If the imam is an open sinner, is it permissible to establish the Friday prayer in more than one place?
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Question : Is there a need for him to be an open sinner? I mean, people might say, for example, we do not pray behind this open sinner; we want a just imam.
Answer : Otherwise, we would establish the Friday prayer in our mosque with an imam we are pleased with. We say: No, this is not a need, because the Companions prayed behind al-Hajjaj ibn Yusuf, who was among the most oppressive and tyrannical of people; he killed scholars and killed the innocent.
And they used to pray behind him. Based on this, we say that people differing with the imam because of his open sinfulness is not a need for multiplying the Friday prayer. Rather, the correct view is that it is permissible for the imam to be an open sinner, even in other than the Friday prayer. That means it is permissible to pray behind an open sinner, even in other than the Friday prayer.
As long as his open sinfulness does not involve neglecting a condition of the prayer that he believes to be a condition. In that case, we do not pray behind him. But if his neglect of a condition of the prayer is one that we believe to be a condition, while he does not believe it to be one, then that does not harm. For example, if we believe that eating camel meat breaks the ablution, and the imam believes that it does not break it, and then he prays with us, we pray behind him, because this is a difference in independent legal reasoning.
Answer : Otherwise, we would establish the Friday prayer in our mosque with an imam we are pleased with. We say: No, this is not a need, because the Companions prayed behind al-Hajjaj ibn Yusuf, who was among the most oppressive and tyrannical of people; he killed scholars and killed the innocent.
And they used to pray behind him. Based on this, we say that people differing with the imam because of his open sinfulness is not a need for multiplying the Friday prayer. Rather, the correct view is that it is permissible for the imam to be an open sinner, even in other than the Friday prayer. That means it is permissible to pray behind an open sinner, even in other than the Friday prayer.
As long as his open sinfulness does not involve neglecting a condition of the prayer that he believes to be a condition. In that case, we do not pray behind him. But if his neglect of a condition of the prayer is one that we believe to be a condition, while he does not believe it to be one, then that does not harm. For example, if we believe that eating camel meat breaks the ablution, and the imam believes that it does not break it, and then he prays with us, we pray behind him, because this is a difference in independent legal reasoning.
Source
قناة «فضيلة الشيخ محمد بن صالح العثيمين»، 4678إذا كان الإمام فاسقاً هل يباح إقامة الجمعة في أكثر..📔 الشرح الممتع على زاد المستقنع - ابن عثيمين — youtube.com
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.
