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Is it better for the congregational prayer to be led by the regular Imam or the visiting Sheikh?

1 min readAlso available in العربية

The regular Imam has more right to lead the prayer than a visiting Sheikh, due to the Prophet Muhammad's (peace be upon him) saying: "No man should lead another in prayer in his domain." It is forbidden to lead prayer in a mosque before its regular Imam, unless with his permission or in his absence due to an excuse. Some jurists have even held that a visitor should not lead them in prayer, even if the Imam gives permission, citing the hadith of Malik bin Al-Huwairith: "Indeed, whoever visits a people should not lead them in prayer, but rather a man from among them should lead them." However, the majority of scholars believe it is permissible for a visitor to lead the prayer if the Imam gives him permission, based on the same hadith, interpreting the phrase "except with his permission" as referring to both leading the prayer and sitting. Jurists have differed regarding preference if the visitor is more knowledgeable in recitation or more jurisprudent: some believe the regular Imam should be given precedence, while others recommend giving precedence to the more superior visitor.

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

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