Al-Albani: Is It Allowed to Hold a Copy of the Quran When Praying Behind an Imam?
Shaykh Muḥammad Nāṣir al-Dīn al-Albānī
Categorized under: Fatāwá and Rulings, Prayer, Qurʿān, Recitation, Tarāwīḥ
Questioner: Is it permissible for one praying in congregation—especially during the Tarāwīḥ prayer—to stand, lining up of course, in a row behind an imām, and then to hold a muṣḥaf behind the imām in order to look at it?
Shaikh Al-Albānī: No, no. This is not from the Sunnah.
Questioner: And if he does that, is his prayer valid?
Shaikh: His prayer is valid.
Questioner: But we say it is contrary to the Sunnah?
Shaikh: Yes, [that’s right].
Silsilah Al-Hudá wa-l-Nūr, tape 679, 00:21:15, as quoted in Jāmiʾ Al-Turāth Al-Albānī fī-l-Fiqh, vol. 7, p. 142.