Untitled Document

Advice of Scholars - CONDITIONS FOR BEING AN IMÂM

It is written in the marginal notes of the explanation of Nûr-ul-îzâh: “Being an imâm requires fulfilling six conditions. ” The namâz is not performed behind an imâm who is known not to have one of these conditions:

  1. To be a Muslim. He who disbelieves the fact that Abû Bekr Siddîq and ’Umar Fâruq were Khalîfas or who does not believe in the Mi’râj or the torment in the grave cannot be an imâm unless he has an explanation.
  2. To be at the age of puberty.
  3. To be discreet. A drunk or senile person cannot be an imâm.
  4. To be a man. A woman cannot be an imâm for men.
  5. To be able to recite at least the Fâtiha-i sherîfa and one more âyat correctly. A person who has not memorized one ayât or who cannot recite with tajwîd the âyats he has memorized or who recites the âyats melodiously cannot be an imâm.
  6. To be without an excuse. A person who has an excuse cannot be the imâm for those who do not have an excuse. Excuses are: continuous bleeding at some part of the body, incontinence in wind-breaking or urination, repeated pronounciation of the letters “te” and “fe”, lisping, that is, pronouncing the letter “sin” as “se” (a letter which is pronounced with “th” sound) and the letter “ra” as “ghayn” (that is, voiced velar fricative instead of post-alveolar frictionless continuant), being without an ablution or being smeared with najâsat in excess of one dirham, and being with bare awrat parts.