Leading Salah

[Talibatul Ilm]

The masjid in my area alhamdulillah has recetly produced 2 huffadh in their after-school hifdh course. Among them are 6 or 7 other boys who are close to completing their hifdh inshaAllah, they are all younger than 14 mashaAllah.

Because it is the end of Ramadan the masjid will be having Tahajjud lead in Jama'ah at the masjid during the middle of the night. The imam wants the 2 huffadh and other hifdh students to lead this prayer. My only concern is that these boys are young and have not yet reached the age of maturity. Is it permissible to pray behind them? They are leading nafl salah, but still salah behind an Imam I thought had to be behind someone of sound age, and 12, 13 years old does not seem old enough.

[Haitham Hamdan]

can my 7yr old lead me in salaah? can i lead him in salaah being his mother? note: he learnt how to pray by copying me and following me in salaah.

Answer:

Praise be to Allaah.
It is OK for a boy who understands the prayer to lead others in prayer, because the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “People should be led in prayer by the one who knows the most Qur’aan among them.” (Narrated by Muslim, al-Masaajid wa Mawaadi’ al-Salaah, 1078). And it was narrated in Saheeh al-Bukhaari that ‘Amr ibn Salamah al-Jarami said: “My father came from the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) and said that he had heard the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) say, ‘When the time for prayer comes, let the one among you who knows the most Qur’aan lead you in prayer.’ They looked and they did not find anyone who knew more Qur’aan than me, so they made me lead them in prayer, and I was a boy of six or seven years.” (al-Maghaazi, 3963. See Fataawa al-Lajnah al-Daa’imah, 7/389-390)

The evidence to be found in the hadeeth is that these Sahaabah asked ‘Amr ibn Salamah to lead them in prayer when he was six or seven years old. This indicates that a boy who has reached the age of discernment can lead the prayers. If that were not permitted, there would have been Revelation to say that it was not allowed. (Ahkaam al-Imaamah wa’l-I’timaam fi’l-Salaah by ‘Abd al-Muhsin al-Muneef).

If your son fulfils all the conditions and obligations of the prayer, then there is nothing wrong with him leading you.

With regard to a woman leading a boy in prayer, this is not permissible, because he comes under the same rulings as a man. What is permitted is for a woman to lead other women in prayer, because the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) commanded Umm Waraqah bint ‘Abd-Allaah ibn Nawfal to lead the members of her household – i.e., the women – in prayer. (Narrated by Abu Dawood, al-Salaah, Imaamat al-Nisaa’, 500, Classed as saheeh by al-Albaani in Saheeh Sunan Abi Dawood, 553).

http://www.islam-qa.com/index.php?ref=9933&ln=eng

[Talibatul Ilm]

What if you know this child isn't usually consistant in their prayers, or they openly do certain sinful things [i.e. drugs, lying, foul speech, not guarding their gazes]

[Ayman bin khaled]

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

What if you know this child isn't usually consistant in their prayers, or they openly do certain sinful things [i.e. drugs, lying, foul speech, not guarding their gazes]

I cannot understand how can it happen that a child who memorized Quran to be someone who takes drugs!!! I understand that he may not lower his gaze or have some bad manners as he is a child after all but not drugs!!

Anyway, as you said they did not reach age or puberty therefore they are not being held accounted for their actions. Yet, assuming you have an Imam who happens to be Fasiq then even so, you still pray behind him. However, it is always better to find an appoint an Imam who has the best character and religion as it is the criteria for the Imam.

Anyway, if you have one Masjid with bad Imam you can easily find another Masjid which close by that has a good Imam.

Wallahu A'lam

[Samira]

In the name of Allah,
Great topic ukhti Talibatul Ilm, I've always wanted to know about this.
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So long as the boy takes salat seriously, he is allowed to be an imam to women and to other men if he knows the most quran. That's what I understood reading the posts here.
What if a women leads like a five year old boy or a ten year old boy who does NOT take salat seriously. Does it still fall under this ruling "With regard to a woman leading a boy in prayer, this is not permissible, because he comes under the same rulings as a man"?

[Morad]

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم


However, it is always better to find an appoint an Imam who has the best character and religion as it is the criteria for the Imam.


Bismillah

As salaamu alaikum,

I would agree with you, but I wonder if my agreement is correct. Is there evidence pointing directly to this or is this based on itijhad due to the prohibitions of being musbil, wearing trousers or shaving to beard?

The reason I'm asking is because there was a situation that happened to me where there wasn't an appointed Imam and I lead the prayer. Someone advised me afterwards that I shouldn't lead because I don't know very much Quran, but at the time everyone there was all three of the things I listed, so I led because of it. They argued with me, saying that that doesn't matter, you don't know much Quran.