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Praying behind an Imam who is reading from a mushaf

Answered as per Hanafi Fiqh by Qibla.com

Answered by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani

Am I (Hanafi) allowed to pray tarawih salah behind an Imam who reads from the mushaf while leading tarawih.

Answer:
In the Name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful

Walaikum assalam wa rahmatullah,

I pray that this finds you well, and in the best of health and spirits. May Allah grant you all good and success in this life and the next.

It is valid in the Shafii school for the imam to perform tarawih while reciting from a copy of the Qur’an. In mixed communities (where there are many non-Hanafis or where such practices are common, or when this is the practice of one’s area), one can follow the position that what counts for the permissibility of praying behind someone is that their prayer be valid on any madhhab. As such, it would be permitted to pray in such a congregation.

This is closer to unity and avoiding fitna, and this is what a number of reliable Hanafi scholars give fatwa on.

[Note, however, that the more famous position of the Hanafi school is that such a congregation would be invalid. This is difficult to apply in mixed communities. And Allah knows best.]

And Allah alone gives success.

Faraz Rabbani

This answer was indexed from Qibla.com, which used to have a repository of Islamic Q&A answered by various scholars. The website is no longer in existence. It has now been transformed into a learning portal with paid Islamic course offering under the brand of Kiflayn.