The ruling on appointing a non-Saudi to lead the prayer in the mosque

Question:
Honorable Shaykh, the questioner says: I am the imam of a mosque, and I have grown old and moved to a place far from the mosque. It is difficult for me to keep up with leading the prayer in the mosque, so I appointed a non-Saudi man in my place. He is a good reader, and I housed him in a room in the mosque and give him some of the salary. Is my action correct, knowing that this man takes care of the mosque, its cleanliness, and the adhan?

Answer:
This is not correct from two aspects. The first aspect is that if you take on a job, especially leading the prayer in the mosque and matters of worship, it is obligatory for you to carry it out. If you are unable to carry it out, you must relinquish it to someone else, to an imam other than yourself. Since you did not carry out this work, you must relinquish it so that another imam is appointed to carry out the work. This is one aspect. The second aspect is that the regulations prohibit this. This is a violation of the authority of the one in authority. The regulations prohibit you from appointing a foreigner; it is forbidden to make non-Saudis imams in the mosques. So you have violated the authority of the one in authority. Therefore, you must leave this action. Either you lead the prayer in the mosque yourself, or you notify the department responsible for mosques so that they appoint an imam in your place.