What should the imam do if the followers are divided?

Question

In a certain place there is a mosque and there is one imam. For some reason ninety-eight percent of the people are against him and two percent are in his favour. There is fear that a severe strife (fasad) will break out between the two parties because of the imam. At such a delicate time, what is the imam’s own duty: should he remain in this mosque or not, and how can he prevent this strife, which is about to arise because of him?

Answer

[It depends on] the reason why ninety-eight percent are against him. If there is a Shari‘a-recognised fault in him, then appointing him as imam is makruh tahrimi. In that case it is necessary for him either to step down from the imamate or to remove that Shari‘a-recognised fault.

Source: Fatawa Mahmudiyya

Preview. The full text opens with JavaScript enabled.