The Grand Imam Attends the Friday Prayer: Does He Lead the Prayer?

Question : Here we ask: The Grand Imam attends the Friday prayer? He attends the Friday prayer. So who leads the Friday prayer, the Grand Imam or the imam of the main mosque?

Answer : Hm? Because the author says the imam of the mosque, except for one who holds authority. He said, except for one who holds authority. In this case, who do we put forward? We put forward the Grand Imam. But you are not jurists in this answer, and the reason is that you have not read the chapter on the Friday prayer. Because the Grand Imam, in this situation, if he leads the people as imam, their prayer is invalid, and his prayer is invalid. Why? They said because it is not valid for the Grand Imam to be the imam in the Friday prayer if he is not a resident. Because one of the conditions for being the imam in the Friday prayer is that the imam be a resident. And the Grand Imam is not a resident in his capital; he is in another country. Yes, but he answered.
Some scholars, because the issue is subject to scholarly disagreement, answered this by saying that this reasoning is defective. This reasoning is defective. Why? First, what is the evidence that a person cannot validly be the imam in the Friday prayer unless he is a resident? There is no evidence.
And second, perhaps if we told the Grand Imam, "You do not want to step forward to pray the Friday prayer," we would say, "Go back, because the imam of the mosque has more right than you because he is a resident." Perhaps he would say, "Every kingdom is my country. So I am a resident in every country of my kingdom." Can he say that? Perhaps. This is why some scholars excused 'Uthman ibn 'Affan (may Allah be pleased with him) when he completed the prayer in Mina during Hajj. They said because the Grand Imam or the Caliph considers everything under his control to be his country, so wherever he goes, he is a traveler, but in any case, yes, wherever he goes, he is a resident. But there is no doubt that this reasoning is defective, indeed dead. It is not enough to say it is defective. Why? Because the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) was more firmly established in his kingship than anyone else, and yet when he traveled from Madinah, he shortened the prayer. Indeed, 'Uthman ibn 'Affan shortened the prayer when traveling. In any case, I told you that the view that the Grand Imam cannot validly be the imam in the Friday prayer in a country other than his own is a weak view and the reasoning is defective. Rather, the correct view is that anyone other than the Grand Imam can also validly be the imam in the Friday prayer.