REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA -- Imam Ibn Hajar once said that the word 'amen' spoken after prayer strengthens his prayer. Pray twice. So why is it permissible for a Muslim to recite amen during prayer?

Reported in Islamqa on Wednesday (20/12/2023), the meaning of the word 'amen' means “Yes Allah, answer. “Whoever speaks it after praying, it is as if he had said the prayer he had spoken, and if he who said the prayer, he had said the prayer twice.

Imam Ibn Hajar said that reciting amen was like summing up what was asked in detail. So the one who extends the prayer explains in detail what he is looking for by saying “Ihdina as-siraat al-mustaqim (guide us to the straight path)” and the one who utters the amij utters one word that encompasses everything.

So if the prayer priest utters it, then it is as if he lengthened the prayer twice, in detail and then briefly. This opinion of Imam Ibn Hajar is as summarized in the Book of Fathul Bari.

Scholars agree that it is permissible for one who prays alone and one who prays behind the priest, to pronounce amen. The one who prays alone should say amen after reading the letter of Al Fatihah, and the one who prays behind the imam should recite it after the imam has finished reading.

As for the imam, the majority of scholars argue that it is permissible for him to pronounce amen as well. This is the opinion of Imam Abu Hanifah, Imam Shafii, and Imam Ahmad, and is one of the two opinions narrated by Imam Maalik.

The shahih hadith supports this view, and the opinion that the imam should pronounce amen aloud. For example, in a hadith, the Prophet (PBUH) said, “If the imam says amen, then say amen. Ibn Shihaab said: “The Messenger of Allah used to say, 'Amin'. (narrated by Bukhari and Muslims).