What is the ruling on praying behind the imams of the Sufis?
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Question:
He says: In our country, there are many Sufi imams in the mosques. Some of them believe in the awliya (close friends of Allah) and travel long distances to their graves. Some of them call people to bid'ah (religious innovations). Most of them mock the people of the Sunnah. What is the ruling on praying behind these people?
Answer:
The one who calls upon the awliya and the righteous, seeking their help and aid, is a mushrik (one who associates partners with Allah). His prayer is invalid in itself, so how can he be an imam for the Muslims? As for bid'ah, it varies; there are bid'ah that constitute open sinfulness, and there are bid'ah that are less than that. In any case, you must seek out an imam who has no shirk (associating partners with Allah) and no bid'ah, and pray behind him. Yes.
He says: In our country, there are many Sufi imams in the mosques. Some of them believe in the awliya (close friends of Allah) and travel long distances to their graves. Some of them call people to bid'ah (religious innovations). Most of them mock the people of the Sunnah. What is the ruling on praying behind these people?
Answer:
The one who calls upon the awliya and the righteous, seeking their help and aid, is a mushrik (one who associates partners with Allah). His prayer is invalid in itself, so how can he be an imam for the Muslims? As for bid'ah, it varies; there are bid'ah that constitute open sinfulness, and there are bid'ah that are less than that. In any case, you must seek out an imam who has no shirk (associating partners with Allah) and no bid'ah, and pray behind him. Yes.
Source
قناة «العلامة الدكتور صالح الفوزان»، ما حكم الصلاة خلف أئمة الصوفية؟ #فتاوى الفوزان — youtube.com
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.