Prompting the imam when the first sitting is prolonged

Question

In the first sitting (qa'da) and the tashahhud, the imam sat today longer than he usually sits, and a muqtadi suspected that the imam had made an oversight (sahw). He said “Subhan Allah”, the imam stood up and also performed sajda al-sahw. After the prayer someone said that as long as the imam has not begun the salam, one should not prompt him. Is this person right or not?

Answer

The muqtadi should not hasten to prompt the imam and should not prompt merely on the basis of suspicion — as [stated] in “al-Tahtawi”. From a merely slight delay in finishing the tashahhud it is difficult to conclude that the imam made an oversight and also recited the salawat after the tashahhud; rather, it is possible that the delay occurred because he was attending to the…

Source: Fatawa Mahmudiyya

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