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Is it permissible for a Muslim to pray in mosques, knowing that most imams mispronounce the word "al-mustaqeem" (the straight) in Surat al-Fatiha?

1 min readAlso available in العربية

The Fatiha is a pillar (rukn) in every rak'ah of prayer according to the majority of scholars, and prayer is not valid without it. Whoever omits a shaddah (doubling sign) from it, or commits a clear grammatical error (lahn jali) that alters the meaning, then their prayer is invalid, such as someone who replaces one letter with another while being able to pronounce it correctly. Some scholars have made it easier regarding letters with close points of articulation (makhraj), like the letter Dhad (ض) and Dha (ظ). Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah held the view that the prayer is valid for someone who replaces thead Dhad with a Dha due to the closeness of their articulation and the difficulty of avoiding it. However, the majority of scholars hold a differing opinion. If the imam commits a clear grammatical error in the Fatiha, then the prayer of the congregant is invalid according to the majority. A Muslim should not expose their prayer to invalidation. Praying alone is better than praying behind an imam who commits a clear grammatical error. If the imam can be taught, then he must be advised, and then one should stop praying behind him, striving to pray behind an imam who recites proficiently.

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

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