Is it permissible on Friday for one person to deliver the sermon and another to lead the prayer?
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The questioner : Is it permissible on Friday for one person to deliver the sermon and another to lead the prayer, when the argument of the one who does this might be that the khatib is of a good academic level, but he commits some sins, whereas the imam who leads the prayer is upright, and perhaps he is not at that level in terms of education?
The Shaykh : Yes, it is permissible in the Friday prayer for one person to take charge of the sermon and another to take charge of the prayer, because it is not a condition for the validity of the sermon that the one who leads the prayer must deliver it. The scholars (may Allah have mercy on them) have mentioned this. So if this khatib is more eloquent, more articulate, and more knowledgeable, there is no harm in his taking charge of the sermon, and the regular imam taking charge of the prayer. This is done frequently.
But here is a matter I would like to point out. Some people officially take charge of the imamate in a mosque, whether or not the Friday prayer is held there, and then they do not lead the prayer as imam in that mosque. Instead, they appoint someone else to take their place for half the salary, a quarter of it, or more or less than that. Such an action is not permissible for two reasons. The first is that it involves consuming wealth unjustly, because the salary that this person who does not pray receives, he consumes without right, since this salary was established for the one who is to be the imam in this mosque, and this man is not the imam.
Second, it involves betraying the state, because the state appointed you specifically to be the imam in this mosque, and you appoint someone in it whom the state does not approve. Any contract whose purpose is the specific person contracting is not permissible to be filled by another person, or for another to take his place, except with the permission of the one with whom the contract was made. Accordingly, those who take mosques where the Friday prayer is held and appoint others to lead the five daily prayers, and when Friday comes they come to deliver the sermon and lead the prayer, are sinful. They must repent to Allah (Mighty and Majestic), and they must fulfill the terms of the contract they made with the state so that they may clear their consciences and earn a lawful salary.
The questioner : May Allah bless you.
The Shaykh : Yes, it is permissible in the Friday prayer for one person to take charge of the sermon and another to take charge of the prayer, because it is not a condition for the validity of the sermon that the one who leads the prayer must deliver it. The scholars (may Allah have mercy on them) have mentioned this. So if this khatib is more eloquent, more articulate, and more knowledgeable, there is no harm in his taking charge of the sermon, and the regular imam taking charge of the prayer. This is done frequently.
But here is a matter I would like to point out. Some people officially take charge of the imamate in a mosque, whether or not the Friday prayer is held there, and then they do not lead the prayer as imam in that mosque. Instead, they appoint someone else to take their place for half the salary, a quarter of it, or more or less than that. Such an action is not permissible for two reasons. The first is that it involves consuming wealth unjustly, because the salary that this person who does not pray receives, he consumes without right, since this salary was established for the one who is to be the imam in this mosque, and this man is not the imam.
Second, it involves betraying the state, because the state appointed you specifically to be the imam in this mosque, and you appoint someone in it whom the state does not approve. Any contract whose purpose is the specific person contracting is not permissible to be filled by another person, or for another to take his place, except with the permission of the one with whom the contract was made. Accordingly, those who take mosques where the Friday prayer is held and appoint others to lead the five daily prayers, and when Friday comes they come to deliver the sermon and lead the prayer, are sinful. They must repent to Allah (Mighty and Majestic), and they must fulfill the terms of the contract they made with the state so that they may clear their consciences and earn a lawful salary.
The questioner : May Allah bless you.