Praying behind an imam who uses abusive language

Question

If the imam of a mosque insults a certain respected mawlana, calling him “bastard” or “eater of the unlawful”, [saying that] he brays like a donkey, and the like — can the respected imam incur any kind of sin from this or not? And what is the status of the prayers he has led on all the days since this abuse? Can any defect arise in [his] imamate or not?

Answer

Abusing even an ordinary Muslim is fisq (transgression): [ar]سِبَابُ الْمُسْلِمِ فُسُوقٌ[/ar] “Abusing a Muslim is transgression” (hadith). And if [someone] abuses a scholar of religion (‘alim) without cause, there is danger to his iman.

Source: Fatawa Mahmudiyya

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