Standing at the beginning of the iqamah or at the time of “hayya ala al-falah”?

The books of jurisprudence [fiqh] mention a number of scenarios about when to stand up:

[1] If the Imam enters from the front of the masjid, the muqtadis should stand up upon seeing him.

[2] If the Imam enters from the rear of the masjid, the muqtadis of each row [saff] should stand up as the Imam passes their row. (E.g. If you are in the 3^rd row of the masjid, you will stand up when the Imam passes your row).

[3] If the Imam and the muqtadis are present in the masjid from before and in their respective places, such that there is no need to align the rows, then one should not stay seated after hayya 'ala al-falah.

As you can see, only one scenario above specifically mentions hayya 'ala al-falah and it is often misunderstood.

Some people erroneously assume this last scenario to apply in all situations and they further misunderstand it to mean that one should remain seated until hayya 'ala al-falah and that getting up before is disliked – when in fact – the correct meaning is that: one should not remain seated after hayya 'ala al-falah.

To remain seated after hayya 'ala al-salah or hayya 'ala al-falah is against etiquette [adab] because it is an order commanding the Muslims to “come to prayer” and “come to success” and one should hasten to carry out this command.

This does not mean that standing before hayya 'ala al-salah or hayya 'ala al-falah is disliked or not preferred (as misunderstood by some) because if one stands up even earlier he is hastening to carry out the order quicker. ^{[i][ii][iii][iv][v]}

And Allah Ta’āla Knows Best

Mufti Ebrahim Desai
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جواهر الفقه: رفع الملامة عن القيام عند أول الإقامة، ٢/ ٤٢٤ – ٤٣٧ [i]

أحسن الفتاوى: إرشاد الأنام بجواب إزالة الأوهام،٣/ ٢٩٩ - ٣١٢ [ii]

إعلاء السن، ٤/ ٣٧٠  [iii]

فتاوى عثماني ١/ ٣٧١ [iv]

كتاب النوازل، ٣/ ٣٦٠ - ٣٦٣ [v]