Shaykh al-Islām also said:

Section

Scholars differ over whether reciting behind the imam is obligatory or recommended.

Some hold that it is disliked in all circumstances, as is the view of Abū Hanīfah and others.

Others hold that reciting al-Fātihah is obligatory in all circumstances, as is al-Shāfiʿī’s later position and the view of others. This is also Ibn Hazm’s view, with the further stipulation that reciting anything else is not prescribed under any circumstances.

Still others hold that reciting al-Fātihah is obligatory only in prayers with silent recitation, as in al-Shāfiʿī’s earlier position. Imam Ahmad reported a consensus that it is not obligatory in prayers with audible recitation.

The majority hold that it is not obligatory, nor is it disliked in all circumstances. Rather, reciting al-Fātihah and other passages is recommended in prayers with silent recitation and during the imam’s pauses. This is the position of Mālik, Ahmad, and others.

If, however, the imam leaves no pauses in which one can recite, is recitation disliked, or is reciting al-Fātihah recommended? There are two views on this. The position of Ahmad and the majority of his followers is that reciting either al-Fātihah or anything else is disliked, while a group held that it is recommended