QUESTION:
What do the scholars of the Dīn and muftīs of the Sacred Law state regarding the following issue: I am living in another country for work purposes, because my job involves me travelling to various countries for a several months. There are Shī’ah mosques here, but no Sunnī ones, so how should I pray salāh here, and can I pray Jum’ah behind them?
Questioner: Hasnayn from Blackburn, England (U.K.)
ANSWER:
بسم الله الرحمن الرحیم
الجواب بعون الملک الوھاب اللھم ھدایة الحق والصواب
You should pray salāh at home, and pray Zuhr at home instead of Jum’ah; Allāh willing, you will receive the reward of praying salāh in congregation and of Jum’ah as well, because your original intention was in fact to do this, but you are unable to do so due to the aforementioned problem. This is because there are various sub-sects of Shī’ahs – the deviancy of some reaches the level of disbelief; salāh behind such people is invalid. However, there are some Shī’ahs behind whom salāh is extremely Makrūh [disliked]. The Shī’ahs who regard the descendants of Sayyidunā ‘Abbās as equal to the Noble Prophets, upon whom be peace & blessings, or believe the Qur’ān to be incomplete are non-Muslims; it is Fard to avoid praying salāh behind such, just as Sayyidī A’lāhadrat Imām Ahmad Ridā Khān, upon whom be countless mercies, states –
It is clear-cut disbelief itself to regard the respected descendants of Sayyidunā ‘Abbās, may Allāh Almighty be pleased with them all, as equal and of the same status as the most Noblest of Prophets ﷺ. There is a second explicit act of disbelief, in other words, on the assumption of deeming the descendants of Sayyidunā ‘Abbās as superior to the previous Prophets, upon whom be peace & blessings, imagine what this would necessitate in the matter of Imāmah. Such a person is not worthy of salāh, worship, or any righteous deed himself, by any means at all whatsoever, as the good deed of a non-Muslim is not accepted. In fact, them performing any act of worship is not plausible in the slightest; in this case, not only is it appropriate to not pray salāh behind such a person, it is in fact an absolute definitive Fard.
[Fatāwā Ridawiyyah, vol. 6, p. 444]
As for those Shī’ahs whose deviancy hasn’t reached the level of disbelief – for example, they only perform mātam, or they regard Sayyidunā ‘Alī, may Allāh Almighty be pleased with him, as more superior than the Shaykhayn – salāh behind such is thereby extremely disliked.
Just as it is stated in Arkān Arba’ah,
“اما الشیعۃ الذین یفضلون علیاعلی الشیخین ولایطعنون فیھما اصلا کالزید یۃ تجور خلفھم الصلٰوۃ لکن تکرہ کراھۃ شدیدۃ”
“Those Shī’ahs who claim superiority of Sayyidunā ‘Alī over the Shaykhayn (Sayyidunā Abū Bakr & Sayyidunā ‘Umar – may Allāh Almighty be pleased with them both), but they do not sneer or taunt them at all in the slightest – for instance, those of the Zaydiyyah sect – salāh behind them is thereby permissible, but extremely Makrūh.”
[Rasā’il al-Arkān, p. 99]
Furthermore, Sayyidī A’lāhadrat Imām Ahmad Ridā Khān, upon whom be infinite mercies, states that to regard the leader of the believers, Sayyidunā Mawlā ‘Alī, may Allāh Almighty further increase his honour, as superior to the blessed Shaykhayn, may Allāh Almighty be pleased with them both, is heresy and irreligiousness; this is reason enough as to why salāh behind such people is extremely disliked.
والله تعالی أعلم ورسوله أعلم صلی الله علیه وآله وسلم
کتبه أبو الحسن محمد قاسم ضیاء القادري
Answered by Mufti Qasim Zia al-Qādiri
Translated by Haider Ali al-Madanī
Read the original Urdu answer here: [Q-ID0866] Can we pray behind Shiah?
