Reciting istiftaah in the prayer is a Sunnah
18-11-2015 | IslamWeb
Question:
If we are to use the time for which the imam pauses after the first takbeer for Surah Al-Faatihah, then does that mean that we should give up on the opening supplication when praying behind an imam? I read in a hadith that there is a great reward in the opening supplication.
Answer:
All perfect praise be to Allaah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah and that Muhammad, sallallaahu ʻalayhi wa sallam, is His slave and Messenger.
If the person being led by the imaam in the congregational prayer views that it is obligatory to recite the Faatihah after the imaam recites it even in the audible prayers or follows the scholarly view of a reliable scholar to that effect, then it is prescribed for him to start right after the imaam recites Takbeerat Al-Ihraam (the opening takbeer) and recite the opening supplication (istiftaah), seek refuge with Allaah from the devil, and then recite the Faatihah just as it is prescribed for the imaam and the one performing the prayer individually to do the same. This is the view adopted by the Shaafiʻis and those who followed them in this regard.
The worshipper may give up reciting the opening supplication because it is an act of Sunnah. An-Nawawi 
said:
“It is recommended for the worshipper to recite the opening supplication right after Takbeerat Al-Ihraam; this applies to the one praying individually, the imaam, or the one being led by the imaam in the congregational prayer. It also applies to a woman, a man, or a boy; to the traveler or the resident; to the one performing an obligatory or a voluntary prayer; to the one performing the prayer lying down or sitting or in any other position.”
Hence, if the worshipper engages in reciting the Faatihah after reciting Takbeerat Al-Ihraam and he does not recite the opening supplication, then he has only left an act of Sunnah. Some scholars maintained that the person being led by the imaam should not recite the opening supplication if the imaam has already started reciting the Faatihah because he is enjoined to listen attentively to the imaam. However, before the imaam recites the Faatihah, the person being led in prayer may recite the opening supplication and then the Faatihah. He can also wait for the imaam to finish reciting the Faatihah and then recite the opening supplication and the Faatihah.
Shaykh Ibn ʻUthaymeen said:
“If the person joins the congregational prayer while the imaam is reciting the Faatihah, the imaam usually pauses after reciting the Faatihah for a while; the person being led in prayer should listen attentively to the recitation of the imaam and when he (imaam) finishes reciting the Faatihah, he can recite the opening supplication and then the Faatihah even if the imaam has already started reciting the other chapter after the Faatihah. However, if the person being led in prayer fears that the imaam would not pause after reciting the Faatihah or would recite a very short chapter after the Faatihah and that he would not have enough time to recite the Faatihah, then if he joins the prayer while the imaam is reciting the Faatihah, he should recite Takbeerat Al-Ihraam, seek refuge with Allaah from the devil, and recite the Faatihah because the Prophet, sallallaahu ʻalayhi wa sallam, forbade the person being led in prayer from reciting anything other than the Faatihah while the imaam is reciting...”
Allaah knows best.