Title: Our local masjid does not have an Imam. Each jamaat is led by various people, the president, various management members, and other pious people. However sometimes the Imam does not follow Sunnah and is clean shaven, or his pants drag to the floor, whereas the people behind him in the saafa are following the sunnah tradition, yet they do not stand up for Imamaat. Can a masjid not have an Imam? Is this permissable? And what about the situation of Imam not following sunnah and men behind him that are? Who is to blame? How does one stop this from happening without causing rifts?

Question: Our local masjid does not have an Imam. Each jamaat is led by various people, the president, various management members, and other pious people. However sometimes the Imam does not follow Sunnah and is clean shaven, or his pants drag to the floor, whereas the people behind him in the saafa are following the sunnah tradition, yet they do not stand up for Imamaat. Can a masjid not have an Imam? Is this permissable? And what about the situation of Imam not following sunnah and men behind him that are? Who is to blame? How does one stop this from happening without causing rifts?

Answer ID: 2955Posted on: Aug 29, 2020

Bismillah hir-Rahman nir-Rahim !

(Fatwa: 203/174=D)

A person who is pious, aware of salah related issues, is well versed in reciting the Quran and keeps beard (at least one fist or more) should be appointed as imam. If there is none to shoulder this duty voluntarily then paying salary is also allowed. The Shariah allows employing imam with a fixed salary.

By your words "the Imam does not follow Sunnah", if you mean that he does not have sunnah beard or he is clean shaven then his imamah is extremely undesirable. And, in case there is any other pious person who is capable of leading salah then his imamah is more sinful act. The muqtadis (people praying salah in the mosque) should appoint an imam meeting all conditions of imamah, otherwise all of them will be sinful if they will fail to fulfill this duty. Appointing imam is the best solution to put an end to the controversy.