Who is more deserving of leading the prayer: a man with a beard who shortens his garment and does not smoke, but has limited religious knowledge and does not recite Al-Fatiha well, or a knowledgeable man who recites well, but shaves his beard, lets his garment hang low out of custom and not pride, and smokes?
Source: FtawySummary from Ftawy's records · added here Sep 2, 2026
Smoking, shaving the beard, and lengthening the garment below the ankles (isbal) when not done out of arrogance are sins. If the first imam makes a clear grammatical error (lahn jali) in Al-Fatihah that alters its meaning, then his imamate is invalid and his prayer is incorrect. As for the second, praying behind him is valid, though disliked. If the first imam recites Al-Fatihah well, then praying behind him is more preferable, in order to avoid the disagreement of those who prohibit a fasiq (open sinner) from leading the prayer.
Summary from Ftawy's records · added here
Reviewed by El Fatwa's sharia committee.
Read the full answer on Ftawyhttps://ftawy.com/en/questions/155811
Where this answer came from
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- Ftawy
- Original fatwa ID
- 155811
- Added here
- . This is when the answer was added to El Fatwa, not the fatwa's date.
- Text
- Summary from Ftawy's records, reviewed by El Fatwa's sharia committee.
- Read the full ruling
- Read the full answer on Ftawy