Standing at “Hayya ‘ala-s-salah”: When Should the Imam and Followers Stand for the Congregational Prayer?

Question

Compiled by (murattib): Hazrat Mawlana Mufti Hafiz Muhammad Luqman Qadiri Rabbani, deputy Shaykh al-Hadith of Dar al-Ulum Rabbaniyya, Banda (U.P.). Question: It is narrated from Hazrat Abu Hurayra ﵁: “When the iqama began, we would stand up and straighten the rows before the Messenger of Allah ﷺ came out of his room.” This hadith is in Sahih Muslim (on p. 220). Some people say that if one stands at “Hayya ‘ala-l-falah”, the rows cannot be straightened, although the hadiths strongly urge this.

Answer

This issue is not among the fard acts, nor the wajib acts, nor the emphasized sunnas; rather it is among the mustahabb acts. To insist on a mustahabb matter the way one insists on a wajib is not right; indeed, through this its recommendedness (istihbab) disappears and dislikedness (karaha) enters it.

Source: Fatawa Mahmudiyya

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