The responsibility of the mosque imam toward his congregation
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
Question:
And may Allah bless you. The questioner, brother Abu 'Abdullah, says: Tell us, O Shaykh, about the responsibility of the mosque imam and the matters entrusted to him regarding the mosque and his congregation.
Answer:
He has a great obligation. First, he must be present and not be absent except for a valid religious excuse, and he must appoint someone to pray in his place. However, if he is absent due to laziness, negligence, or indifference, this is forbidden for him. It is forbidden for him to commit to the reward he is entitled to and then neglect it without an excuse. What he takes in return for this is not lawful for him, because he did not perform the work without an excuse preventing him from doing so. Some imams play with this; they take the mosques and neglect them, not attending except once or twice a week, and they do not care about the responsibility of the mosque. The imam is a guarantor, as stated in the hadith, so it is a responsibility. If he fulfills it in the prescribed manner, he has a great reward. If he neglects it, he is accountable for his negligence before Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He). Therefore, the imams of mosques should be aware of this, because some of them do not care whether they are present or not. They also become lazy; perhaps they do not pray with the congregation, sleeping, especially for the Fajr prayer. This is a great negligence. This is not permissible. This phenomenon occurs in mosques, and people follow their example, becoming lazy and leaving the obligation upon them. This is not permissible. Also, those responsible for mosques must monitor this situation and regulate these imams. Whoever does not perform the work should be removed, and someone who performs the work should be placed in his position. Yes.
The presenter:
May Allah reward you.
And may Allah bless you. The questioner, brother Abu 'Abdullah, says: Tell us, O Shaykh, about the responsibility of the mosque imam and the matters entrusted to him regarding the mosque and his congregation.
Answer:
He has a great obligation. First, he must be present and not be absent except for a valid religious excuse, and he must appoint someone to pray in his place. However, if he is absent due to laziness, negligence, or indifference, this is forbidden for him. It is forbidden for him to commit to the reward he is entitled to and then neglect it without an excuse. What he takes in return for this is not lawful for him, because he did not perform the work without an excuse preventing him from doing so. Some imams play with this; they take the mosques and neglect them, not attending except once or twice a week, and they do not care about the responsibility of the mosque. The imam is a guarantor, as stated in the hadith, so it is a responsibility. If he fulfills it in the prescribed manner, he has a great reward. If he neglects it, he is accountable for his negligence before Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He). Therefore, the imams of mosques should be aware of this, because some of them do not care whether they are present or not. They also become lazy; perhaps they do not pray with the congregation, sleeping, especially for the Fajr prayer. This is a great negligence. This is not permissible. This phenomenon occurs in mosques, and people follow their example, becoming lazy and leaving the obligation upon them. This is not permissible. Also, those responsible for mosques must monitor this situation and regulate these imams. Whoever does not perform the work should be removed, and someone who performs the work should be placed in his position. Yes.
The presenter:
May Allah reward you.
Source
نور على الدرب - الفوزان - 03/013 — archive.org (12:39)
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.