there is no blame upon them. I later tracked down the report from Ibn al-Zubayr just mentioned and demonstrated its authenticity under hadith 952 in al-Ḍaʿīfah, following it with another sound narration from Abū Hurayrah stating that he would say Āmīn aloud behind the imam and prolong his voice. At that point I inclined to acting upon both reports, and I subsequently found that Imām Aḥmad held the same view, as related by his son ʿAbd Allāh in Masāʾil 72/259.

Moreover, the author’s statement, “It is recommended for every person praying …,” conflicts with the plain wording of the Prophet’s saying, “When the imam says Āmīn, then say Āmīn…,” and similar texts that the author will cite, all of which indicate that taʾmīn is incumbent upon the follower. Al-Shawkānī adopted this view in Nayl al-Awṭār 2/187, though not unconditionally; he restricted the obligation to the case where the imam himself says Āmīn, whereas for the imam and for the individual worshiper it remains merely recommended. He said:

“Ibn Bazīzah transmitted from some scholars that it is obligatory for the follower, acting on the apparent command, and the Ẓāhirīs deemed it obligatory for everyone who prays.”

I say: Ibn Ḥazm, one of the leading Ẓāhirīs as is well known, did not hold it to be obligatory without qualification; rather, with the aforementioned restriction he said in al-Muḥallā 2/262: “As for saying Āmīn, as has been mentioned, the imam and the individual say it as a recommended sunnah, whereas the follower must say it—it is compulsory and cannot be omitted.”

I therefore say that special care must be taken not to neglect it.

Part of perfecting this practice is to coincide with the imam and not to precede him. This is something the vast majority of worshipers in every land I have had occasion to visit—those who pronounce the taʾmīn aloud—have failed to observe: they get ahead of the imam, beginning before he begins. The cause of this blatant contravention is the prevalence of ignorance among them and the failure of mosque imams, teachers, and preachers to instruct and alert them, until the Prophet’s words, “When the imam says Āmīn, then say Āmīn…,” have been virtually forgotten among them, save for the few whom Allah protects.