Mu' meneen Brothers and Sisters,

As Salaam Aleikum wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuh.  (May Allah's Peace, Mercy and Blessings be upon all of you)

One of our brothers/sisters has asked this question:

Salam u Alykum, our cummunity here does not have a current imam. However the Pakistani Musilims did assign a Hafiz, which is also Pakistani,to lead us in the Taraweeh for Ramadan. Unfortunetly this Hafiz, maybe Allah reward him, makes quite a few mistakes in a few pages when he is reading. average of 10 mistakes in 4 pages. at first I tried to follow up with him with the Quran and tried to correct him in a very nice manner. The pakistani musilims didn`t like that and came to me saying "we are Hanafi`s and for Hanafi`s mathhab no one can carry a Quran or else all our prayers is invalid(Tarawee7)IF you were a Hafiz yes you can correct him between the rukkaa`s but otherwise you can`t. But the thing is there are mistakes in the "harakat" and soem times he is replacing words, skipping ayat. And once the Hafiz and then all said that is the Hanafi`s mathhab to not carry a Quran I wasn`t sure about that. Please fill me up as soon as you can with possibly any ahadeeth or p roof for me to show them ...Jazakum Allah Khayran.....Salam u alykum

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Answer:

Holding Quran in congregation

In the name of Allah, We praise Him, seek His help and ask for His forgiveness. Whoever Allah guides none can misguide, and whoever He allows to fall astray, none can guide them aright. We bear witness that there is no one (no idol, no person, no grave, no prophet, no imam, no dai, nobody!) worthy of worship but Allah Alone, and we bear witness that Muhammad (saws) is His slave-servant and the seal of His Messengers.

Fiqh-us-Sunnah Fiqh 2.88

Dhakwan, the protege of 'Aishah, would lead her in prayer during Ramadan while reciting from a copy of the Qur'an.

Related by Malik.

Imam Shafei and Imam Abu Hanifah’s opinion is that it is allowable. Imam An-Nawawi holds: "If one sometimes turns pages during a Salah, it does not invalidate it. If he looks at something that is written which is not the Qur'an and he reads it to himself, it does not invalidate the Salah, even if it is done for a long period of time, nevertheless, it is a hated act." Imam Shafei has made a statement about it in Al-Imla'.

In light of the above evidence, the majority of the scholars state that there is absolutely no harm if one holds and recites from the Quran, regardless whether one is offering ones prayer alone or while in congregation. And there is absolutely no harm if one wishes to follow the imam’s recitation of the Glorious Quran in any voluntary prayer by holding a copy of the Quran in the ranks behind the imam, so that if perchance the ‘imam’ were to make an error, there is at least some one in the ranks behind who can correct him.

The scholars are unanimous in their opinion that one should only recite from the Quran what one has secured in one’s memory in one’s obligatory prayers, thus holding a copy of the Quran and reciting or reading from it during the obligatory prayers would not be permissible. But there is absolutely no harm if one recites or follows the recitation of the ‘imam’ by holding a copy of the Quran in any voluntary prayer (Sunnah, Nawaafil, Tarawih, etc.).

It is indeed very strange that even the brother Imam who is a ‘hafiz’ seems to agree with the other brothers that he should not be corrected when he makes a mistake in his recitation during the prayers….for if he did indeed sincerely fear Allah and was leading the prayer for Allah’s Sake Alone, it would be his abject mission that if he were to make an error while reciting the Glorious Quran, at least someone in the ranks behind him should be able to point out his error so that he may correct it.

Whatever written of Truth and benefit is only due to Allah’s Assistance and Guidance, and whatever of error is of me alone. Allah Alone Knows Best and He is the Only Source of Strength.

Your brother and well wisher in Islam,

Burhan