Is it permissible for a man to teach people and deliver lessons while there is someone more knowledgeable than him who does not do so?

The questioner : There are many people in the mosques who are more knowledgeable than others in matters of Islamic jurisprudence and the terminology of hadith, but they do not act upon what they know, while other people in these mosques are less knowledgeable than them. Should the less knowledgeable one take the lead in lessons, or should they make room for those people to teach the people and instruct them in Islamic jurisprudence and the terminology of hadith?

The Shaykh : I think you are asking about something we have not answered yet.

The questioner : But the less knowledgeable ones are practicing; they are less knowledgeable, yet they act upon the Sunnah.

The Shaykh : Acting benefits its doer, and leaving it off harms its leaver. As for the one most deserving of leading the prayer, he has his conditions in the Sunnah. For example, his saying (peace and blessings be upon him): It is very clear. Let us give a very clear example. No one knows or hears the name al-Hajjaj without associating with it the embodiment of injustice, but he was the governor of Iraq, just as his successor after him was, and perhaps there is no comparison between them. If Sa'id ibn Jubayr, for example, were present there, he would be more knowledgeable and more God-fearing, and so on. Would he lead the prayer and al-Hajjaj would not, according to the Shari'ah? Who leads? Al-Hajjaj, because he is the ruler. So here we do not look at the best one, but rather at the text: which of the two men does it apply to in its entirety? Now we enter into our reality. The man is a reader, he is beardless, and he has a standard. He is beardless like many people who have been afflicted with the European custom—English, French, and so on. And although they live freely and do not live under the rule of a foreign system, a club system, no, they live freely, yet they are beardless. Among these beardless men, there may be one who has a better memory of the Book of Allah than all the shaykhs who, because of the length of their beards, must distribute a portion of it to the beardless ones. So who leads? Apply this hadith: does the people lead their best? Their most God-fearing? Their most scrupulous? No, the Messenger did not say any of this. He said: The one most knowledgeable of them in the Sunnah. He also turned out to be beardless, unfortunately. Why? Because knowledge has become a profession, as is the case with many people today. We say he leads. As for his being beardless, my brother, that is his burden. So your question does not go beyond all of this. It is correct that there is someone more knowledgeable, pardon me, more practicing, more God-fearing, and more scrupulous, but the one who is below him in that is above him in fulfilling the conditions that qualify him to be an imam. Is that clear?

The questioner : It is clear. But do we not derive from this hadith a legal ruling that the people in this time are mostly commoners who follow this imam? As you know, Your Eminence, in this country and elsewhere, that people pay more attention to the imam's words than to others, so many commoners follow him in shaving his beard. And many of these commoners do not know the ruling on the beard, but rather say that it is a recommended practice and that it is not well known among them. So do we not derive from this hadith that a person of the Sunnah should not enter into leading the prayer?

The Shaykh : No, but we derive from it something you do not like, which is that these good people are not fulfilling their duty.

The questioner : There are good people, but it is not acceptable.

The Shaykh : How?

The questioner : The practicing ones who are not knowledgeable?

The Shaykh : No, these practicing, good people are not fulfilling their duty. Do you understand me?

The questioner: I understand you.

The Shaykh : Or should I explain?

The questioner : No, I understand you.

The Shaykh : May Allah reward you with good.

The questioner : And if you explain, it would be a kindness on your part.

The Shaykh : Yes?

The questioner : And if you explain, it would be a kindness on your part.

The Shaykh : Fine, I have no objection, of course. This imam who leads the people while being beardless, in the opinion of those specific people you referred to and described as being below him in knowledge, jurisprudence, and recitation, but better than him in acting upon their religion and their God-fearingness toward their Lord—these God-fearing, righteous people are falling short with this people, who, as I said, will be misled by this beardless imam. And seeing an imam leading the people while beardless, if he shaves his beard, there is no harm. When does this affect the public? When those God-fearing, righteous people are not fulfilling the duty of teaching and reminding. Is that clear?

The questioner : Is that clear?

The Shaykh : That is, the imam's call is that shaving the beard is not a sin by his action, and this undoubtedly has an effect. But this action will lose its effect if the righteous, knowledgeable people stand up and declare that shaving the beard is a sin, and a great sin. Then the people who pray behind this beardless imam will become aware and know what the imam is doing.