Guidance for the Lax Imams in Leading the Prayer
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
Question:
In his second question, he says: I hope the Honorable Shaykh will guide the imams of mosques who are lax in the matter of leading the prayer and its responsibility, especially those who are absent from the mosque or late in arriving, which puts the ma'mum (those praying behind the imam) in an awkward position and disturbs the worshippers?
Answer:
This is not permissible, and it is a trust that they bear. So whoever has the responsibility of leading the prayer in a mosque, it is obligatory for him to take care of it and preserve it, and not to make things difficult for the ma'mum, neither by being early in the iqamah (the second call to prayer) nor by being late in the iqamah. Rather, he should consider their circumstances and be gentle with them, and not be late for them, leaving them waiting to see if he has come or not. And some imams, unfortunately, or rather many of them in this time, are negligent in leading the prayer. His job is to take the salary, but as for leading the prayer, it is according to his whim. He is late and changes, and he does not even appoint someone to take his place. This is a great defect and a waste of an obligatory duty. It is obligatory for the Ministry of Islamic Affairs, Endowments, and Mosque Affairs to take care of this and to follow up on these imams. I know that the Ministry has appointed inspectors in the neighborhoods, but most of the inspectors do not do the work, do not inspect, and do not fulfill the duty required of them. This is negligence in the worship of Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He). Yes.
The presenter:
May Allah reward you.
In his second question, he says: I hope the Honorable Shaykh will guide the imams of mosques who are lax in the matter of leading the prayer and its responsibility, especially those who are absent from the mosque or late in arriving, which puts the ma'mum (those praying behind the imam) in an awkward position and disturbs the worshippers?
Answer:
This is not permissible, and it is a trust that they bear. So whoever has the responsibility of leading the prayer in a mosque, it is obligatory for him to take care of it and preserve it, and not to make things difficult for the ma'mum, neither by being early in the iqamah (the second call to prayer) nor by being late in the iqamah. Rather, he should consider their circumstances and be gentle with them, and not be late for them, leaving them waiting to see if he has come or not. And some imams, unfortunately, or rather many of them in this time, are negligent in leading the prayer. His job is to take the salary, but as for leading the prayer, it is according to his whim. He is late and changes, and he does not even appoint someone to take his place. This is a great defect and a waste of an obligatory duty. It is obligatory for the Ministry of Islamic Affairs, Endowments, and Mosque Affairs to take care of this and to follow up on these imams. I know that the Ministry has appointed inspectors in the neighborhoods, but most of the inspectors do not do the work, do not inspect, and do not fulfill the duty required of them. This is negligence in the worship of Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He). Yes.
The presenter:
May Allah reward you.
Source
نور على الدرب - الفوزان - 03/161 — archive.org (11:04)
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.