Imaam making a mistake in qiraat where the meaning of the verse changes
Question
If a Shaafi Imaam makes a major mistake in salaah which changes the meaning completely, what will happen to our salaah as Hanafis? And is there any difference whether we know about it or not?
Answer
If the mistake was so serious that it created a major change and discrepancy in the meaning of the verse thereby causing the entire salaah to break (e.g. instead of "disbelievers", one recited "the believers will go to jahannum"), and the imaam was not immediately corrected, then regardless of whether the imaam is a Shaafi or Hanafi, the salaah will break and the salaah will have to be repeated.
And Allah Ta'ala (الله تعالى) knows best.
References (Arabic / Urdu sources)
ولو زاد كلمة أو نقص كلمة أو نقص حرفا، أو قدمه أو بدله بآخر ... لم تفسد ما لم يتغير المعنى (الدر المختار 1/633)
فالأصل فيها عند الإمام ومحمد رحمهما الله تعالى تغير المعنى تغيرا فاحشا (حاشية الطحطاوي على مراقي الفلاح صـ 339)
- Answered by
- Mufti Zakaria Makada
- Checked & approved by
- Mufti Ebrahim Salejee (Isipingo Beach)
Fatawa SA is an independent, read-only index of fatawa already published by Mufti Online — Madrasah Ta'leemuddeen. It is not a fatwa service. For your own situation, ask the issuing Darul Ifta directly.