Imamat al-salat (leading the prayer, the lesser imamate)

Imama in the lexical sense means intent and precedence. Jurists use it for the great imamate, the general leadership, and for the lesser imamate, leading prayer: the attaching of one person's prayer to another's on conditions set by the Law. ¹ Qudwa, iqtida' and ta'assi all mean following in prayer and in other things. ¹

Leading prayer is among the best of deeds; congregational prayer cannot exist without it. The Hanafis and the majority hold leading better than the call to prayer; others prefer the call. ² The Prophet commanded that the most reciting and most learned lead the people, and in his last illness he had Abu Bakr lead the prayer. ²

• Islam: one cannot pray behind a declared unbeliever; whether to repeat the prayer after learning a leader was a disbeliever is disputed. ²
• Sinfulness: the Hanafis and Shafi'is allow a sinner to lead with dislike; the Malikis allow it if the sin does not touch the prayer; the Hanbalis forbid it. ³
• Sanity: the drunk and the confirmed madman may not lead; one who is sometimes mad may lead when sane. ³
• Puberty: most jurists require it for obligatory prayer; the Shafi'is do not; the Hanafis prefer to forbid a discerning child from leading an adult in every prayer. ³⁴
• Maleness: a woman may not lead men; she may lead women according to the majority, though the Hanafis dislike it. ⁴
• Clear speech: the stammer, the lisp and a speech defect that changes the sense prevent leading, in the Shafi'i and Hanbali views and the Hanafi one. ⁹
• Freedom from excuses: a person with a continuous excuse, such as leaking urine, may not lead the healthy, in the Hanafi and Hanbali views. ⁹
• Capacity for the pillars: a person who can only signal ruku' and sujud may not lead those who can do them; the Malikis and Hanbalis forbid a seated person to lead the standing. ⁹
• Purity: a leader who knows he is in a state of minor or major impurity may not lead. ⁵
• Intention: the Hanbalis require the leader's intention; the Malikis and Shafi'is do not, except in Friday prayer and vowed prayer for the Shafi'is, though they recommend it. ⁵⁶

Hadith give the priority to the best reciter of the Book, then the most learned in the Sunna, then the earliest migrant, then the eldest. ⁶ The majority put the most learned in law above the best reciter; Ahmad and Abu Yusuf put the reciter first. ⁶⁷ Where the rest are equal, the Hanafis and Shafi'is give precedence to the most scrupulous, then to the earlier Muslim, then to the elder. ⁷⁸ If all are equal, the Hanafis give precedence to the best in manners, then to the most noble in lineage and the cleanest in dress, and lots are drawn; the Hanbalis draw lots too. ⁸ A ruler, governor, judge or other holder of general authority present takes precedence over the householder and the local imam. ⁶

If the leader is as strong as or stronger than the follower, his leading is valid by agreement. If he is weaker, such as a voluntary prayer leading an obligatory one, the majority forbid it. ⁸¹⁰

The imam stands in front. A single follower stands on his right; a woman stands behind him; a woman who leads women stands in their middle. ¹⁰¹¹ The majority forbid the imam to stand behind the followers; the Malikis allow it. ¹¹ It is disliked for the imam to stand higher than the followers, except to teach them. ¹¹¹²

The Hanafis dislike a slave, a bedouin, a sinner, a blind man, the child of an illegitimate union, an innovator, and a beardless youth. The Malikis dislike a man with a missing hand or foot, and an uncircumcised man, and forbid it if most of the congregation object. The Shafi'is dislike the sinner, the uncircumcised and the innovator. The Hanbalis dislike the blind, the deaf, the stammerer and one who falls down in fits. ¹²¹³

• Before the prayer: he lets the caller call the iqama, and tells the people to straighten and close the rows, after the report of Anas. ¹³
• During it: he recites aloud at dawn, the first two rak'as of maghrib and isha, and in Friday, the two feasts, tarawih and witr; he recites quietly in the rest; loud recitation is obligatory for the Hanafis and a sunna for the others. ¹³¹⁴
• He shortens the prayer while keeping its sunnas, following the hadith that the weak and the old are among the congregation. ¹⁴
• He waits briefly for a late comer if it does not burden the rest, in the Hanbali and the preferred Shafi'i views. ¹⁴
• If he has an excuse he may appoint a follower to complete the prayer, the majority agreeing. ¹⁴
• After the prayer: he recites the remembrance and supplications, turns his face to the people, and does not sit facing the qibla. ¹⁴