What is the ruling on following an imam who deviates from the Sunnah of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) in prayer.

The questioner : A question regarding the topic you mentioned, meaning we are sometimes afflicted by praying, or we are afflicted, behind imams who do not apply the Sunnah, nor do they strive to know it or adhere to it, but rather they are defiant. So what is our position when we pray behind these people, for example, placing the hands below the navel, descending onto the knees, and deviating from the Sunnah in every matter, and this is common. Do we have to follow them, or what? May Allah reward you with good?

The Shaykh : The discrepancies that occur among the imams of mosques, especially in this time when the position of imam has become like any other job, where scholars of knowledge, jurisprudence, and good recitation are not chosen for it. And you know the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) Now, this system established by the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) is not observed or implemented by those who have the authority to appoint imams in mosques. I do not wish to lengthen this discussion, for what we see in reality is sufficient for us without needing to explain it verbally. I say that often we pray behind some imams who do not recite well; they do not recite al-Fatihah well, let alone the other short surahs, let alone the long ones. Then they do not perform the prayer well in its forms, nor in its obligations, let alone its recommended practices and desirable acts. And if they forget or make a mistake in their prayer, they do not know how to rectify that mistake, because they are not scholars, or at least they are not scholars of the prayer and its rulings. Therefore, we say that the imam behind whom we pray, if in his prayer he follows an imam from the imams of the Muslims who are followed today, like the example mentionedThe questioner : earlier, placing his hands below his navel instead of on his chest, then placing the hands below the navel is not established in the Sunnah, but some of the imams have said so. And we, at a time when we do not follow an imam except in the case of his following the Sunnah, or at least in the case of his agreement with the Sunnah, in this time we respect any imam who contradicts the Sunnah, because we believe that he did not intentionally contradict the Sunnah, but rather that is what his independent legal reasoning and knowledge led him to. So we appreciate this imam, even if we follow another, because the Sunnah is with this one and not with that one. If we pray behind an imam who contradicts the Sunnah but follows an imam who is followed, like this example I am currently addressing, placing his hands below the navel, if he is a Hanafi, he is following Abu Hanifah. In this case, we apply the rule mentioned in the hadith He contradicts the Sunnah, yes, he contradicts the Sunnah, but we say he did not contradict the Sunnah out of spite for the Sunnah, but rather he contradicted it by following an imam whom this follower believes the Sunnah is with. In this case, we follow this follower, meaning this imam behind whom we pray. But if the imam contradicts the Sunnah which he believes in and his imam says it is so, but he is negligent, lazy, and lacks interest in perfecting the prayer, or out of consideration for some extremists against the Sunnah, he leaves this Sunnah for one of these reasons, none of which relates to his following his imam. In this case, we say we do not follow this imam, and the follower remains following the Sunnah of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). I gave you an example earlier of the imam who follows an imam in placing his hands below the navel; we say we follow him out of respect for his original imam. Now I give you an example of this second type of imams who leave the Sunnah out of negligence and laziness. Many of the imams of mosques follow the Shafi'i school, and this is clear in some of their prayers. For example, he recites the Basmala aloud, whereas the Hanafi does not recite it aloud; he recites Ameen aloud, whereas the Hanafi does not recite it aloud. If this is a Shafi'i, but you see him not raising his hands when bowing, and the raising is from him, do we follow him? No, why? Because in addition to his contradicting the Sunnah, he contradicted his imam who adopted this Sunnah. So we do not respect this imam behind whom we pray, because the cause we said we follow the first imam is that he follows an imam known for knowledge and virtue, whereas here this cause does not exist. He does not raise his hands, and if you asked him, "What is your school?" he would say, "I am a Shafi'i." "Well, what is the Shafi'i's ruling on raising the hands when bowing?" He would say, "It is a recommended practice." "Why do you not raise them?" He would say, "This is the custom," or he would bring a cause that is, as they say, worse than a sin. Or, for example, and this is more negligent among the imams of some mosques, he does not sit for the resting position, meaning he stands up from the second prostration to the second rak'ah immediately. This is the school of the Hanafis, but the Sunnah is that he sits for a very short time when he raises his head from the second prostration, as if he is about to stand for the second rak'ah, then he stands relying on his hands to the second rak'ah. Many of the Shafi'i imams in mosques have neglected this Sunnah until it became forgotten among them. And on this basis, infer many and very many things. Here we do not follow them because they contradict the Sunnah and contradict their imam. This is the criterion for whom to follow if he contradicts the Sunnah, and whom not to follow when he contradicts the Sunnah. There remains another type, whom you see contradicting the Sunnah while following the imam, like our first example, placing his hands below the navel. You sit with him for a scholarly session and explain to him in a calm, gentle scholarly manner that this hadith, brother, which the Hanafis adopted is not authentic according to the scholars of hadith, but rather the opposite is authentic, which is placing on the chest. And this Sunnah becomes clear to him, yet he remains opposing it, holding onto his following of his school after the proof has become clear to him. In this type as well, we say to him, we do not follow you in this leadership, because the Sunnah has become clear to you and then you intentionally contradicted it. This is the scholarly detail for understanding the hadith But the truth is, I say, applying this detail for the general imams of mosques is not feasible. Therefore, the practical rule that we should follow behind these imams whom we are afflicted with praying behind, and who are contradicting the Sunnah of our Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), is to follow them in what we know they follow their imams, meaning one of the four imams. If a reason becomes clear to us that justifies contradicting them, then we contradict them; otherwise, we remain on this principle This is the answer to what you asked.