What is the ruling on praying behind an imam who is ignorant of the principles of creed and tawhid (the oneness of Allah)?
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The questioner:
The questioner says: The imam of our mosque is from a neighboring country. He has memorized the Qur'an, but he knows nothing about tawhid (the oneness of Allah) and creed. He is indifferent to seeking knowledge. He asks: Do we pray behind him, or do we go to another mosque that is far from home?
The Shaykh:
And we fulfill it for him, for what is his.
The questioner:
As mentioned.
The Shaykh:
Because in the Kingdom, you must review the affairs of the mosques. You review the affairs of the mosques. You must look into it. But if he is in your country, we have no authority over him. However, if you criticize him for something, point it out to him. If he accepts it, otherwise, pray with someone else. Yes.
The questioner says: The imam of our mosque is from a neighboring country. He has memorized the Qur'an, but he knows nothing about tawhid (the oneness of Allah) and creed. He is indifferent to seeking knowledge. He asks: Do we pray behind him, or do we go to another mosque that is far from home?
The Shaykh:
And we fulfill it for him, for what is his.
The questioner:
As mentioned.
The Shaykh:
Because in the Kingdom, you must review the affairs of the mosques. You review the affairs of the mosques. You must look into it. But if he is in your country, we have no authority over him. However, if you criticize him for something, point it out to him. If he accepts it, otherwise, pray with someone else. Yes.
Source
قناة «العلامة الدكتور صالح الفوزان»، ما حكم الصلاة خلف إمام جاهل بأصول العقيدة والتوحيد؟ لمعالي الشيخ صالح الفوزان — youtube.com
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.