Praying Behind an Imam Who Spreads Gossip

Question:
This letter is from Dr. Ahmad Muhammad Taha, a doctor at the Chest Diseases Hospital in Taif. He says in his letter: There is a mosque in the hospital for prayer, and because the hospital is large and spacious, a small group gathers at prayer times, and one of them acts as the imam for the prayer, while they leave the mosque. There is also a group, not very large, that prays in the mosque. We doctors used to gather behind an Egyptian doctor who would pray with us in one of the hospital corridors. After a while, the doctors discovered that this imam doctor is a man who spreads discord, speaks ill of people, and spreads gossip. May I continue praying behind him, or should I go to the mosque? In fact, I moved to the mosque. Am I required to repeat the prayers I prayed behind him? I ask for your guidance.

Answer:
It is obligatory for those in the hospital who are able to pray in the mosque to pray in the mosque. The one who is in the hospital, whether he is a doctor, a nurse, a visitor, or a patient, if he is able to attend the mosque, it is obligatory for him to pray in the mosque; because Allah the Exalted prescribed the establishment of mosques for prayer to be held in them, as He said, Exalted is He, in His houses, Allah raises them and His name is remembered therein. So the result is that it is obligatory for the one in the hospital who is able to reach the mosque to pray in the mosque. And in the hadith about him, in the European house and others from a good tongue, and likewise he was asked by the blind men, saying: O Messenger of Allah, I have no guide to lead me to the mosque, so is it permissible for me to pray in my house? So the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said to him: Do you hear the call to prayer?
He said: Yes. He said: Then answer. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: Answer, and he did not permit , even though he was old and had no guide to lead him, but he practiced that his house was far, so that indicates the obligation of performing the prayers in the mosques, and there is no difference between the people of the hospital and others. And those who pray in parts of the hospital have opposed the Sunnah and left the obligatory. As for praying behind the doctor who spreads gossip and causes some harm, this prayer is valid. Praying behind the Asr is valid, but it should not be that people are led in prayer except by the best of them. The best should be sought in the imamate. It should be that the best of people, the most reciting of them, then the most knowledgeable of them in the Sunnah, and so on, is chosen for the imamate, as came in the hadith from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) that he said: If they are equal, then the most senior in Islam. So the result is that the best and the most excellent is chosen for the imamate, and the one known for gossip or other open sinfulness does not lead people. So such a person must be replaced by the responsible ones, and he should not be left in that position, but someone better than him should be sought to replace him if that is possible.
If people pray behind him, the prayer is valid, because whoever’s prayer is valid on his own, the prayer behind him is valid. But it should not be that anyone is established in the imamate except one who is known for justice and uprightness. And as for the disbeliever, the prayer behind him is not valid. If he has been ruled to be a disbeliever, the prayer behind him is not valid. And this is only in the case of the open sinner who is not a disbeliever. And if it is not possible for him to have an imam better than him, he prays behind him. And if he prays behind him also out of need for that, or because the other mosques are far, or similar to that, there is no harm. The point is that the prayer is valid. But if it is possible that there is one who is more worthy and better than him, let him pray behind the one who is better and more excellent, to avoid the disagreement of the scholars who say about the invalidity, about the invalidity of the prayer. So this is an open sinner, and Ibn Umar (may Allah be pleased with them both) prayed behind al-Hajjaj in Hajj, and al-Hajjaj was among the most severe and most unjust of people.