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﴿ فَاسْأَلُوا أَهْلَ الذِّكْرِ إِن كُنتُمْ لَا تَعْلَمُونَ ﴾

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What is the ruling on praying behind an ignorant imam?

Machine translationRead the Arabic original
Question:
What is the ruling on one who prays behind an imam who commits both major and minor errors? He says: What is the ruling on one who prays behind an unlearned imam who commits major and minor errors in reciting Surat al-Fatihah? Does he repeat the prayer?

Answer:
My brother, if he does not make a mistake that changes the meaning, it is permissible to pray behind him, even if he makes a mistake that does not change the meaning.
For example, if he says "al-hamdu lillah" by making the word "Allah" accusative; this is a mistake, but it does not change the meaning. Or, if he says "al-hamdu lillahi Rabb al-'alamin" by making the lam in "al-'alamin" kasrah (short i), this changes the meaning. It changes the meaning because it restricts lordship to the scholars only.
"Al-'alamin" is the plural of "scholar." This changes the meaning, and the prayer of one who prays behind him is not valid if they are able to recite correctly. His prayer is not valid except with one who is like him. With one who is like him.
So, there are two types of mistakes: a mistake that does not change the meaning, which does not prevent the validity of the prayer. However, it is better that they appoint one who recites well and does not make any mistake at all, neither one that changes the meaning nor one that does not. This is the detail in this issue. Yes. Honorable Shaykh. "Sirat alladhina an'amta 'alayhim" changes the meaning because it converts. Because it converts the second-person pronoun to the first-person pronoun. It converts the second-person pronoun to the first-person pronoun. This changes the meaning, so the prayer behind such a person is not valid except for one who is like him.
Source قناة «العلامة الدكتور صالح الفوزان»، ما حكم الصلاة خلف إمام جاهل؟ للشيخ صالح الفوزان — youtube.com

The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.

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