Full Lecture Transcript (Cleaned)
The Question — 0:00
In light of the pandemic mosque closures, can a person at home tune in to a live Tarawih broadcast and stand up in their own home to pray behind the imam, counting as a maqtadee (follower)? Can the imam be miles away and still lead the prayer?
Why Traditional Fiqh Does Not Allow This — 0:40
By definition, the word jama'a means gathering together — physical congregation. All four schools have requirements about the distance between the imam and the congregation. The Hanafis say the jamaa is broken if there is a gap of two rows between the rows. The Malikis allow a road or river between rows as long as there is a visible connection. The Hanbalis say you must be within visual or auditory distance of a row that is itself connected to the imam.
None of these classical positions come close to allowing someone miles away, connected only via television or the internet, to count as a maqtadee.
When live TV broadcasts of Tarawih from the Haramain began in the 1980s, people in Jeddah (in the same time zone as Makkah) began asking: can we pray along? The Council of Senior Scholars of Saudi Arabia was asked and replied by unanimous consensus: no, it is not permissible, because you are not physically in the vicinity of the Haram.
What Some Contemporary Scholars Said — 2:30
During COVID, a number of scholars opened the door to virtual jama'a as a temporary exception in extraordinary circumstances. Most notably, Shaykh Muhammad Hassan Walad Daddo — one of the great living scholars — explicitly permitted it, saying this is a matter of necessity (darurah) to keep the spirit of Tarawih alive during an unprecedented situation.
Some other individual scholars also allowed it. Yasir Qadhi respects their reasoning and is sympathetic to the perspective.
However, as of the time of this talk, no fiqh council anywhere in the world has permitted this — not the European Council, not AMJA (American Muslim Jurists Association), not the Fiqh Council of North America (of which Yasir Qadhi is a member), not any of the major institutional councils. Councils bring multiple minds together, carry the combined weight of multiple scholarly traditions, and represent a broader consensus.
Yasir Qadhi says: he personally has never in his life given a fatwa that is unique to himself alone, especially in fiqh matters. He defers to the councils. Since no council has allowed this, he cannot encourage it — even though he understands the reasoning of those who did.
The Iqtida' Suri Concession — 4:00
There is an obscure concept in classical fiqh called iqtida' suri — the outward appearance of following, where the appearance is that you're praying jama but in reality you're not. Classical books discuss scenarios where a person prays their own salah in a way that looks like they're following an imam but their niyyah (intention) is independent.
In this narrow scenario — and Yasir Qadhi is not encouraging it, but acknowledges it is permissible according to the majority — a person who genuinely cannot pray Tarawih otherwise and wants to benefit from the live recitation of an imam could:
- Make the niyyah to pray their own independent Tarawih
- When the imam recites Surah al-Fatiha on the live broadcast, also recite Fatiha independently
- Listen to the imam's recitation afterward (since in nafl prayers you don't have to recite after Fatiha)
- Go into ruku and sujood independently at their own pace, roughly synchronized with the live imam
This would only make sense if someone truly cannot stay focused on their own, does not know enough Quran to recite on their own, and genuinely needs the external structure. Even then, it is not something to openly encourage. But it is a valid concession. And Allah knows best.