Chapter: Those Whose Leadership in Prayer Is Invalid

Leading the congregational prayer is a grave responsibility. Just as it calls for certain qualifications that the imam must possess—or, at the very least, praiseworthy qualities with which he should adorn himself—it also requires that he be free of traits that would bar him from ascending to this position or detract from his fitness for it.

Accordingly, it is not permissible to appoint an open sinner (fāsiq) to lead the prayer. A fāsiq is someone who departs from uprightness by committing a major sin short of idolatry.

Fisq (deviance) is of two kinds: practical and doctrinal.

• Practical fisq includes committing the enormity of fornication, theft, drinking wine, and similar offenses.
• Doctrinal fisq encompasses adopting beliefs such as those of the Rāfiḍites, the Muʿtazilites, or the Jahmites.

It is therefore impermissible to place a fāsiq at the head of the prayer, for the testimony of a fāsiq is not to be accepted. Allah, Exalted is He, says: “O you who believe! If a sinner comes to you with any news, verify it” (Qur’an 49:6); therefore