Praying Behind an Imam Who Believes in Saints and the Righteous

Question: Is it permissible to pray behind an imam who believes in saints and the righteous? Kindly advise us, and may Allah bless you.

Answer: To believe that saints and pious people can bring benefit or inflict harm, cure the sick, or relieve distress—as the grave-worshippers who flock to shrines believe today—is major associationism, God forbid. Whoever espouses such a creed has left the fold of Islam, for he is worshipping something other than Allah. None possesses the power to harm or benefit, to remove hardships, or to fulfil needs that only Allah can meet; that power belongs exclusively to Allah, glorified and exalted be He.

Likewise, to hold that the dead lying in their graves—or even the living—have abilities that only Allah possesses, such as healing the ill, granting provision, or warding off misfortune, is major associationism. It entails relying on other than Allah, trusting other than Allah, and directing the highest forms of worship to other than Allah. Therefore, an imam who maintains these beliefs is, for as long as he does so, outside the community of Islam, and his leadership of the prayer is invalid because he is associating partners with Allah.

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Question: If the imam of the mosque who leads the people in prayer—and some or even all of the congregation—believe that the dead can bring benefit and repel harm, swear oaths by other than Allah, and commit many innovations and superstitions, is it permissible for me to pray with them behind this imam, or should I pray alone in my house, or look for another mosque whose imam and worshippers are free of these traits?