The presenter: The one who lets his garment hang below the ankles or the one who does not make errors in leading the prayer

Question:
Honorable Shaykh, may Allah grant you success. I am the mu'adhdhin for a mosque, and two men are in my household. One of them recites the Qur'an with excellent recitation, but he lets his garment hang below the ankles and shaves his beard. The other has weak recitation, but he does not make errors in the recitation. This man grows his beard and shortens his garment. Which of the two should I prefer?

Answer:
The one who does not make errors in the Qur'an is the one who has achieved the objective, and the objective is the absence of errors in the Qur'an. If he is skilled in recitation and does not make errors in it, then he is preferred because of his adherence to the Sunnah, and because he will be a good role model. As for the first one, it is not enough that his voice is beautiful and that he knows the rules of Qur'anic recitation; that is not sufficient, because his appearance is bad, and he will be a bad role model for others. So the one who adheres to the Sunnah is preferred, and praise be to Allah. If he does not make errors in the Qur'an, that is what is required. As for the rules of Qur'anic recitation, that is an extra; they are improvements. If they are present, that is fine; if they are not present, they are not necessary.