If an Imam's Recitation is Weak, should He resign? And what is the Ruling on repeating certain Surahs within the same Week?

Question :

1. I am the Imam of a mosque in a certain area of Riyadh and the problem is that I am weak in the Tajwid of recitation and I make a lot of mistakes. I have memorized by heart three sections of the Qur'an, in addition to some Verses from some other Surahs. I am fearful of my responsibility. Please inform me, should I continue as Imam, or resign?

Answer:

1. You should work hard at memorizing whatever is easy for you of the Qur'an and rejoice at the goodness and succor from Allah, the Almighty, the All-Powerful, if your intention is sincere and you try your best, according to the Words of Allah, the Most Glorified:
And whosoever fears Allah and keeps his duty to Him, He will make his matter easy for him.

And the words of the Prophet:
The one who excels at reciting the Qur'an will be with the honorable and obedient scribes (i.e. the angels) and the one who recites the Qur'an and stammers over it and it is difficult for him, he will have two rewards.

We do not advise you to resign; rather, we advise you to work hard continuously and patiently persevere until you succeed in learning Tajwid of the Book of Allah and in memorizing it all, or whatever Allah makes easy for you. May Allah grant you success and make your matter easy.

Question :

2. There are some worshippers in our mosque who do not attend the Fajr prayer, and I have advised them many times. Should I raise the matter with the Organization (for Ordering the Good and Forbidding the Evil) after this, or should I continue to advise them?

Answer:

2. We council you to continue advising and visiting those who do not attend the prayer along with as many people as possible from among the congregation in order to advise them and explain to them the serious danger for them in not attending the congregational prayer and make clear to them that this is a characteristic of the hypocrites, so that hopefully, they may respond and be guided. It has been authentically reported from the Messenger of Allah that he said:
The most difficult prayers for the hypocrites are the 'Isha' prayer and the Fajr prayer. If they knew the reward that was in them, they would come to them crawling.

And he said:
"Whoever heard the call (to prayer) and did not answer it, there is no prayer for him, unless he has an excuse.»

A blind man who had no one to guide him to the mosque asked his permission to pray in his house, but the Prophet said to him:
"Do you hear the call to prayer?»

He said: "Yes." The Prophet said:

Then answer it.

In another narration, he said:
"I do not find any license for you.

'Abdullah bin Mas'ud, one of the Companions of the Prophet - and one of the most knowledgeable - said: "You have seen us, and no one leaves it except the hypocrite whose hypocrisy is known." that is, the congregational prayer. So it is an obligation upon every Muslim to guard it strictly in congregation and beware of not attending it; and it is incumbent upon the mosques' Imams to advise those who do not attend, and to remind them and warn them of Allah's wrath and His punishment. If this advice has no effect, the matter of the absentees must be raised with the branch of the Organization in the area of the mosque, so that they may undertake the necessary measures in this matter, according to the information available to them. We ask Allah that He grant success to all of the Muslims in whatever leads to their improvement and their being saved from Allah's wrath and His punishment.

Question :

3. Is it permissible to repeat a Surah from the Qur'an once in a week, or twice or three times? Please inform me, and may Allah reward you.

Question :

3. It is permissible to repeat the same Surah in a week or in a day, and there is no defined limit for this. It is even permissible to repeat it in the two Rak'ahs after Al-Fatihah within one prayer; it has been authentically reported from the Prophet that he recited:
When the earth is shaken...(Surah Az-Zalzalah) in the first and second Rak'ahs.

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