Is it permissible to pray behind an imam who is a sorcerer or magician?
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
Question:
The questioner says: I live in an Arab country, and there is a mosque near me whose imam is a sorcerer and magician. Should I pray in this mosque, knowing that it is the closest to my home?
Answer:
You do not pray behind a sorcerer or magician, or a soothsayer, because this is a corrupt belief. His prayer is invalid, and the prayer of anyone behind him is invalid. It is a condition for the imam that he be a monotheist, that he be upon tawhid (the oneness of Allah) and the correct creed. As for if his creed is corrupt, and he uses sorcery, calls upon other than Allah, or seeks aid from other than Allah, then this is slaughtering for other than Allah. In that case, his prayer is invalid, and the prayer of anyone behind him is invalid until he repents to Allah the Exalted. So do not pray behind him. Seek an imam who is upon tawhid and the correct creed.
The questioner says: I live in an Arab country, and there is a mosque near me whose imam is a sorcerer and magician. Should I pray in this mosque, knowing that it is the closest to my home?
Answer:
You do not pray behind a sorcerer or magician, or a soothsayer, because this is a corrupt belief. His prayer is invalid, and the prayer of anyone behind him is invalid. It is a condition for the imam that he be a monotheist, that he be upon tawhid (the oneness of Allah) and the correct creed. As for if his creed is corrupt, and he uses sorcery, calls upon other than Allah, or seeks aid from other than Allah, then this is slaughtering for other than Allah. In that case, his prayer is invalid, and the prayer of anyone behind him is invalid until he repents to Allah the Exalted. So do not pray behind him. Seek an imam who is upon tawhid and the correct creed.
Source
قناة «العلامة الدكتور صالح الفوزان»، هل تجوز الصلاة خلف إمام ساحر مشعوذ؟ للشيخ صالح الفوزان — youtube.com
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.