Is It Valid for a Child to Lead Tarawih?

Answered by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani

Question: What is the ruling on a 10 year old child leading tarawih and other congregational prayers?

Answer: In the Name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful

Walaikum assalam wa rahmatullah,

It is a condition for the validity of congregational prayer in the Hanafi school that the imam be an adult (i.e. post-puberty).

The sounder position is that this applies to tarawih prayer as well. [Hidaya with Ibn al-Humam’s Fath al-Qadir] However, there is a less sound position adopted by major Hanafis that it is permitted for a discerning child to lead tarawih. Imam Lakhnawi indicates that this may be followed. [Fatawa al-Lakhnawi]

However, it is sounder and more proper for a child not to be appointed imam even in tarawih.

And Allah alone gives success.

Wassalam,

Faraz Rabbani