he must repeat his prayer, whereas the congregation’s prayer remains valid.’

Shaykh al-Islām Ibn Taymiyyah said, ‘This is exactly how the Rightly Guided Caliphs acted. They would lead the people in prayer, then, upon discovering after the prayer that they were in a state of major impurity, they would repeat their own prayer yet would not order the people to repeat theirs. If, however, the imam or a follower becomes aware during the prayer of ritual impurity or physical filth, both of their prayers are nullified.’1

The leadership of an illiterate worshipper is not sound. By “illiterate” here we mean someone who either does not know Sūrah al-Fātiḥah by heart or knows it but cannot recite it correctly—such as committing an error that alters the meaning: giving the kāf in iyyāka a kasrah, giving the tāʾ in anʿamta a ḍammah, opening the initial hamzah in ihdinā, or substituting one letter for another, as in the case of someone who pronounces the rāʾ as a ghayn or lām, or turns a sīn into a tā, and the like. An illiterate person may only lead someone equally illiterate, because they are on the same footing, provided that both are genuinely unable to correct their recitation. If the illiterate imam is actually able to correct his recitation but neglects to do so, neither his prayer nor the prayer of those behind him is valid, for he has abandoned a required element despite having the ability to fulfill it.

It is disliked for a man to lead a congregation when the majority of them justifiably resent him—meaning their dislike stems from a deficiency in his religiosity—for the Prophet ﷺ said, ‘Three people whose prayer…’