Praying Behind a Fasiq Imam Who Shaves His Beard
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The questioner:
Honorable Shaykh, if you arrive at the mosque and find that the congregation has been established, and the imam is a fasiq (open sinner), such as one who shaves his beard, or a Muslim who has committed a sin, is it better to wait until another congregation arrives, or to enter and pray with him, or to pray alone?
The Shaykh:
It is obligatory for you to enter and pray with the congregation that is praying and not to wait, because perhaps no one else will come. It is not obligatory for you to pray alone while a congregation is present. The Muslim is a sinner, but he is still a Muslim. Likewise, the one who shaves his beard is a Muslim, even if he is a sinner. So you enter with them and pray with them, and praise be to Allah. Yes.
The questioner:
We have narrated in something.
The Shaykh:
And as you heard in the hadith: Pray with whoever says, "There is no god but Allah." Yes.
Honorable Shaykh, if you arrive at the mosque and find that the congregation has been established, and the imam is a fasiq (open sinner), such as one who shaves his beard, or a Muslim who has committed a sin, is it better to wait until another congregation arrives, or to enter and pray with him, or to pray alone?
The Shaykh:
It is obligatory for you to enter and pray with the congregation that is praying and not to wait, because perhaps no one else will come. It is not obligatory for you to pray alone while a congregation is present. The Muslim is a sinner, but he is still a Muslim. Likewise, the one who shaves his beard is a Muslim, even if he is a sinner. So you enter with them and pray with them, and praise be to Allah. Yes.
The questioner:
We have narrated in something.
The Shaykh:
And as you heard in the hadith: Pray with whoever says, "There is no god but Allah." Yes.
Source
شرح بلوغ المرام من أدلة الأحكام [ صالح الفوزان ]، تابع باب صلاة الجماعة والإمامة - 3 — islamhouse.com (53:15)
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.