- “When the imam recites, ‘not of those who incur wrath, nor of those who go astray,’ and then says Amin, say Amin, for the angels say Amin to his supplication. Whoever’s saying Amin coincides with the angels’ saying Amin will have his past sins forgiven.”
Abu Ya‘la narrated it (4/1408): ‘Amr al-Naqid narrated to us; Sufyan informed us, from al-Zuhri, from Sa‘id, from Abu Hurayrah, who said: The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said it.’ I say:
This is an authentic chain of transmission meeting the conditions of al-Bukhari and Muslim. ‘Amr is Ibn Muhammad ibn Bukayr al-Naqid, Abu ‘Uthman al-Baghdadi, a trustworthy hadith master. Al-Bukhari, Muslim, and others relied upon him as evidence. Both of them, as well as others, narrated it, and it is cited in al-Irwa’ (344) with the wording: “When the imam says Amin, say Amin, for whoever coincides...” and so on.
I have only cited it with the wording given in the heading because of the additional phrase it contains—namely, after “nor of those who go astray”: “and then the imam says Amin, say Amin.” This explicitly establishes two matters: first, that the imam says Amin after completing al-Fatihah; and second, that the congregant says Amin after the imam has finished saying Amin.
Numerous interpretations have been offered to explain the version recorded by al-Bukhari and Muslim, which al-Hafiz mentioned in al-Fath (2/218–219). Among them is that the meaning of “when he says Amin” is that he reaches the point at which Amin is said, just as one says anjada, “he has come to Najd,” when someone reaches Najd, even before entering it. Ibn al-‘Arabi said: “This is far-fetched both linguistically and legally.” Ibn Daqiq al-‘Id said: “This is figurative usage; if there is evidence to support it, it may be adopted; otherwise, the presumption is that it is not intended.”
Al-Hafiz said: “They cited in support of this the narration of Abu Salih from Abu Hurayrah, worded: ‘When the imam says, “nor of those who go astray,” then say Amin.’ They said: Reconciling the two narrations requires that the statement, ‘when he says Amin,’ be understood figuratively.”