Can A Young Boy Below The Age of Puberty Lead The Obligatory or The Non-Obligatory Ṣalāh by Shaykh Dr. ʿAbdullah ibn Ṣulfīq aẓ-Ẓafīrī

Pivotal Quote

“The young boy, if he has reached the age of discernment (the age of discernment, in arabic (التمييز) al-tamyīz, is different to the age of puberty; Al-tamyīz is the age in which a child can distinguish between right and wrong and comes before puberty) and he is capable of leading the ṣalah, he knows the rulings and the proper way to pray, then he may be an imām

Question:

My son is 8 years old and he memorises more Qurʾān than me, so is he allowed to be the imām in the ṣalāh (i.e. the five daily prayers) to lead us in prayer, because some people have told me that a young boy can be the imām for the Sunnah prayers but he cannot be for the five daily prayers?

Answer:

The young boy, if he has reached the age of discernment (the age of discernment, in arabic (التمييز) al-tamyīz, is different to the age of puberty; Al-tamyīz is the age in which a child can distinguish between right and wrong and comes before puberty) and he is capable of leading the ṣalah, he knows the rulings and the proper way to pray, then he may be an imām, whether it is a farḍ (one of the five daily prayers) or a nāfilah (one of the voluntary prayers). A young boy may be an imām for either, if he properly knows how to read the ṣalāh.

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