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Fatwa CenterPraying behind a person who does not pray regularly
Question
Assalaamu alaykum. If a 23-year-old does not regularly pray (some days he does not pray at all) and his father asks him to lead the prayer, especially when they pray at home, can he lead the prayer? May Allaah reward you.
Answer
All perfect praise be to Allaah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah and that Muhammad 
is His slave and Messenger.
The Muslim who abandons the prayer is sometimes declared a dissolute person (faasiq; one who sins openly). If he is so, then the ruling on praying behind a dissolute person applies to him. The Kuwaiti Encyclopedia of Fiqh reads:
"Scholars held different views regarding the ruling on performing the prayer behind a dissolute person. The Hanafis held that it is valid for every sane Muslim man to lead the prayer in principle. It is allowable for the slave, desert man, blind man, one born from an illegitimate relationship (zina), or a dissolute person to lead the prayer; though it is disliked. The Maalikis held that the preponderant view in this regard is that the prayer behind a dissolute person is valid but disliked in case his sins are committed by his body parts, such as adultery or drinking wine, but that if his sins are related to the prayer, as is the case when one who leads the prayer driven merely by the urge to satisfy his vanity and arrogance, then praying behind such a man is invalid. The outweighed view (the less preponderant view of the Maalikis) in this regard is that the prayer performed behind an imaam who openly sins is invalid in case his sin is related to his body parts. Also, the preponderant view is that the prayer behind an imaam who commits religious innovations is valid in case the scholars held different views regarding declaring him a disbeliever, such as is the case with the followers of the Harooriyyah sect (a Kharijite sect) and the Qadariyya (fatalists). The Shaafi'is held that the prayer behind a dissolute imaam is valid but disliked if he is leading a non-dissolute person in prayer. However, if the one praying behind him is also dissolute, then it is not disliked except if the imaam is much more dissolute than the person he is leading in prayer. The Hanbalis held that the dissolute person cannot lead the prayer at all, regardless of whether his sins are related to his beliefs or actions and whether his engagement in sins is open and public or hidden ... and that when someone prays behind a dissolute imaam, he must repeat the prayer (according to the Hanbalis)." [End of quote]
The prudent thing to do in this regard is to avoid praying behind an imaam who is known to be a sinner and negligent in observing the prayer because it is invalid to pray behind him according to the Hanbalis and also according to the Maalikis because his sins are related to abandoning the prayer. Needless to assert, there is no room for courteous behavior when it comes to choosing the imaam who is to lead Muslims in the prayer by allowing sinners to lead in prayers. In fact, leading the prayers is a great religious position, and the imaam must possess the required qualifications specified in the sharee'ah.
Please refer to fatwa 90830 about the conditions required for a person to lead the prayer. Refer also to fataawa 83943 and 84235 about the prohibition of abandoning the prayer and the difference of opinion among the scholars as to whether the person who abandons the prayer should be declared a disbeliever or not.
Allaah knows best.
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