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What is the ruling on praying behind an Imam who owns a restaurant that serves pork, and is it permissible to skip Friday prayer behind him and instead perform Dhuhr prayer?

1 min readAlso available in العربية

Selling pork is forbidden for a Muslim, and whoever does so commits a great transgression that necessitates repentance. As for praying behind such a person, it is disliked if there is a non-transgressing imam available, but it is permissible and valid if no one else is available; in fact, it is better than praying alone. Sheikh al-Islam clarified that the prayer of a transgressor (fasiq) and an innovator (mubtadi') is valid in itself, and praying behind him does not invalidate the prayer of the congregant. He explained that praying behind a transgressor is disliked to uphold the principle of enjoining good and forbidding evil. If shunning the transgressing imam leads to his repentance or removal, then it is a good thing. However, if abandoning prayer behind him would cause the congregant to miss the Friday prayer (Jumu'ah) and congregational prayer (jama'ah), then one should not abandon praying behind him unless there is another non-transgressing imam, because his transgression does not invalidate the sermon or the prayer.

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

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