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What is the ruling on a congregant praying behind an imam who makes mistakes in reciting the Qur'an, and is it permissible to pray at home in congregation in this situation?

1 min readAlso available in العربية

If the imam's mispronunciation (laḥn) in Al-Fatiha alters the meaning, then praying behind him is not valid. However, if it does not alter the meaning, then the prayer is valid, and the follower is not permitted to absent himself from the congregation. It is advisable to counsel imams with wisdom and teach them if their errors are tolerable. But if the errors are significant and invalidate the prayer, and there is no other recourse, then the Ministry of Endowments should be informed.

Summarized from the full answer at Ftawy · reviewed Sep 2, 2026

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