ADDITIONAL BENEFIT FROM ANTWERP 🇧🇪

One of the greatest benefits I gained from our trip to Belgium—which I had forgotten to include in my earlier collection—was the following: During the trip, some of our brothers were asked to lead Salah. This sparked some discussion among us. I personally held the view that travellers must shorten four-unit prayers to two units, whether praying alone or leading others (based on the evidences mentioned above). For this reason, if a traveller were appointed as an imam, it could create confusion for non-travellers, who would then need to stand and complete their prayers. In such cases, avoiding disagreement is preferable. I shared this opinion with Abu Mariam, who disagreed. He was particularly eager to hear Juraij and Luqman’s recitations…anyway. Abu Mariam then brought the matter to Abu Atiyyah (may Allāh preserve him), who advised—based on the majority view that shortening is not obligatory—that the travellers could indeed lead if appointed, and that they should pray in full so as to avoid confusion. From this incident, we can draw several lessons: 1⃣. The importance of having a reliable reference in matters of disagreement. Without this, I might have ended up in a confrontation with Abu Mariam (💪🏽👊🏽). 2⃣. Being content with the advice of our elders and not overreacting, as long as the differing opinion is valid. 3⃣. Dammaj instills in its students the principle of following the evidences, rather than blindly following any teacher. Here we see Abu Atiyyah, who studied under Sheikh Yahya for over a decade, taking a position in this matter that differed from his Sheikh’s. 4⃣. Those who held the view that shortening the prayer is obligatory for travellers still prayed behind the imām, even though the imām completed the prayer in full, because: الخلاف في الفروع يرتفع في الاقتداء Differences in subsidiary issues do not prevent following the imām. [https://t.me/madrasatuna/1264]