No Authentic Warning Reported for Reciting Behind the Imam

Question:
Has any warning or condemnation (waʿeed) been reported regarding the one who recites behind the Imam?


Source: Fatāwā Amunpuri by Shaykh Ghulam Mustafa Zaheer Amunpuri

✿ Answer:​

There is no authentic warning (waʿeed) reported in this matter. All narrations presented as evidence are weak (ḍaʿīf) and unsubstantiated. A detailed review follows:

❀ ① Report attributed to Sayyidunā ʿAbdullāh bin Masʿūd رضي الله عنه:​

Arabic Text:
ليت الذى يقرأ خلف الإمام مليء فوه ترابا
Translation:
“I wish that the one who recites behind the Imam would have his mouth filled with dust.”
(Sharḥ Maʿānī al-Āthār by al-Ṭaḥāwī: 1310)


Analysis of the chain:

• The narration is weak.
  ① Abū Isḥāq al-Sabīʿī was a mudallis and became confused (mukhtaliṭ) in his later years; he narrates here with ʿanʿanah.
  ② Ḥudayj bin Muʿāwiyah is weak according to the majority, and it is not established that he heard from Abū Isḥāq before his confusion.
  ③ Another chain of this same narration also exists (Sharḥ Maʿānī al-Āthār: 1311) — but it too is weak, containing ʿanʿanah of Ibrāhīm al-Nakhaʿī and Sufyān al-Thawrī.

Even if this narration were hypothetically accepted as authentic, it does not prohibit recitation of Surah Al-Fatihah behind the Imam; rather, it refers to general recitation (qirāʾah) beyond Al-Fatihah in audible prayers.

❀ ② Report attributed to Sayyidunā ʿUmar bin al-Khaṭṭāb رضي الله عنه:​

Arabic Text:
ليت فى فم الذى يقرأ خلف الإمام حجرا
Translation:
“I wish that the one who recites behind the Imam would have a stone placed in his mouth.”
(Muwaṭṭaʾ al-Imām Muḥammad, p. 98)


Analysis:

• The chain is fabricated (mawḍūʿ) and disconnected (munqaṭiʿ).
  ① The compiler, Muḥammad bin al-Ḥasan al-Shaybānī, is labeled “kadhdhāb” (liar) in this narration.
  ② Muḥammad bin ʿAjlān is among the younger Tābiʿīn, and no narration from him directly from ʿUmar رضي الله عنه is established.
  ③ The narration does not mention Surah Al-Fatihah, only general recitation (qirāʾah), which may refer to reading after Al-Fatihah in audible prayers.

However, an authentic report from Yazīd bin Sharīk al-Taymī رضي الله عنه states:


“I asked Sayyidunā ʿUmar bin al-Khaṭṭāb رضي الله عنه about reciting behind the Imam. He said, ‘Recite!’ I asked, ‘Even while I am following you (in prayer)?’ He said, ‘Yes, even if you are following me while I am reciting.’”
(Muṣannaf Ibn Abī Shaybah: 3748; Sharḥ Maʿānī al-Āthār: 1/218 – chain authentic)

❀ ③ Report attributed to Sayyidunā Saʿd bin Abī Waqqāṣ رضي الله عنه:​

Arabic Text:
وددت أن الذى يقرأ خلف الإمام فى فيه جمرة
Translation:
“I wish that the one who recites behind the Imam would have a burning ember placed in his mouth.”
(Muwaṭṭaʾ al-Imām Muḥammad, p. 98)


Analysis:

• The chain is fabricated (mawḍūʿ).
  
  • Imām al-Bukhārī رحمه الله declared it mursal and weak. (Juzʾ al-Qirāʾah khalf al-Imām, p. 13)
  • Muḥammad bin al-Ḥasan al-Shaybānī is again a liar (kadhdhāb).
  • Some of the narrators identified as “sons of Saʿd” are unknown (mubham and majhūl).
  • The narration again does not mention Surah Al-Fatihah.

❀ Scholarly Note:​

Regarding this issue, no authentic marfūʿ (Prophetic) hadith exists.
(Al-Taʿlīq al-Mumajjad by ʿAbd al-Ḥayy al-Ḥanafī, p. 101)


ʿAllāmah ʿAbd al-Ḥayy al-Lakhnawī al-Ḥanafī رحمه الله (d. 1304 AH) stated:


إنه لم يرد فى حديث مرفوع صحيح النهي عن قراءة الفاتحة خلف الإمام، وكل ما ذكروه مرفوعا فيه، إما لا أصل له، وإما لا يصح
“No authentic marfūʿ (Prophetic) hadith contains a prohibition against reciting Surah Al-Fatihah behind the Imam. Whatever marfūʿ narrations have been mentioned by the jurists are either baseless or unauthentic.”
(Al-Taʿlīq al-Mumajjad, p. 101, footnote 1)


Conclusion:
There is no authentic hadith or statement warning against recitation behind the Imam.
All such narrations are weak, disconnected, or fabricated.
Therefore, no valid condemnation (waʿeed) exists for one who recites behind the Imam — especially Surah Al-Fatihah.