to lead them in prayer from a raised spot. Al-Haythamī says in al-Majmaʿ: “All of its transmitters are those found in the Ṣaḥīḥ.”

Some scholars have argued that the prohibition applies only when the elevation equals or exceeds the height of a man and only if it is inside the mosque; in every other situation, they deem it permissible. Yet there is no evidence in the Sunnah for such fine-grained distinctions; it is pure opinion. In fact, any place that can be described, in ordinary language or custom, as higher than the location of the worshippers is covered by the prohibition.

Accordingly, al-Shawkānī, after citing the jurists’ attempts to differentiate, concluded:

“Taken together, the proofs forbid the imam from standing above the congregation, making no distinction between mosque and elsewhere, between one body-length, less, or more. This is because Ibn Masʿūd said, ‘They used to forbid us from that,’ and because of his statement, ‘The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, forbade…’, and so forth.”

He then added:

“As for the congregation’s being higher than the imam, if the elevation is excessive—more than three hundred cubits—so that the worshippers cannot discern the imam’s movements, it is unanimously forbidden, whether inside a mosque or not. If it is below that height, the default ruling is permissibility until a proof to the contrary is established, and this default is supported by the previously mentioned practice of Abū Hurayrah, which no one condemned.”

I say: The report of Abū Hurayrah just mentioned is given in suspended form by al-Bukhārī in his Ṣaḥīḥ. Ibn Abī Shaybah supplied its full chain through Ṣāliḥ, the client of al-Tawaʾmah, who said, “I prayed with Abū Hurayrah on the roof of the mosque, following the imam’s prayer.” Al-Ḥāfiẓ said: