Can I Lead My Wife in Prayer if I Pray Sitting on a Chair?

Answered by Shaykh Yusuf Weltch

Question

Due to a knee issue, I pray sitting, i.e., I stand for takbir and qiyam, and sit on a chair for sujood and al-taihiyaat. In this case, can I lead my wife as imaam for salah? She prays normal, Alhamdulillah.

Answer

In the Name of Allah, the Most Merciful and Compassionate

If you are sitting on a chair and gesturing instead of prostrating on the ground, it is not valid for you to lead anyone in prayer. If, however, you prayed sitting and made your prostrations on the ground, it is valid to lead your spouse in prayer. [Mawsili, al-Ikhtiyar]

Hope this helps
Allah knows best

[Shaykh] Yusuf Weltch
Checked and Approved by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani

Shaykh Yusuf Weltch is a teacher of Arabic, Islamic law, and spirituality. After accepting Islam in 2008, he then completed four years at the Darul Uloom seminary in New York where he studied Arabic and the traditional sciences. He then traveled to Tarim, Yemen, where he stayed for three years studying in Dar Al-Mustafa under some of the greatest scholars of our time, including Habib Umar Bin Hafiz, Habib Kadhim al-Saqqaf, and Shaykh Umar al-Khatib. In Tarim, Shaykh Yusuf completed the memorization of the Qur’an and studied beliefs, legal methodology, hadith methodology, Qur’anic exegesis, Islamic history, and a number of texts on spirituality. He joined the SeekersGuidance faculty in the summer of 2019.