Is it permissible to pray behind a young man in his twenties, knowing that there is no one in the village more knowledgeable about prayer than he is, and he is also unmarried?
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The questioner : Also, the messenger Ali Ahmad al-Yamani from Jeddah asks: Is it permissible to pray behind a young man in his twenties, knowing that there is no one in the village more knowledgeable about prayer than he is, and he is also unmarried?
The Shaykh : It is permissible to pray behind a twenty-year-old because he is of age. It is not required for the imam to be married, nor to have performed the obligatory Hajj. Rather, if he is a Muslim and of age, his leading the prayer is valid for both young and old. In fact, according to the stronger opinion, the leading of a non-adult by an adult is valid. So if a child of ten years old prays with an adult, there is nothing wrong with that. It is established in Sahih al-Bukhari that Amr ibn Salama al-Juhani led his companions in prayer when he was six or seven years old. The correct view among the scholars is that there is nothing wrong with a non-adult child being an imam for an adult. There is also nothing wrong with him being a follower behind the imam. For example, if there are three people: two adults and a boy, and the imam steps forward while the followers step back, being the man and the boy, then this is permissible according to the stronger opinion among the scholars.
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : Yes.
The Shaykh : It is permissible to pray behind a twenty-year-old because he is of age. It is not required for the imam to be married, nor to have performed the obligatory Hajj. Rather, if he is a Muslim and of age, his leading the prayer is valid for both young and old. In fact, according to the stronger opinion, the leading of a non-adult by an adult is valid. So if a child of ten years old prays with an adult, there is nothing wrong with that. It is established in Sahih al-Bukhari that Amr ibn Salama al-Juhani led his companions in prayer when he was six or seven years old. The correct view among the scholars is that there is nothing wrong with a non-adult child being an imam for an adult. There is also nothing wrong with him being a follower behind the imam. For example, if there are three people: two adults and a boy, and the imam steps forward while the followers step back, being the man and the boy, then this is permissible according to the stronger opinion among the scholars.
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : Yes.