The imamate of one who uses abusive language

Question

If the imam of a mosque abuses some mawlana by calling him “bastard” or “eater of the unlawful”, or saying that he “brays like a donkey” and so on, what kind of sin may the imam incur thereby? What is the status of the prayers he has led on all the days since uttering this abuse? And can any defect arise in the imamate or not?

Answer

Even abusing an ordinary Muslim is fisq (iniquity): [ar]سِبَابُ الْمُسْلِمِ فُسُوقٌ[/ar] “Abusing a Muslim is iniquity.” If he abuses a scholar of the religion without cause, there is danger to his iman. The imam must make amends for this: he should ask pardon and repent; otherwise he will deserve to be removed from the imamate, and it will not be permissible to make him imam.

Source: Fatawa Mahmudiyya

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