If the imam makes a mistake while leading a prayer in congregation, can a person who is not following the imam can intervene?
Dear Brother / Sister,
If the imam makes a mistake in prayer, it is not appropriate for someone who is not in the congregation to warn him. If the imam does what the person who is not in the congregation says, the prayer is invalidated.
If a person who is performing a prayer makes a mistake and a person who is not praying warns him and if he does what the person who is not praying says, his prayer is invalidated. 1
There are some conditions for correcting the imam in prayer. Some fiqh scholars determined a few conditions:
a) The person who corrects should not have the intention to correct.
b) The imam must not have read long enough for qiraah to be permissible.
c) The imam must not have moved on to another chapter or verse after making a mistake or hesitating...
However, the soundest determination and fatwa regarding the issue is that none of those conditions above is necessary and correcting the imam is permissible. That is, the prayer of neither the imam nor the person who corrects is invalidated. That is the sound view. 2
However, it is makruh for the muqtadi (the person who follows the imam) to hurry to correct. It is appropriate to wait a bit for the imam so that he can remember. According to the majority of scholars, it is makruh to correct the imam before giving him some time to remember. For, the muqtadi is regarded to have read though it is not necessary in that case.
If the imam hesitates while reading and if he has read long enough for qiraah to be permissible, he bows down for ruku’ without waiting for the congregation to correct him. If he has not read long enough, he will move on to another verse. Doing the opposite will be makruh. 3
If the imam hesitates in qiraah in prayer and if someone who is not in the congregation corrects him, he must not obey him. If he has read long enough for the prayer to be permissible, he will bow down for ruku’. Otherwise, he will move on to another verse. Otherwise, his prayer is invalidated. 4
Footnotes:
1. Munyatul-Musalli.
2. al-Kafi / Marwazi – Fatawa al-Hindiyya : 1/99.
3. al-Kafi / Marwazi.
4. Bahr ar-Raiq / Ibn Nujaym - Qinya / Aburraja.
(Celal Yıldırım, Kaynaklarıyla İslam Fıkhı, Uysal Kitabevi: 1/340-337).
Questions on Islam
- If the imam forgets a verse in qira’ah, how should the congregation remind him about it?
- Is the prayer of a person who does not follow the imam properly in sajdah and ruku’ (who acts before or after the imam) valid according to Shafii madhhab?
- It is said that the noon prayer performed by a woman or man before Friday prayer ends and the congregation leaves is not accepted; is it true?
- Imam’s breaking wudu; istikhlaf. What should the congregation do if the wudu of the imam is invalidated while leading a fard prayer?
- What should a person whose wudu is invalidated while performing a grayer individually or in congregation do?
- Do the sounds like "Ah, oh, uh" that are produced involuntarily while breathing due to tiredness in prayer invalidate wudu?
- Is it valid for the congregation to salute after the imam salutes to the right and left?
- Is a man’s prayer invalidated when his waist gets opened in prostration?
- Should we read the chapter of al-Fatiha in the 3rd and 4th rak’ahs when we perform a fard prayer in congregation when the imam reads silently?
- Istikhlaf: How does an imam whose wudu is broken appoint somebody from the congregation as the imam? Is the wudu of the congregation following the imam broken if he makes a mistake that invalidates his wudu?
