The Prayer Behind an Imam Whose Sermon the Congregation Does Not Understand
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The questioner:
Abu Abdullah from Abha, please go ahead, Abu Abdullah. Peace be upon you and Allah's mercy, Shaykh. And upon you peace. And upon you peace. Shaykh, I have a question, if you please. Go ahead. We have an imam, may Allah prolong his life and reward him with good, who we see is not addressing us; we do not understand the sermon or what it means. Is it permissible, for example, to advise him, or to pray behind him, or is it acceptable?
The Shaykh:
Yes, work.
The presenter:
Repeat the question, Abu Abdullah.
The questioner:
We have an imam in our mosque, and his recitation is not... I mean, I do not understand his recitation. His recitation is the first recitation; is it old sermons? I do not understand anything about them, nor do I know their meanings. Is it permissible for us to advise him, or not pray behind him, or go to another mosque?
The presenter:
Thank you.
The Shaykh:
By Allah, my brother, this is a matter you should take to the branch of the Department of Islamic Affairs in your area, the branch responsible for the mosques under the Ministry of Islamic Affairs. You should report to them what you have observed regarding this imam, and he will summon him, guide him, and clarify things to him. Yes.
The presenter:
May Allah reward you.
Abu Abdullah from Abha, please go ahead, Abu Abdullah. Peace be upon you and Allah's mercy, Shaykh. And upon you peace. And upon you peace. Shaykh, I have a question, if you please. Go ahead. We have an imam, may Allah prolong his life and reward him with good, who we see is not addressing us; we do not understand the sermon or what it means. Is it permissible, for example, to advise him, or to pray behind him, or is it acceptable?
The Shaykh:
Yes, work.
The presenter:
Repeat the question, Abu Abdullah.
The questioner:
We have an imam in our mosque, and his recitation is not... I mean, I do not understand his recitation. His recitation is the first recitation; is it old sermons? I do not understand anything about them, nor do I know their meanings. Is it permissible for us to advise him, or not pray behind him, or go to another mosque?
The presenter:
Thank you.
The Shaykh:
By Allah, my brother, this is a matter you should take to the branch of the Department of Islamic Affairs in your area, the branch responsible for the mosques under the Ministry of Islamic Affairs. You should report to them what you have observed regarding this imam, and he will summon him, guide him, and clarify things to him. Yes.
The presenter:
May Allah reward you.
Source
قناة «العلامة الدكتور صالح الفوزان»، برنامج (فتاوى) (081) لمعالي الشيخ صالح الفوزان بتاريخ [1436-03-02] - كبار العلماء — youtube.com (31:53)
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.