Can Someone with a Minor Speech Impediment Lead the Prayer?
Answered by Shaykh Yusuf Weltch
Question
Is it permissible for me to lead the prayer with a minor speech impediment, such as pronouncing “s” as “sh”? Are the prayers I have led valid, and can I continue leading despite this issue?
Answer
In the Name of Allah, the Most Merciful and Compassionate.
There is a lot of breadth within the scholarly opinions regarding this issue. The following is a summary of these opinions:
- It is an obligation to do one’s best to rectify this speech impediment if that is at all possible. Some speech impediments are due to physical defects in the tongue. These are sometimes difficult to change. Others, however, are due to the habituation of the tongue and can, therefore, be corrected with practice and therapy.
- If one is unable to address their impediment through practice and therapy, or if they are in the process and using what means are available, they are not sinful, and their prayers (prayed individually) are valid.
- It is ideal for such a person to pray in a congregation behind an Imam as their prayer is unanimously valid with no difference of opinion.
- For such a person leading others in prayer, it is unanimously valid if those following have an equal or worse impediment. If one is unable to overcome their impediment, some very well-renowned scholars, among them Ibn Amir al-Hajj (Allah have mercy on him) also consider their leading the prayer for others to be valid. [Tahtawi/Shurunbulali, Hashiyat Maraqi al-Falah]
Hope this helps
Allah knows best
[Shaykh] Yusuf Weltch
Checked and Approved by Shaykh Abdul-Rahim Reasat
Shaykh Yusuf Weltch is a teacher of Arabic, Islamic law, and spirituality. After accepting Islam in 2008, he went on to study at Darul Uloom Seminary in New York and completed his studies at Darul Mustafa in Tarim, Yemen.
There, he completed the memorization of the Quran and his study of Islamic Sciences. Throughout his years of study, he was blessed to learn from many great scholars: Habib Umar bin Hafiz, Habib Kazhim al-Saqqaf, Shaykh ‘Umar bin Husayn al-Khatib, and others.
Upon returning, he joined the SeekersGuidance faculty in the summer of 2019.
