Question : A question was asked regarding whether it is valid for the Imam to prolong the time of the prayer.

Fatwa in Brief: Extending the prayer is a matter of following the Sunna; it should not depend on the whims of the people.

Shaykh Ibn al-‘Uthaymin, al-Da‘wa Book (5), 2/90-91

Response:

The criteria governing the length of the parayers and how long should the Imam extend the prayer primarily depends on how much can the people comfortably tolerate and not on the individual whims of the Imam. The Sunna dictates how long a prayer should usually last, depending upon the abilities of the worshippers.

Commentary:

In his work, al-Adhkar, al-Nawawi observes that the recommended practice is that the chapter after al-Fatiha in the morning (subh) and afternoon (dhuhr) prayers should be selected from the longer ones. In the ‘asr and ‘isha’ prayers, however, this chapter should be a medium length. While, the chapter for the magrib prayer should short.

According to the scholars, it is recommended (mustahab) for the Imam to use less time in the recitations and supplications during the different motions of the prayers. Instead of reading the longest verses, or invocations, one may read shorter ones [that are still in keeping with the demands of the prayer]. For this reason, Abu Hurayra reported that Prophet (upon him be peace) once said: “When anyone of you happens to lead the prayers, he should make them short and light, because there may be some among your number who are sick, weak or old”.[1]

Prolonging these matters is disliked (makruh). However, if you are leading a smaller number of people with no possibility of outsiders joining them during the prayers, that you know would like you to prolong the prayers, then, it is not disliked but rather recommended that you do so, as you are acting in accordance with their wishes. Indeed, there are some sound hadiths of the Prophet (upon him be peace) in which he is reported to have prolonged the prayers. [Of course] If the Imam does not know the people behind him, and is therefore not sure as to whether or not they wish him to prolong the prayers, then he should not do so. This stance is also supported by sound hadiths. Among them is a hadith attributed to Anas, in which the Prophet (upon him be peace) declares “When I stand up for prayer, I sometimes intend to prolong it; but then I hear some child crying and instead I shorten the prayer because I know that the child’s crying would upset the mother (who might be offering her Prayer behind me)”. This hadith is included in the collections of Bukhari and Muslim.

Even if a group of worshippers gathered in a mosque wish to prolong the prayer, however, the accessibility of the mosque to others who may not withstand the lengthy recitations should prevent the Imam from prolonging the prayer.

The Imam may extend the duration of the prayer so that it does not exceed the capabilities of people praying. This should never be according to the whim of the Imam to select from the practice of the Prophet what he [the Imam] wills. Rather, the Sunna dictates how long a prayer should usually last, depending upon people’s abilities.[2] Therefore, the hadith sources show that reading the Qur’anic al-A‘raf (chapter 7), or a shorter chapter, are both recommended (sunan) for prayers.[3] The decision on which to choose, however, is not left to the capriciousness of the Imam; rather, this decision must depend upon the capabilities of those praying behind him.

And God knows best.

Dr. Ahmad ‘Id