does not belong here. The purpose is merely to draw attention to the principles of the Sacred Law that sound hearts recognize, as indicated by the words of Allah, Exalted is He, “So fear Allah as much as you are able” [al-Taghābun: 16], and by the words of the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, “When I command you to do something, do as much of it as you are able.” Thus, when two obligations cannot both be fulfilled, the weightier of the two takes precedence and the other is waived [on account of incapacity] recognized by the Sacred Law. The purpose is also to point out certain governing principles in the scholars’ methods of legal reasoning [﵃].

[SECTION ON THE DEPENDENCE OF THE FOLLOWER’S PRAYER UPON THE IMAM’S PRAYER]

SECTION

ON THE [DEPENDENCE] OF THE FOLLOWER’S PRAYER UPON THE IMAM’S PRAYER

There are three views on this matter:

The first is that there is no dependence between the two prayers, for each person prays on his own behalf, and the benefit of following an imam lies in the increased reward earned through congregational prayer. This is the general thrust of al-Shāfiī’s principle. It has, however, been challenged by pointing to his prohibition against someone able to recite al-Fātiha properly following someone unable to do so, and against a man following a woman, as well as his ruling that the prayer of someone following a person whose own prayer is invalid—such as an unbeliever or one lacking ritual purity—is itself invalid. These issues entail discussions that do not belong here.

Among the proofs for this view are the words of the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, concerning imams: “If they perform the prayer properly, both you and they will be rewarded; but if they perform it improperly, you will be rewarded and they will bear the blame.”