How could it be otherwise, when a hadith states:
“Whoever appoints a man to an office over a group, while he can find among them someone more pleasing to Allah, has betrayed Allah, His Messenger, and the believers.”
Another hadith states:
“Appoint the best among you as your imams, for they are your representatives before Allah.”
Another hadith states:
“When a man leads people in prayer while someone among them is better than him, they will remain in decline.”
It is established in the Sahīh collection that the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) said:
“The people should be led in prayer by the one most proficient in reciting the Book of Allah. If they are equal in recitation, then by the one most knowledgeable about the Sunnah. If they are equal in knowledge of the Sunnah, then by the one who migrated earliest. If they migrated at the same time, then by the oldest.”
Thus, the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) commanded that precedence be given to the one who excels in knowledge of the Book, then of the Sunnah, then to precedence in righteous deeds acquired through one’s own actions, and then to precedence conferred by Allah Most High.
In Sunan Abī Dāwūd and elsewhere, it is reported:
“A man from among the Ansār (Helpers) used to lead a group in prayer. He spat in the direction of the qiblah, so the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) instructed them to remove him from his position as imam and not to pray behind him. He came to the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) and asked whether he had ordered them to remove him. He replied, ‘Yes. You have offended Allah and His Messenger.’”
If a man is removed for his misconduct during prayer and for spitting towards the qiblah, then what of someone who persists in consuming hashish—especially if he regards its intoxicating forms as lawful, as some people do? Such a person should be called upon to repent: if he repents, well and good; otherwise, he is to be put to death. For intoxication from it is forbidden by consensus, and deeming that lawful is disbelief, without dispute.