The ruling on praying behind a Sufi imam who believes in the indwelling of Allah in creation
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
Question:
Honorable Shaykh, may Allah grant you success. This questioner is from outside this country. He says: We have a Sufi man here. We went to him and advised him. He believes in the indwelling of Allah in creation (hulul). He holds the mawlid celebrations himself in our village. He is the mu'adhdhin for the mosque, and sometimes he leads the people in prayer. Is it permissible for us to pray behind him?
Answer:
The one who says that Allah has indwelled in His creation is a disbeliever, may Allah protect us from that. It is not permissible for him to lead the people in prayer. Allah, Mighty and Majestic, is distinct from His creation. There is nothing of His creation in His essence, and there is nothing of His essence in His creation. Glorified and Exalted is He, He is above His heavens, High above His Throne. Yes. So the one who says that Allah has indwelled in His creation—these are the Hululiyyah—and they are disbelievers. It is not permissible for him to be an imam. Yes.
Honorable Shaykh, may Allah grant you success. This questioner is from outside this country. He says: We have a Sufi man here. We went to him and advised him. He believes in the indwelling of Allah in creation (hulul). He holds the mawlid celebrations himself in our village. He is the mu'adhdhin for the mosque, and sometimes he leads the people in prayer. Is it permissible for us to pray behind him?
Answer:
The one who says that Allah has indwelled in His creation is a disbeliever, may Allah protect us from that. It is not permissible for him to lead the people in prayer. Allah, Mighty and Majestic, is distinct from His creation. There is nothing of His creation in His essence, and there is nothing of His essence in His creation. Glorified and Exalted is He, He is above His heavens, High above His Throne. Yes. So the one who says that Allah has indwelled in His creation—these are the Hululiyyah—and they are disbelievers. It is not permissible for him to be an imam. Yes.
Source
شرح إغاثة اللهفان من مصائد الشيطان لابن القيم، فصل في الفرق بين زيارة الموحدين للقبور وزيارة المشركين — islamhouse.com (1:00:40)
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.