shaheed Azhary. To download the full chapter click the below link. To support us, please consider acquiring the digital copy of the book from Amazon