Muharramat

Praying in jama’a or congregation is a blessing from the blessings of Allah, and a meritorious action. Those who attend the congregational prayers are rewarded up to twenty-seven times more than one offering the Salah alone. It strengthens the brotherhood and brings happiness to the one who engages in it.

There are etiquettes for salah in congregation, of which one must be aware.

The imam is the leader of the congregation, and those behind him are followers. Thus they should not precede him; they should await his ‘signal’ (i.e. saying the takbeer) before performing the next action. The Prophet has cautioned us, when he said, “does the person who raises his head before the imam, not fear that Allah may turn his head into the head of a donkey?” (Muslim, 1/320-321)

What other deterrent do we need? Who would like to walk around with his head resembling and in the form of a donkey’s? What an embarrassment and shame it would be! I adjure you to fear Allah!

Knowing that people are forgetful, the Prophet was not short in reminding. When he (peace be upon him) grew old, he announced, “O people I have gained weight, so do not anticipate me in performing ruku, and sujood.” (Al Bayhaqi, 2/93 and classed Hasan)

What an excellent teacher our Prophet was! He reminded the people, and took into account the change in circumstances. He further instructed us, “The imam is only appointed to be followed, so when he says takbeer, then say takbeer; when he bows, then bow (and do not bow until he bows), when he says ‘Sami’a Allahu liman hamidah’, then say ‘Allahumma rabbana lakal hamd’. If he prays standing then pray standing.” (Bukhari 378, Muslim 417, Abu Dawud 603)

The words ‘do not’ indicate a command, and it is imperative that we oblige. It is also concluded from the above hadith that it is prohibited to precede the imam. If a person does so knowingly, their prayer is invalid, and if they do so out of forgetfulness, their prayer is valid, but they should be cautious.

The best of generations was the sahabahs, and so we should learn from their example. Bara ibn Azib describes their prayer, “When he (peace be upon him) raised his head from ruku’ I would never see anyone bending his back in sujood until the Messenger had placed his forehead on the ground, then everyone would go down in sujood behind him.” (Muslim 474) So the next time you pray in congregation, wait for the imam before making the next movement.

To help us, the fuqaha (jurists) have described a way to control this issue. They said, that a person following the imam should only start his movements after the imam has finished pronouncing the ‘ra’ (r) of ‘Allahu Akbar’ and only then is a person permitted to move, not before or after. This will inshallah make it easy for us to follow the Sunnah in this matter.

May Allah aid us in perfecting our Salah.