Bismillahi Al-Rahmani Al-Rahim
Friday Prayer Behind The Khawarij
Q
Is it permissible to pray jumu`a behind a Salafi?
A
Al-hamdu lillah.
When renegades [khawarij] have overrun the land and they have the
Friday prayer, it is permissible and valid to pray behind them. This is the
opinion of Imam Ahmad (Allah be pleased with him). An opinion attributed to
Ibn Abu Musa is that one prays with them and then prays it again as
Zuhr.
If this is how it is with renegades who have physically taken up arms and
rebelled against the Caliph, and a group which declare almost everyone else
to be kufar, then what are we to say about Salafis?
In addition, one of the valid reasons for having multiple Friday prayers
in the same city is to prevent dissension and fragmentation
[fitnah] among the Muslims.
[For the issue of praying behind the Khawarij see: Al-Mubdi`
(2:164), Al-Furu` (2:81), Al-Insaf (2:398), and
Al-Raud Al-Murbi` (196) to name just a few]
And Allah knows best.
wa al-salamu `alaykum
--musa