—nor with excessive prolongation, for the Prophet’s ﷺ manner of prayer is well known. Hence the brevity that is commanded is relative: it is gauged by what the Prophet ﷺ himself practiced, maintained, and instructed—not by the wishes of the congregation. Al-Bukhari (708) and Muslim (469) record that Anas said, “I have never prayed behind any imam whose prayer was lighter, nor more complete, than the Prophet’s ﷺ.”
Al-Mubdiʿ notes that when the Prophet’s ﷺ prayer was timed, his prostration lasted about the span required to say “Subḥāna rabbiyal-aʿlā (Glory be to my Lord, the Most High)” ten times, and his bowing was of similar length. He also said, “Pray as you have seen me pray,” as related by al-Bukhari. Shaykh al-Islām (Ibn Taymiyyah) remarked, “The imam has no right to go beyond what the Law has prescribed. As a rule he should do most of what the Prophet ﷺ habitually did, lengthening or shortening whenever a valid benefit calls for it, just as the Prophet ﷺ would lengthen or shorten for such benefit.”
Ibn ʿAbd al-Barr said, “The requirement of brevity for imams is a matter of consensus; its recommendation is undisputed, provided that completeness is preserved.”
-
Temptation (fitnah) can arise even in acts of worship when a person exceeds their proper limits; wearing people out in devotion and making it burdensome for them is one such form of fitnah.
-
Reciting the surahs mentioned in the hadith—and others of comparable middle length—is considered moderate in prayer, and the bowing and prostration should be proportionate to the recitation.
Scholarly disagreement:
The jurists have differed over the validity of an imam who is praying voluntarily leading people who are praying an obligatory salah.
• The Hanafis, Malikis, and Hanbalis deem it invalid, citing the hadith, “The imam has been appointed only to be followed, so do not differ with him,” arguing that the difference in their intentions constitutes an impermissible divergence.
• Al-Shafiʿi, al-Awzaʿi, and al-Tabari hold it valid for someone praying an obligatory prayer to follow an imam who is praying voluntarily. This is also one narration from Imam Ahmad, preferred by Shaykh al-Islām and Ibn al-Qayyim. Their evidence is Muʿādh’s hadith in the two Ṣaḥīḥs, as well as the Prophet’s ﷺ prayer of fear, in which he led his companions in two prayers, each group praying one rakʿah with him, and the Prophet ﷺ ending each with salām. [Narrated by Abū Dāwūd].