I prayed 'Isha' behind an imam from Pakistan who does not read al-Fatihah well; is my prayer and the prayer of those behind him valid?

The questioner: His EminenceThe Shaykh- May Allah preserve you - , I prayed 'Isha' today behind an imam from Pakistan who does not read al-Fatihah well; for example, he says "al-Rahman" instead of "al-Rahman," and he says "al-Rahim" instead of "al-Rahim," and so on with the rest of the verses; is my prayer and the prayer of those behind him valid? And what is obligatory for me regarding him if my prayer behind him is not valid?

The Shaykh: In fact, this issue is observed in some mosques; even some Arab imams, like the common people, do not read the Qur'an well. So whether he is Arab or non-Arab, it is not permissible for one who knows that he does not recite the Qur'an as it should be to stand before the people and lead them in prayer as an imam; because he bears responsibility, and he may invalidate their prayer. It was mentioned in some authentic hadiths that he - peace and blessings be upon him - said: , so the imam is responsible for the validity of the prayer of the one following him. If he invalidates it for them, he is responsible not only for his own prayer, but for the prayer of those following him which he invalidated for them. Imam al-Bukhari narrated in his "Sahih" what serves as an answer to a question like this; namely his saying - peace and blessings be upon him and his family - regarding the rights of imams: . So if the imam's prayer is valid, it is valid for him and valid for those following him. But if his prayer is not valid, either it is fundamentally invalid, or it is deficient in reward as we mentioned in the previous hadith: to the end of the hadith. If his prayer is invalid or deficient, it is so for the imam. But for those following him, it is valid even if the imam neglected it, either completely or partially.
And from here comes the issue in which the jurists differed, and this is the correct view; because the jurists say: If the follower follows an imam, is the criterion the opinion of the follower or the opinion of the imam?
There are two schools of thought: The school of the majority - the Hanafis, the Shafi'is, and others - is that the criterion is the opinion of the follower. And the opinion of the Malikis and others is that the criterion is the opinion of the imam. So if the imam's prayer is valid, it validates the prayer of the follower, even if the follower's prayer, in his view, is not valid. For example: An imam prays with the people and blood comes out of him, and the one praying behind him is of the Hanafi school and believes that blood coming out invalidates the ablution. This imam had blood come out of him, did not renew his ablution, and led the people in prayer. So this imam's prayer is valid according to his school, but according to the Hanafi follower, his prayer is invalid. So is the ruling on this prayer according to the imam's school or the follower's school? You heard the answer in the authentic hadith: .
Therefore, there are two matters that must be observed: The first matter: It is upon the one praying to choose the imam he prays behind well, so he does not pray behind such a non-Arab who changes the un-dotted ha' to a dotted kha', or changes the 'ayn to an alif "al-ayn," and so on... And if he cannot find anyone but such an imam, the imam bears the responsibility for the invalidity of the prayer if something occurs from him that invalidates his prayer. So the criterion is the opinion of the imam, not the opinion of the follower.