If the two of them dispute this right, one possibility is that lots be drawn between them, with the one selected by lot being put forward; another is that the matter be referred to the choice of the mosque’s congregation, allowing them to choose one of the two.

This imam’s authority includes appointing the muezzins, unless that authority has been expressly withheld from him, because the call to prayer is one of the sunnahs connected with the prayer that he has been placed in charge of performing, and thus falls within his jurisdiction over it. He may require the muezzins to follow whatever his independent legal reasoning leads him to regarding the prayer times and the call to prayer. If he follows the Hanbali school and holds that the prayers should be performed at the beginning of their appointed times, that the call to prayer should not include the repetition of the testimony phrases, and that the iqamah should be recited once, he may require the muezzins to follow this practice, even if their own view differs. If he follows the Hanafi school and holds that the prayers should be delayed until the end of their appointed times—except for the Maghrib prayer—and that the testimony phrases should not be repeated in the call to prayer, while the iqamah should be recited in a doubled form, he may likewise require them to follow this practice, even if their own view differs.

The imam acts according to his own view and independent legal reasoning in matters relating to his prayer. Thus, if he follows the Hanbali school and holds that the qunut supplication should not be performed in the morning prayer and that the basmalah should not be recited aloud, his view is to be followed and not challenged. Likewise, if he follows the Shafi‘i school and holds that the basmalah should be recited aloud and that qunut should be performed in the morning prayer, he is not to be opposed.

The distinction between the prayer and the call to prayer is that he performs the prayer on his own behalf, and therefore it is not permissible to oppose him in his independent legal reasoning, whereas the muezzin makes the call on behalf of others, so his independent legal reasoning may be challenged. Five qualifications are required for appointing this imam: he must be a man, upright, a proficient reciter, a jurist, and sound in speech, free from any defect or lisp. If he is a child, a sinful person, a woman, an intersex person, mute, or lisping, then a child’s leading an obligatory prayer is invalid, though it is valid in a voluntary prayer.