a man,” and despite the fact that prohibiting women from leading men in prayer is the position of the majority of scholars.

On the basis of this principle, Ahmad applied the widely transmitted saying of the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, concerning the imam:

“When he prays sitting, all of you should pray sitting.”

The Prophet explained this by saying that it resembles the non-Arabs’ practice of standing for one another. Thus, the obligation to stand was waived for those following the imam because standing entails the harms to which the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, referred: differing from the imam and imitating the non-Arabs in standing for him.

This was also the practice of Companions who led the prayer after him, such as Usayd ibn al-Hudayr: when they fell ill, they prayed sitting, and the people behind them also sat. Ahmad nevertheless disapproved of this when the imam was not the regularly appointed imam, since there was no need to diminish the prayer by following him. For the same reason, he also disapproved of it when the regularly appointed imam suffered from a chronic illness, since he would then be obliged to step down as imam.

He did not consider this ruling abrogated by the fact that, during his illness, the Prophet prayed sitting in the course of a prayer while those following him stood. There is no contradiction between what he commanded and what he did. Moreover, the Companions continued to act upon his command after his death, despite having witnessed his action. A distinction is therefore made between sitting from the beginning of the prayer and sitting partway through it, since both are permissible: his action in no way prohibits what he commanded.

These questions involve subtle discussions for which this is not the place. The sole purpose here is to draw attention to the principles of the Sharia that sound hearts recognize