The Imamate of a Liar, One Negligent of Purity, a Beggar and a Deaf Man

Question

The following matters require inquiry and clarification. (1) A certain respected Hajji Muhammad Shafi‘ Naqshbandi is the imam of the Congregational Mosque; we require your opinion concerning him. While leading the prayer, instead of pronouncing the words correctly with his tongue, he changes the order of the Arabic words. (2) He tells lies. (3) He does not observe purity (tahara) properly. (4)

Answer

(1) In what way does he change the order? Does he read (رب) as (بر), (من) as (نم) and (ما) as (ام), or what exactly is the case? (2) Does he lie outright, or does he use equivocation (tawriya and ta‘rid)? In the first place, al-Durr al-Mukhtar states that outright lying (‘ayn al-kadhib) is haram, while it also grants latitude for equivocation (tawriya and ta‘rid).

Source: Fatawa Mahmudiyya

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