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Hadith 960

حَدَّثَنَا أَبُو بَكْرِ بْنُ أَبِي شَيْبَةَ ، حَدَّثَنَا مُحَمَّدُ بْنُ عُبَيْدٍ ، عَنْ الْأَعْمَشِ ، عَنْ أَبِي صَالِحٍ ، عَنْ أَبِي هُرَيْرَةَ ، قَالَ : " كَانَ النَّبِيُّ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ يُعَلِّمُنَا أَنْ لَا نُبَادِرَ الْإِمَامَ بِالرُّكُوعِ وَالسُّجُودِ ، وَإِذَا كَبَّرَ فَكَبِّرُوا ، وَإِذَا سَجَدَ فَاسْجُدُوا " .
´It was narrated that Abu Hurairah said:` “The Prophet (ﷺ) used to teach us not to bow or prostrate before the Imam; when he says the Takbir then say the Takbir, and when he prostrates, you should prostrate.”
Hadith Reference سنن ابن ماجه / كتاب إقامة الصلاة والسنة / 960
Hadith Grading الألبانی: صحيح  |  زبیر علی زئی: صحيح
Hadith Takhrij « تفرد بہ ابن ماجہ ، ( تحفة الأشراف : 12447 ) ( صحیح ) »
Related hadith on this topic
Brief Explanation
1؎ : The meaning is that the follower (muqtadi) should perform every posture (rukn) after the imam. It is not correct to perform it simultaneously with the imam, before the imam, or with undue delay after the imam.
Explanation & Benefits
Maulana Ataullah Sajid
Benefits and Issues:

It is strictly prohibited to move before the imam when starting the prayer or when transitioning from one position to another.


The noble Companions (radi Allahu anhum ajma'in) would lag so far behind the Messenger of Allah (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) when moving from one position to another, that when the Messenger of Allah (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) would say "Allahu Akbar" and go into prostration (sujud), the Companions (radi Allahu anhum ajma'in) would remain standing in the standing position (qiyam) and would not bend for prostration until he (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) had placed his blessed head on the ground.
See: (Sahih al-Bukhari, al-Adhan, Chapter: When should those behind the imam prostrate?, Hadith 690; and Sahih Muslim, al-Salat, Chapter: Following the imam and acting after him, Hadith: 474)
Source: Commentary on Sunan Ibn Mājah by Mawlānā ‘Atā’ullāh Sājid, Page: 960
Shaykh Maulana Abdul Aziz Alvi
Hadith Commentary:
Vocabulary of the Hadith:
(1)
أَسْوِدَةٌ:
Plural of sawad,
appearance,
form,
a very large number.
(2)
نَسَمٌ:
Plural of nasmah,
soul,
breath.
(3)
ظَهَرْتُ لِمُسْتَوًى:
I ascended to a high and level place.
(4)
صَرِيفَ الْأَقْلَامِ:
The sound of pens writing.
(5)
شَطْرٌ:
Half,
or simply a part or an important portion.

Benefits and Issues:
(1)
To split open a human’s chest and cleanse the heart is, in today’s era of scientific advancement, no longer something considered irrational. Therefore, Jibril’s (alayhis salam) washing of your blessed heart with Zamzam water and then filling it with faith (iman) and wisdom (hikmah) is not something surprising.
Although faith and wisdom are not tangible or material things for us, they do have existence before Allah Ta’ala, just as air, electricity, and light do not have visible existence before us, but with modern instruments their quantity can be determined. Therefore, placing them in a basin and it being filled with them is not objectionable, nor is there any need for interpretation, such as saying that what is meant is something from which faith and wisdom are produced.
(2)
Paradise is to the right of Adam (alayhis salam), so the souls of the people of Paradise are seen on the right side, and Hell is to the left, and the souls of the people of Hell are seen on the left side.
(3)
In this hadith, it is mentioned that Abu Dharr (radi Allahu anhu) did not specify the locations of the Prophets, and then further on, their meeting is mentioned with the word “thumma” (then). The reason for this is that here “thumma” does not indicate chronological order of occurrence, that it actually happened in that sequence, but is merely for the order of mention, as in the Noble Qur’an:
﴿ثُمَّ كَانَ مِنَ الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا وَتَوَاصَوْا بِالصَّبْرِ وَتَوَاصَوْا بِالْمَرْحَمَةِ﴾ (Al-Balad: 17)
So here it does not mean that first he freed a neck, then on a day of hunger he fed an orphan or a needy poor person, and after that he believed, and then they enjoined one another to patience and mercy.
Rather, the intent is that along with faith, these qualities are also present. In the hadith, the only purpose is to state that meetings with all these Prophets (alayhimus salam) took place at different locations. The purpose is not to state with whom the meeting took place first and then with whom after, because this has already been negated earlier.
(4)
The meeting with Ibrahim (alayhis salam) on the sixth heaven is at the time of reception or farewell; his actual abode is on the seventh heaven.
(5)
The issue of the reduction of prayers is mentioned in this hadith with extreme brevity. In reality, you (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) presented yourself repeatedly before Allah Ta’ala. In this way, with nine presentations, five at a time, forty-five prayers were reduced, but there was no difference in reward and recompense, so five were made equal to fifty.
(6)
To properly understand Isra and Mi’raj, it is necessary to gather all the ahadith regarding it from the various books of hadith, and to determine the meanings in light of all of them.
Source: Tuhfat al-Muslim: Commentary on Sahih Muslim, Page: 415