Yet when someone following an imam makes an inadvertent error, his imam bears responsibility for that lapse on his behalf because he is following him, even though he could perform the prostrations after the closing salutation. Listening silently to the imam’s recitation is an even fuller expression of following him, for the imam recites aloud precisely so that others may listen to his recitation. If one of the worshippers occupies himself with his own recitation, it is like addressing someone who is not listening, or delivering a sermon to people who are all talking. Whoever does this is, as stated in the hadith,

“like a donkey carrying books.”

He has not understood what following means, just like someone who raises his head before the imam: he too is like a donkey. Hence the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) said:

“Does the one who raises his head before the imam not fear that his head will be turned into a donkey’s head?”

He is following the imam, so how can he race ahead of him? For this reason, ʿUmar struck someone who did this and said, “You have neither prayed alone nor followed your imam.” Someone who raises his head inadvertently is instructed to return to his former posture and delay following the imam by the same interval by which he had preceded him. Ahmad and others explicitly stated this, and he and others cited reports from the Companions concerning it.

As for the Prophet’s statement (may Allah bless him and grant him peace):

“Whoever offers a prayer without reciting the Mother of the Quran in it, that prayer is deficient.”

The report continues: I said, “Abū Hurayrah, I sometimes pray behind the imam.” He replied, “Recite it to yourself, Persian, for I heard the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) say, ‘Allah said: “I have divided the prayer between Myself and My servant into two halves”’”—and so on to the end of the hadith. This is an authentic hadith, recorded by Muslim in his Sahīh.