Hadith Lesson: Conditions for Being Imām

As-Salāmu ‘Alaykum wa RaḥmatuLlāhi wa Barakātuh. A‘ūdhu BiLlāhi Minash-shayṭāni r-rajīm. BismiLlāhi r-Raḥmāni r-Raḥīm. Wa ṣ-Salātu wa s-Salāmu ‘alá Rasūlinā Muḥammadin Sayyidi l-Awwalīna wa l-Akhirīn. Madad yā RasūlAllāh, Madad yā Sādāti Aṣḥābi RasūliLlāh, Madad yā Mashāyikhinā, Dastūr Mawlana Sheikh Abdullāh al-Fā’iz ad-Dāghistāni, Sheikh Muḥammad Nāẓim al-Ḥaqqānī. Madad.

1Qala RasuluLlah salla Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam The Messenger of Allāh ﷻ (peace be upon him ﷺ) says:

Our Holy Prophet ﷺ is saying, “You should make the best among yourselves your imāms of prayer. Because they are your messengers between you and your Lord.” So imāms of prayer used to have attributes in old times. The most learned, the most knowledgeable person, the most Hafiz person would be the imām. Therefore, they are the best, said our Holy Prophet ﷺ, make him the imām. Imām is not the unknowledgeable, he is the one who is both pious and knowledgeable, and he is more acceptable.

2Qala RasuluLlah salla Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam The Messenger of Allāh ﷻ (peace be upon him ﷺ) says:

Our Holy Prophet ﷺ is saying, “When the iqāmah is made for Fard prayer, you cannot perform any other prayer except the Fard prayer.” So, when the iqāmah is recited, the one who performs the Sunnah prayer continues. Who didn’t reach the Sunnah prayer, he should directly follow the Fard prayer.

3Qala RasuluLlah salla Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam The Messenger of Allāh ﷻ (peace be upon him ﷺ) says:

Our Holy Prophet ﷺ is saying, “When the Iqamah is called for Fard prayer in congregation, do not come to it rushing.” Some people run to catch up. Our Prophet ﷺ says don’t do that. “Rather come to it walking, and while you have tranquility. What you catch of it then pray it,” if you reached the first rak’ah, it’s good. If you reached the second rak’ah, you can catch up; no problem. “And what you missed of it, then complete it yourself after the imām gives salam.” Complete what you missed.

4Qala RasuluLlah salla Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam The Messenger of Allāh ﷻ (peace be upon him ﷺ) says:

Our Holy Prophet ﷺ is saying, “When the iqāma for prayer is pronounced, do not get up till you see me.” First the imām will stand, then the congregation will stand, when the iqāma is recited.

5Qala RasuluLlah salla Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam The Messenger of Allāh ﷻ (peace be upon him ﷺ) says:

Our Holy Prophet ﷺ is saying, “When one of you leads the congregation in prayer, he should be brief,” He should keep the prayer short and light; not lengthen it. “For among them are the young and the old, the weak, the sick and those who have needs to attend to.” When there are such cases, if they stand in prayer for a long time, some of them will break their ablution. Therefore, pray light and quick when you are an imām; don’t make it long. “But when one of you prays by himself, he may be as long as he likes.”

6Qala RasuluLlah salla Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam The Messenger of Allāh ﷻ (peace be upon him ﷺ) says:

Our Holy Prophet ﷺ is saying, “When you you enter a masjid, pray along with the congregation even if you have already prayed.” If there is an imām, follow him. Pray following him if you have a qada’ prayer, or if you don’t have qada’, pray nāfilah.

People ask about that a lot. Our brothers do that a lot. When the time of prayer enters, they would be waiting for us in front of the mosque, while they are praying inside. You pray too. It would be better if you pray a second time when we come. Everyone already has a qada’ prayer. They should definitely pray it. It can be prayed a second time; it’s no problem.

7Qala RasuluLlah salla Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam The Messenger of Allāh ﷻ (peace be upon him ﷺ) says:

Our Holy Prophet ﷺ is saying, “If one of you prays in his house and then enters the mosque while the congregation are praying, then let him pray again with them.” A man who prayed at home then went to the mosque and saw that there was a congregation, our Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam said, let him pray with them. “Because this prayer he will pray will be a nāfilah prayer for him.” Of course, at that time, the ṣaḥābah had no qada’ prayers. So it would be a nāfilah for them. But for most of us, it won’t be a nāfilah but directly a qada’ prayer. If there is no qada’, then it replaces the nāfilah prayer.

8Qala RasuluLlah salla Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam The Messenger of Allāh ﷻ (peace be upon him ﷺ) says:

Our Holy Prophet ﷺ is saying, “When the Imām recites aloud in Maghrib, Isha and Fajr prayer, then listen attentively.” While the imām is reciting,

according to our Hanafi Madhhab, you don’t have to read following with the imām. According to Shafi’i, the imām makes a pause after Al-Fatiha so that they recite AlFatihah. Then, the imām continues.

9Qala RasuluLlah salla Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam The Messenger of Allāh ﷻ (peace be upon him ﷺ) says:

Our Holy Prophet ﷺ is saying, “When three people pray, one of them should lead them in prayer as an imām.” So if there are three people, one of them should be the imām, says our Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam. “The one who is most worthy of being an imām is the one who knows and reads the Qur’an best.”

10-Qala RasuluLlah salla Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam The Messenger of Allāh ﷻ (peace be upon him ﷺ) says:

Our Holy Prophet ﷺ is saying, “When three people come together for prayer, let the one who recites Qur’an best be the imām.” The one who recites the best among the three becomes the imām. “But if they are all the same in reading Qur’an, if they were equal, the oldest should be the imām. However, if they are equal in age then the most beautiful in terms of facial beauty should be the imām,” says our Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam. So to be the imām, one must be the best. And our Holy Prophet ﷺ tells us all the conditions one by one.

11-Qala RasuluLlah salla Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam The Messenger of Allāh ﷻ (peace be upon him ﷺ) says:

Our Holy Prophet ﷺ is saying, “Does he who raises his head before the imām not fear that Allah may change his head into a donkey’s head or his face into a donkey’s face.” Who raises his head before the imām, may

Allāh ﷻ protect us, his face becomes a donkey’s face, says our Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam. Even if his face doesn’t change, he receives the manifestation of that. That’s why, you must be careful. Sometimes most people try to get up before the imām. If it happens by mistake, it’s not a problem. But there are those who are constantly do it making it a habit. Therefore, we must be careful about it.

12-Qala RasuluLlah salla Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam The Messenger of Allāh ﷻ (peace be upon him ﷺ) says:

Our Holy Prophet ﷺ is saying, “When one of you raises his head in prayer, does he not fear that his eyes will not return to him?” So, while praying, one should not raise his head to look here and there. There is danger upon his eyes, says our Prophet ﷺ. Be careful. Look at the place of prostration in prayer. Even when you get up, you mustn’t look here and there.

13-Qala RasuluLlah salla Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam The Messenger of Allāh ﷻ (peace be upon him ﷺ) says:

Our Holy Prophet ﷺ is saying, “When I begin the prayer. I intend to make it long,” the most beloved thing to our Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ‘alayhi wasallam is prayer. So he ﷺ says, “I intend to make it long, but I hear a boy crying and shorten my prayer, being aware of his mother’s emotion for she cannot bear her child’s crying.” May Allāh ﷻ grant us all to follow him ﷺ, in shā’a Llāh. He ﷺ shows us and teaches us the best of everything. May He ﷻ grant us to follow that way.

Sadaqa RasuluLlah fi ma qal, aw kama qal. The Messenger of Allāh ﷻ says the truth in what he ﷺ said or as he ﷺ said.

Ihda’ – Dedication:

Ziyadatan ila sharafi’ ‘n-Nabi, sallaLlahu `alayhi wa sallam wa Alihi wa Asahabihi l-kiram, wa ila arwahi jamee’i al Anbiya’i wa l-Mursalin wa Khudama’i sharai’ihim wa ila arwahi al ‘Aimmati al arba’a, wa ila arwahi Mashayyikhina fi tTariqati n-Naqshbandiyyati l-Aliyyah, khassatan Imamu t-Tariqah wa Ghawthu lKhaliqah Khwaja Bahauddin Muhammad al-Uwaisiyi l-Bukhari, Sayyidina Abdul Khaliq al Ghujduwani, Mawlana Shaykh Sharafuddin al Daghestani, Mawlana Shaykh Abdullah al Faiz al Daghestani, Mawlana Shaykh Muhammad Nazim Adil al Haqqani, wa sai’ri Sadatina wa s-Siddiqiyun, wa man nahnu fi hadratihim wa jiwarihim, for the souls of all our passed ones, for the souls of all Shaheeds. LiLlahi Ta’ala, Al-Fatiha.

[(Translation) To the honor of the Prophet, Prayers and Peace be upon Him, and his family, and his companions, and the souls of all the prophets as well as of His messengers and of those who served their Sharia, and to the souls of the four Imams. And to the souls of our Mashayikh of the Most Distinguished Naqshbandi Tariqa, in particular to the soul of the Imam of the Tariqa Ghawth alKhaliqa (the Help of Creation), Khwaja Bahauddin Muhammad al-Uwaisiyi lBukhari, Sayyidina Abdul Khaliq al Ghujduwani, Mawlana Shaykh Sharafuddin al Daghestani, Mawlana Shaykh Abdullah al Faiz al Daghestani, Mawlana Shaykh Muhammad Nazim Adil al Haqqani, and the rest of our masters and Siddiqiyun, and to whom we are in their presence and near them, for the souls of all our passed ones, for the souls of all Shaheeds. To Allah Almighty. Al Fatiha.]

Mawlana Sheikh Muhammad Adil ar-Rabbani 11 March 2025/ 11 Ramadan 1446 Beylerbeyi Dergah, Istanbul