Prayer of a Shafi‘i Behind a Hanafi Imam

Question

In our mosques, followers of the Shafi‘i school often pray behind a Hanafi imam. During the Fajr prayer, when Shafi‘i worshippers pray behind a Hanafi imam and they complete the entire prayer with him, the following occurs: When the Hanafi imam gives the first salām to the right, the Shafi‘i followers who completed the prayer with him also give salām to the right together with the imam. However, when the imam gives salām to the left, the Shafi‘i followers do not give salām to the left.

Answer

The followers of the Shafi‘i school follow Imam al-Shafi‘i. Therefore, there is no need to object to them. If they need clarification, they will consult a Shafi‘i mufti. According to the Hanafi school, qunūt nāzilah in the Fajr prayer is not obligatory, such that its omission would require sujūd al-sahw.

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