Status of Salah behind non Hanafis

Question:

Assalaamu Alaykum respected Mufti Sahib,

I have a question regarding the status of our Salah if we were to read behind Imams who are not Hanafis but are either Shafi or Wahabis. I am a University student in London and the Mosques that I go to pray my Salah are Shafi or Wahabi. There isn’t any Hanafi mosques in this locality. Is my Salah valid? Is there a difference of opinion among the Hanafis on this issue? What is the relied upon position? Is it better for me to pray alone or behind a bidati? What comments do the Ulema have about some examples we can extract from the Salaf where they had read Salah behind the people of Bida?

Please can you answer all the contentions that I have put forward. This issue is really puzzling me, and I would like some clarity on the issue.

JazakAllah Khair

Wassalaamu Alaykum

Answer:

Wa Alaykum Al-Salam,

Answer:

A Hanafi can perform his Salah behind an Imam who is a Shafa’I as long as the Imam fulfils the obligatory acts and conditions of cleanliness and Salah according to the Hanafi Fiqh as well as fulfilling the obligatory and necessary acts of his own school of thought. Imam Ibn Abideen writes in his Radd Al-Muhtar, “If one knows that the Imam fulfils the obligations of the pre-conditions and conditions of that specific Salah, although he does not fulfil the necessary (wajib) acts, then there is no harm in performing behind him”, similar to this, is mentioned in Bahr Al-Raa’iq of Ibn Nujaym Al-Misri. In Al-Fatawa Al-Hindiyyah, it says that Salah behind the Imam of the other three schools is permissible as long as the Imam does not hold prejudice opinions against our school, he fulfils the obligatiory acts of cleanliness (ablution) according to our school and that his Salah would not be deemed as invalid in our school”. Therefore, if blood exits the body of the Imam, flows onto his skin and he does not perform ablution again then the Salah of a Hanafi behind such an Imam is invalid. In the same book it also says that if one does not know if the Imam fulfils the aforementioned conditions then his Salah will be valid but disliked. In the case that the Imam does cater for the Hanafi followers, it is more virtuous to perform in congregation behind him rather than performing alone. However, in the case of the Salah in congregation being disliked, it is better to perform Salah alone for he is excused from congregation and something disliked to Allah and His beloved (peace be upon him) can not be better than that which is not disliked.

To perform Salah behind an open sinner or a misguided person (one from the people of bid’ah) whose misguidance has not reached infidelity is severely disliked and must be repeated (Kariha Tahreeman Wa Tajibu I’aadatuhu). In Durar, Tahtaawi Al-Durar, Majma’ Al-Anhar, Tabyeen Al-Haqaa’iq, Al-Fatawa Al-Ridwiyyah, Radd Al-Muhtar, Bahar-e-Shari’at and several other books of Hanafi Fiqh it says, “It is disliked (severely) and it is necessary to repeat such pray for showing disrespect towards them is necessary and they do not care in the matter of their religion”.

The Messenger of Allah said, “When a sinner is praised, it causes the anger of Allah and due to it, the arsh shakes”. In putting forward an open sinner or a misguided person for leading the prayer is showing him much great respect, surely that is praising the person and a means to gain the anger of Allah. The Imam is an intermediate between the servant and Allah and therefore one should be cautious of whom he chooses as his Imam. In Mishkaat Al-Masaabeeh, Hazrat Ibrahim Ibn Maysarah narrates that the Prophet (peace be upon him) said, “He who respects a misguided person has helped destroy Islam”. The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) also said, “Do not sit with them, do not eat with them, do not converse with them, do not perform Salah with them………..”. In Bayhaqi, regarding the great Muhaddith, Imam Muhammad Ibn Mubarak, it says that two deviants came to his gathering and asked Him if they could recite a Hadeeth to Him, Ibn Mubarak replied, “I do not want to hear a Hadith from you”. They asked if they could recite a verse of the Qur’an, again Ibn Mubarak replied, “I do not want to hear a verse from you, either you both leave or i will leave”. So they left. The students asked why he did not hear a verse for surely they can’t fabricate a verse. He replied, “what if they incorrectly commented on the verse and that commentary touched my heart, I would have also become misguided”. It has been recorded by Sheikh Abd Al-Qadir Al-Jilaani that one must not associate with the misguided people to protect his own faith and that Fudayl Ibn Ayad used to say, “When you see a deviant on a path, take another path”. Sayyiduna Ayyub Al-Ansari used to change his path when he used to see a misguided person as is recorded in Bayhaqi. This was the way of our predecessors (Salaf). They did not perform their Salah behind the misguided people. If one claims such then it is upon him to bring evidence. As for the Wahhabies, their misguidance and texts of infidelity are clear upon all (although we are cautious from labelling them apostates) and therefore one’s Salah behind them is invalid and must be performed alone if there is no other Imam and verily Allah knows best.

Zahid Hussain Al-Qadri
(Beggar at the doorstep of Scholars)