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He also instructed the man who had prayed improperly to observe both actions, saying to him:
“None of you completes his prayer until he performs wudu (ablution) thoroughly, as Allah has commanded. Then he pronounces Allahu akbar, praises and glorifies Him, and recites whatever he is able from the Quran of what Allah has taught him and allowed him to recite. After that he pronounces Allahu akbar, bows, [placing his hands on his knees], and remains until his joints are at ease and relaxed …” hadith (1).
and when the imam has acted according to his own ijtihad – and “Allah does not burden any soul beyond its capacity” – while the congregant has done what is required of him, the prayer of each is valid, each has fulfilled his obligation, and the follower has outwardly kept in step with the imam.
The claim that the follower must deem the imam’s prayer invalid is therefore mistaken. The follower in fact believes that the imam has done what was incumbent upon him, that Allah has forgiven any error he may have committed, and that the follower’s own prayer is not rendered null on that account. Even if both imam and follower err—so the imam ends the prayer prematurely and the follower, thinking it permissible, follows him—his prayer remains valid, just as the Muslims behind the Prophet ﷺ followed him when he mistakenly concluded the prayer after two rakʿahs, knowing he had prayed only two; and just as they followed him when he inadvertently prayed five rakʿahs, aware that he had added a fifth, because they regarded such following as permissible. If the follower’s prayer is sound in that circumstance, how much more so when the only one who errs is the imam!
All scholars agree that if the imam pronounces the final salutation in error, the follower’s prayer is not invalid so long as he does not follow him; and that if the imam prays five rakʿahs, the follower’s prayer is still sound provided he does not follow him. This demonstrates that an error committed by the imam does not of itself invalidate the follower’s prayer. Allah knows best.
(1) This point is confirmed in some versions of the hadith transmitted by Rifaaʿa ibn Rafiʿ; it was cited earlier under “The Takbir,” p. 181.
وأمر بهما (المسيء صلاته) فقال له:
" إنها لا تتم صلاة أحدكم حتى يسبغ الوضوء، كما أمره الله ... ثم
يكبر الله، ويحمده، ويمجده، ويقرأ ما تيسر من القرآن مما علمه الله وأذن له
فيه، ثم يكبر، ويركع، [ويضع يديه على ركبتيه] ، حتى تطمئن مفاصله
وتسترخي ... " الحديث (١) .
وإذا كان الإمام قد فعل باجتهاده - و ﴿لَا يُكَلِّفُ اللَّهُ نَفْسًا إِلَّا وُسْعَهَا﴾ -، والمأموم
قد فعل ما وجب عليه؛ كانت صلاة كل منهما صحيحة، وكان كل منهما قد أدى ما
يجب عليه، وقد حصلت موافقة الإمام في الأفعال الظاهرة.
وقول القائل: إن المأموم يعتقد بطلان صلاة الإمام. خطأ منه؛ فإن المأموم يعتقد أن
الإمام فعل ما وجب عليه، وأن الله قد غفر له ما أخطأ فيه، وأنه لا تبطل صلاته لأجل
ذلك، ولو أخطأ الإمام والمأموم فسلم الإمام خطأً، واعتقد المأموم جواز متابعته، فسلَّم
- كما سلَم المسلمون خلف النبي ﷺ لَمَّا سلم من اثنتين سهواً، مع علمهم بأنه إنما
صلى ركعتين، وكما لو صلى خمساً سهواً؛ فصلوا خلفه خمساً؛ كما صلى الصحابة
خلف النبي ﷺ لَمَّا صلى بهم خمساً؛ فتابعوه، مع علمهم بأنه صلى خمساً؛ لاعتقادهم
جواز ذلك -؛ فإنه تصح صلاة المأموم في هذه الحال، فكيف إذا كان المخطئ هو الإمام
وحده؟!
وقد اتفقوا كلهم على أن الإمام لو سلم خطأً؛ لم تبطل صلاة المأموم إذا لم يتابعه،
ولو صلى خمساً، لم تبطل صلاة المأموم إذا لم يتابعه؛ فدلَّ ذلك على أن ما فعله الإمام
خطأً لا يلزم فيه بطلان صلاة المأموم. والله أعلم ".
(١) ثبت ذلك في بعض طرق الحديث من رواية رِفاعة بن رافع. وقد مضى في
(التكبير) [ص ١٨١] .