What advice do you give to one who steps down from leading the prayer because of the intrusive thoughts and anxieties he finds in himself?
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
Question:
He says: The imam of the mosque sometimes appoints me to lead the prayer and deliver the sermon, but I find in myself that my prayer is not acceptable because of the intrusive thoughts I experience. Therefore, I decided to move between the neighboring mosques so that I would not be the imam. What is the ruling on my action?
Answer:
This is waswas (intrusive thoughts). Seek refuge in Allah from Satan, abandon the waswas, and take on the role of delivering the sermon and leading the prayer. If the imam needs someone to deputize for him, seize the reward, seize the reward, and perform the sermon and lead the prayer. Leave the waswas behind you and seek refuge in Allah from the accursed Satan.
He says: The imam of the mosque sometimes appoints me to lead the prayer and deliver the sermon, but I find in myself that my prayer is not acceptable because of the intrusive thoughts I experience. Therefore, I decided to move between the neighboring mosques so that I would not be the imam. What is the ruling on my action?
Answer:
This is waswas (intrusive thoughts). Seek refuge in Allah from Satan, abandon the waswas, and take on the role of delivering the sermon and leading the prayer. If the imam needs someone to deputize for him, seize the reward, seize the reward, and perform the sermon and lead the prayer. Leave the waswas behind you and seek refuge in Allah from the accursed Satan.
Source
قناة «العلامة الدكتور صالح الفوزان»، بم تنصحون من يتنحى عن الإمامة؛ لما يجده في نفسه من الوساوس والهواجس؟ للشيخ الفوزان — youtube.com
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.