Is It Permissible to Hold the Mushaf in One's Hand During Tarawih?

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According to the Ḥanafī school, it is not permissible to hold the Qur’ān in one’s hand during ṣalāh, and doing so invalidates the prayer. If a person praying behind the imām is holding the muṣḥaf, his prayer is invalid and he is not considered to be part of the congregation with the imām.

Thus, any correction he offers the imām is treated as the correction of someone who is not part of the same ṣalāh as the imām. If the imām accepts such a correction, it invalidates the imām’s prayer and, by extension, the prayer of all the followers.

It is therefore not acceptable in the Ḥanafī school to adopt this method for tarāwīḥ or any other prayer.

(See Radd al-Muḥtār and other key Ḥanafī texts)