What is the ruling on praying behind an Imam who spies on congregants and relays false information about them to the authorities, and what is the ruling on praying Tarawih behind an Imam who rushes his recitation of the Quran, thereby distorting the meaning and omitting some words?
Prayer behind an imam who is abusive and a liar is valid and sufficient according to some scholars, but it is preferable to follow someone else. His imamate is valid for obligatory prayers and Tarawih as long as his error in Al-Fatihah does not change its meaning. Scholars have not differentiated between the imamate of a wicked person in obligatory prayers and other prayers, except for the Hanbalis, who stated that his imamate is not valid for obligatory prayers, though it is valid and disliked for supererogatory prayers. It appears that performing Tarawih prayer behind the aforementioned imam in the mosque is better, given the opinion of the majority of scholars regarding the superiority of performing Tarawih prayer in congregation at the mosque.
Summary from Ftawy's records · added here
Reviewed by El Fatwa's sharia committee.
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- Summary from Ftawy's records, reviewed by El Fatwa's sharia committee.
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