To what extent is the noble Hadith: "Pray behind every righteous and unrighteous person" authentic?
The narrated with the wording, "Prayer is obligatory behind every righteous and wicked person," is weak, as it was narrated by Al-Daraqutni. Similarly, the hadith, "And prayer is obligatory behind every Muslim, whether righteous or wicked," is weak, as it was narrated by Ahmad and Abu Dawud. Al-Hafiz Ibn Hajar indicated that the chains of narration for both hadiths are flimsy. Since the hadiths are weak from both sides, one reverts to the original principle, which is that whoever's prayer is sound, his imamate is also sound. This is supported by the actions of the Companions, as Al-Bukhari narrated from Abdul Karim that ten of the companions of Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him, prayed behind unjust imams. However, it is preferable not to pray behind someone whose outward appearance indicates فسق (wickedness), because some scholars invalidated prayer behind such a person.
Summary from Ftawy's records · added here
Reviewed by El Fatwa's sharia committee.
Read the full answer on Ftawyhttps://ftawy.com/en/questions/30867
Where this answer came from
- Source platform
- Ftawy
- Original fatwa ID
- 30867
- 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