I am the imam of a mosque, but I suffer from frequent passing of wind. It is not a whisper of the devil, but a reality. I struggle against it during prayer, and I may perform wudu more than once before the prayer.
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The questioner : May Allah reward the honorableThe Shaykh : I am the imam of a mosque, but I suffer from frequent passing of wind. It is not a whisper of the devil, but a reality. So I struggle against it while I pray with them. I may perform wudu more than once, two or three times, before the prayer. I perform wudu, then I become in a state of ritual impurity, and so on. Is it permissible for me to be their imam, and what should I do?
The Shaykh : If this wind passes while you are leading people in prayer and you cannot hold it in, then the scholars say that it is not permissible for you to be an imam, because this wind is similar to incontinence of urine. They mentioned that one who has incontinence of urine does not lead others in prayer. In fact, this is more severe than incontinence of urine, because what does this have?
The student: A smell.
The Shaykh : A smell that harms the worshippers and harms the angels. The angels are harmed by what harms humans by smell. For this reason, one who has eaten onions or garlic and whose breath still smells of them is prohibited from entering the mosque. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) explained this prohibition by saying that the angels are harmed by what harms the children of Adam.
So my advice to this brother is to try to treat his condition. As for the imamate, let him step aside from it and leave it to an imam who does not have incontinence of wind.
The Shaykh : If this wind passes while you are leading people in prayer and you cannot hold it in, then the scholars say that it is not permissible for you to be an imam, because this wind is similar to incontinence of urine. They mentioned that one who has incontinence of urine does not lead others in prayer. In fact, this is more severe than incontinence of urine, because what does this have?
The student: A smell.
The Shaykh : A smell that harms the worshippers and harms the angels. The angels are harmed by what harms humans by smell. For this reason, one who has eaten onions or garlic and whose breath still smells of them is prohibited from entering the mosque. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) explained this prohibition by saying that the angels are harmed by what harms the children of Adam.
So my advice to this brother is to try to treat his condition. As for the imamate, let him step aside from it and leave it to an imam who does not have incontinence of wind.