Praying Behind an Open Sinner
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
Question:
Is the prayer valid behind an open sinner, such as one who drinks intoxicants or smokes, or is he a Muslim? Is it permissible to pray behind an open sinner when there is someone else available who is better in religion?
Answer:
One should pray behind the just, behind the pious, behind the believer with complete faith or strong faith, as long as he is able to do so. However, if he is unable to do so and there is no one else but this group, they should pray behind this imam, even if he does not pray with them; he should pray with the congregation to maintain the distinction and not abandon the congregation. As for a person who finds an imam other than this one who is more trustworthy and better in religion, it is obligatory for him to go and pray behind him.
Is the prayer valid behind an open sinner, such as one who drinks intoxicants or smokes, or is he a Muslim? Is it permissible to pray behind an open sinner when there is someone else available who is better in religion?
Answer:
One should pray behind the just, behind the pious, behind the believer with complete faith or strong faith, as long as he is able to do so. However, if he is unable to do so and there is no one else but this group, they should pray behind this imam, even if he does not pray with them; he should pray with the congregation to maintain the distinction and not abandon the congregation. As for a person who finds an imam other than this one who is more trustworthy and better in religion, it is obligatory for him to go and pray behind him.
Source
75-اللقاء الأسبوعي مع الشيخ صالح الفوزان - 01 — archive.org (1:09:53)
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.