The Imam Who Leads: The One Who Memorizes the Qur'an or the One More Knowledgeable About the Rulings of Prayer
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
Question:
The Shaykh’s issue is if he is always the one who memorizes the Qur'an, but he does not have knowledge of the rulings of prayer beyond the apparent obligatory matters, while another is not a memorizer of the Qur'an but is more knowledgeable about the rulings of prayer, as for the one they choose to lead them
Answer:
The issue is if the mosque has a permanent imam appointed, this is referred to the Ministry, and the Ministry tests the candidates, conducting an examination for them, so whoever passes, they appoint him as imam. But if the matter is for a single occasion, you gather and want to pray, you choose one of you, the best of you, you choose as the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: Yes, and Allah the Exalted knows best, and may Allah send prayers and peace upon our Prophet Muhammad.
The Shaykh’s issue is if he is always the one who memorizes the Qur'an, but he does not have knowledge of the rulings of prayer beyond the apparent obligatory matters, while another is not a memorizer of the Qur'an but is more knowledgeable about the rulings of prayer, as for the one they choose to lead them
Answer:
The issue is if the mosque has a permanent imam appointed, this is referred to the Ministry, and the Ministry tests the candidates, conducting an examination for them, so whoever passes, they appoint him as imam. But if the matter is for a single occasion, you gather and want to pray, you choose one of you, the best of you, you choose as the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said:
And let the most proficient of you in reciting the Book of Allah lead you
ويؤمكم أقرؤكم لكتاب الله
Source
شرح قرة عيون الموحدين في تحقيق دعوة الأنبياء والمرسلين، باب ما جاء في الكهان ونحوهم — islamhouse.com (1:16:30)
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.