The innovator who leads people in prayer, and they advised him but he did not desist or reform, is the prayer behind him permissible, and is there a distinction in this between the innovator whose innovation is a cause of disbelief and the one whose innovation is not?

The questioner : First, may Allah reward you for what you have graciously provided.

The Shaykh : And you too, my brother.

The questioner : And I would like to ask about the innovator imam who leads people, and no matter how much we advise him, he does not listen; rather, he hates us and holds a grudge against us. Is it permissible to pray behind him or not? Or does the innovation differ in that it is, well, whatever it is, meaning...

The Shaykh : Meaning, in terms of whether it is a cause of disbelief or not?

The questioner : Or a cause of disbelief or not, may Allah reward you?

The Shaykh : First, I do not know regarding you, as a questioner, were you in the previous session when we spoke about the Shi'ah?

The questioner : Yes.

The Shaykh : And that it is not permissible to rush to declare the Shi'ah or others disbelievers.

The questioner : Perfect, perfect.

The Shaykh : Do you remember?

The questioner: Yes.

The Shaykh : Ah, so a fortiori, it is not permissible for us to declare disbeliever one who is at least considered to be from us and among us, from the people of the Sunnah and the community, unless we see from him clear, obvious disbelief. And especially, my brother, we live as I think, it is evident to you from the previous session and this session, and we hope to be able to have one or more other sessions, and the matter is in the hand of Allah (Mighty and Majestic). You understand well that people, as the Lord of the Worlds said: Therefore, it is not permissible for a Muslim to rush to declare a Muslim individual a disbeliever as long as he prays. And you are now—where is the question, my brother?—asking about an imam who prays with people. So, it has come in the authentic hadith, and therefore we encourage the Muslim youth to study the Sunnah, and everyone who does not study the Sunnah is in misguidance, but the degree differs completely. It has come in the authentic Sunnah: Do you see if we can understand and derive jurisprudence from this text? I was forbidden from killing those who pray. Is it not a fortiori that we say I was forbidden from declaring Muslims disbelievers?

The questioner : Yes.

The Shaykh : This is a fortiori reasoning. It is like His saying, the Exalted: to the end of the verse. Is it permissible for a son to strike his father with his palm? A fortiori, it is not permissible, as long as saying "uff" is forbidden, then striking with the palm is more harmful than saying "uff." This is called a fortiori reasoning, and no one denies this, even Ibn Hazm sometimes falls into saying such reasoning, even though he denies it in general and in detail. The point is, if it is correct—and it is correct—his saying, peace and blessings be upon him: Then, a fortiori, I was forbidden from declaring those who pray disbelievers. But when we see, God forbid, from a person who prays, whether he is an imam or not, clear disbelief, and this actually requires a specific study. At that time, perhaps the correct thing is for me to say, and at that time, it is not permissible to declare him a disbeliever even if we see from him obvious disbelief, but only after establishing the proof against him, after establishing the proof against him, and then he does not desist and does not reform. At that time, do not pray behind him, and it is not permissible to treat him as a Muslim. As for the general praying people now, whether imams or those who follow, they are Muslims by default, and it is not permissible to declare them disbelievers. As for the prayer, no matter how much you do not like his prayer, whether you are right or wrong in your judgment, your prayer behind him is valid. Let us assume he is the one who is wrong in his prayer, he is the one who is wrong in his innovation, and you are the one who is right in your judgment that he is an innovator, but you have not declared him a disbeliever, and praise be to Allah. With this, your prayer behind him is valid. Do not take this answer from the books of the madhabs. If you had studied one of the madhabs followed today, like the Hanafi or the Shafi'i, the unity of the Muslim community would have been broken, and the Muslims today would have been afflicted as they were afflicted centuries ago. These are tragedies that occurred in early Islamic history. It is reported that one of the extremists, and I do not want to name the madhab, passed by a mosque where Muslims were praying according to a madhab different from his, and he said, "Has not the time come for this church to close its doors?" A mosque where Muslims are praying according to one of the four madhabs, not the Shi'ah, not the Khawarij, not the Zaydiyyah, or any of the four madhabs. He said this extremist about this mosque, "Has not the time come for this church to close its doors?" And one of them, who was a judge ruling by...