Imamate of a lame person

Question

A certain man is lame, and despite being lame he is also a hafiz and a qari: he recites the Qur’an very well. When he leads the prayer, the common people object to him, saying that prayer behind a lame person is not valid, and therefore we will not pray behind him. What we wish to know is: is prayer behind a lame person really not valid? And if there is karaha in it, is it tahrimi or tanzihi? Is this objection of the common people justified or not?

Answer

Making a lame person the imam is makruh tanzihi, not tahrimi; the prayer behind him will be performed (valid). Those who say that prayer behind him is not valid are uninformed. كذا تكره خلف مفلوج وأبرص شاع برصه، وكذا أعرج يقوم ببعض قدمه، فالاقتداء بغيره أولى، تاتارخانية، وكذا أجذم، برجندي “Likewise, [prayer] is disliked behind a paralysed person and behind one afflicted with…

Source: Fatawa Mahmudiyya

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