The ruling on appointing a substitute for the imam in prayer and going for 'Umrah
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
Question:
And some of the imams as well, as you have mentioned, Honorable Shaykh, have someone in the mosque act on their behalf, or one of their colleagues or friends, and they go for 'Umrah.
Answer:
The imam does not appoint a substitute except in the case of an excuse or a pressing need, and 'Umrah is neither an excuse nor a pressing need, because it is prescribed throughout the year. So if he wants to perform 'Umrah, he should perform it in a month other than Ramadan. The need of the mosque and the people for the imam in Ramadan is greater than their need for him in other months. That is to say, when the need is intense, he should leave the people and go to earn reward; the reward lies in his remaining. Yes.
And some of the imams as well, as you have mentioned, Honorable Shaykh, have someone in the mosque act on their behalf, or one of their colleagues or friends, and they go for 'Umrah.
Answer:
The imam does not appoint a substitute except in the case of an excuse or a pressing need, and 'Umrah is neither an excuse nor a pressing need, because it is prescribed throughout the year. So if he wants to perform 'Umrah, he should perform it in a month other than Ramadan. The need of the mosque and the people for the imam in Ramadan is greater than their need for him in other months. That is to say, when the need is intense, he should leave the people and go to earn reward; the reward lies in his remaining. Yes.
Source
قناة «العلامة الدكتور صالح الفوزان»، 7 من 28|من أحكام الصيام|فضل الصدقة في شهر رمضان|صالح الفوزان|فقه|كبار العلماء — youtube.com (7:43)
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.