Reference: Fatāwā Muḥammadiyyah, Vol. 1, p. 434
A person does not believe in Raf‘ al-Yadayn, Āmīn bil-Jahr, and reciting Sūrah al-Fātiḥah behind the Imam. If such a person leads the Salah, will the Salah of those praying behind him be valid or not? Especially when those standing behind him believe in these practices and are also capable of leading the prayer themselves?
Al-ḥamdu lillāh, waṣ-ṣalātu was-salāmu ʿalā Rasūlillāh, ammā baʿd:
✿ Sūrah al-Fātiḥah is a pillar of Salah and its recitation is obligatory.
✿ Imam al-Bukhārī (رحمه الله) has clarified this in al-Jāmiʿ al-Ṣaḥīḥ under the chapter: بَابُ وُجُوبِ القِرَاءَةِ لِلْإِمَامِ وَالمَأْمُومِ فِي الصَّلَوَاتِ كُلِّهَا، فِي الحَضَرِ وَالسَّفَرِ، وَمَا يُجْهَرُ فِيهَا وَمَا يُخَافَتُ.
✿ ʿUbādah bin aṣ-Ṣāmit narrated that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: لا صلوۃ إلا بفاتحة الکتاب.
This is an explicit and decisive proof of its obligation.
Likewise:
✿ Raf‘ al-Yadayn at bowing and rising from it is a well-established and mutawātir Sunnah.
✿ Saying Āmīn aloud is also proven from authentic narrations.
Therefore, following an Imam who abandons these three matters is not free from danger. For this reason, it is safer and more prudent to avoid praying behind such an Imam, otherwise there remains a possibility that the prayer may be incomplete.
However, if one happens to pray behind such an Imam, the prayer will still be valid.
Shaykh al-Kull fī al-Kull, Sayyid Nadhīr Ḥusayn Muḥaddith Dehlawī (رحمه الله) stated:
✿ The Salah behind an Imam of a differing school of thought is valid, because the establishment of congregation is a mercy.
✿ Division and sectarianism is a punishment from Allah, as He has said:
﴿وَاعْتَصِمُوا بِحَبْلِ اللَّـهِ جَمِيعًا وَلَا تَفَرَّقُوا…١٠٣﴾ آل عمران
Meaning: “Hold firmly to the rope of Allah all together and do not become divided.”
✿ During the times of Imam Abū Ḥanīfah, Imam Mālik, Imam al-Shāfiʿī, Imam Aḥmad bin Ḥanbal, and other Mujtahids, there was no evidence that they prohibited following an Imam of another school of thought.
✿ They considered Salah behind any Muslim valid, as they were united upon the fundamentals of the religion, even though they differed in subsidiary matters through ijtihād.
✿ Every Mujtahid strove to bring forth the most correct ruling. Despite this, they did not regard their own position in ẓannī (speculative) matters as absolute truth, nor did they view their opponents as certainly wrong.
✿ They recognized the right of every scholar to exercise ijtihād, as mentioned in the Hadith: العلماء ورثة الأنبياء (The scholars are the inheritors of the Prophets).
Mullā ʿAlī al-Qārī also recorded this in Risālah al-Iqtidaʾ bil-Mukhālif.
It is further clarified in Fatāwā Nadhīriyyah that in matters of shirk and bidʿah no undue distinction or exaggeration was made.
ھذا ما عندي واللہ أعلم بالصواب
❖ Question
A person does not believe in Raf‘ al-Yadayn, Āmīn bil-Jahr, and reciting Sūrah al-Fātiḥah behind the Imam. If such a person leads the Salah, will the Salah of those praying behind him be valid or not? Especially when those standing behind him believe in these practices and are also capable of leading the prayer themselves?
❖ Answer
Al-ḥamdu lillāh, waṣ-ṣalātu was-salāmu ʿalā Rasūlillāh, ammā baʿd:
✿ Sūrah al-Fātiḥah is a pillar of Salah and its recitation is obligatory.
✿ Imam al-Bukhārī (رحمه الله) has clarified this in al-Jāmiʿ al-Ṣaḥīḥ under the chapter: بَابُ وُجُوبِ القِرَاءَةِ لِلْإِمَامِ وَالمَأْمُومِ فِي الصَّلَوَاتِ كُلِّهَا، فِي الحَضَرِ وَالسَّفَرِ، وَمَا يُجْهَرُ فِيهَا وَمَا يُخَافَتُ.
✿ ʿUbādah bin aṣ-Ṣāmit narrated that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: لا صلوۃ إلا بفاتحة الکتاب.
This is an explicit and decisive proof of its obligation.
Likewise:
✿ Raf‘ al-Yadayn at bowing and rising from it is a well-established and mutawātir Sunnah.
✿ Saying Āmīn aloud is also proven from authentic narrations.
Therefore, following an Imam who abandons these three matters is not free from danger. For this reason, it is safer and more prudent to avoid praying behind such an Imam, otherwise there remains a possibility that the prayer may be incomplete.
However, if one happens to pray behind such an Imam, the prayer will still be valid.
❖ Opinions of Scholars
Shaykh al-Kull fī al-Kull, Sayyid Nadhīr Ḥusayn Muḥaddith Dehlawī (رحمه الله) stated:
✿ The Salah behind an Imam of a differing school of thought is valid, because the establishment of congregation is a mercy.
✿ Division and sectarianism is a punishment from Allah, as He has said:
﴿وَاعْتَصِمُوا بِحَبْلِ اللَّـهِ جَمِيعًا وَلَا تَفَرَّقُوا…١٠٣﴾ آل عمران
Meaning: “Hold firmly to the rope of Allah all together and do not become divided.”
✿ During the times of Imam Abū Ḥanīfah, Imam Mālik, Imam al-Shāfiʿī, Imam Aḥmad bin Ḥanbal, and other Mujtahids, there was no evidence that they prohibited following an Imam of another school of thought.
✿ They considered Salah behind any Muslim valid, as they were united upon the fundamentals of the religion, even though they differed in subsidiary matters through ijtihād.
✿ Every Mujtahid strove to bring forth the most correct ruling. Despite this, they did not regard their own position in ẓannī (speculative) matters as absolute truth, nor did they view their opponents as certainly wrong.
✿ They recognized the right of every scholar to exercise ijtihād, as mentioned in the Hadith: العلماء ورثة الأنبياء (The scholars are the inheritors of the Prophets).
Mullā ʿAlī al-Qārī also recorded this in Risālah al-Iqtidaʾ bil-Mukhālif.
It is further clarified in Fatāwā Nadhīriyyah that in matters of shirk and bidʿah no undue distinction or exaggeration was made.
ھذا ما عندي واللہ أعلم بالصواب
