I recently moved to an area dominated by Christian and there is only one mosque in the area so if you are someone who like to pray in congregation that is the only mosque available.

The problem is the Imam recitation of Quran is very bad, wen I say bad very very bad. So bad dat I sometimes fear he doesn't start (auzu billahi) insulting instead of praising Allah in His pronounciation. Alot of times he missed part of the aya. He couldn't even recite suratul fatiha properly. He recited ayatul kurisiyu today and I just can't take it anymore.

There is no much choice now as it's the only mosque and only imam, and I dnt knw if am in a position to talk to him, of which I doubt it will be useful anyway as that might be his best.

So the question is what is the ruling in this case?
Should I continue praying their and endure or pray alone? Or talk?
What does the Sunnah say about something like this.

You may first need to figure out if he is a revert. He might just be improving and he might know his qirat status as well. You need the best of hikma in approaching him should you want to. I will say do so instead of 'enduring'.

Remember there is hadith which says about struggling with qira. Those who struggle to read get DOUBLE THE REWARD!


Those who struggle with reciting the Qur’an they will receive double the reward of a minimum of 1400 good deeds for each letter:
Aa’ishah (RA), relates that the Prophet (sallAllahu ‘alaihi wa sallam) said:


Verily the one who recites the Qur’an beautifully, smoothly, and precisely, he will be in the company of the noble and obedient angels. And as for the one who recites with difficulty, stammering or stumbling through its verses, then he will have TWICE that reward.” [Al-Bukhari and Muslim]


This hadith proves that people who are not well versed in the Arabic language or have other difficulties in reciting the Quran, get even a higher reward for reciting the Quran in Arabic for their extra effort. So they should never feel down about not being able to recite as well for they will be given double the reward.


Besides, let's go to the 'ruling' aspect. This is Q&A with similar situation as yours. Questioner asked:

Assalaamu alaykum I live in a city where this is only one masjid. I live close to the masjid so I can attend all my prayers in the masjid. However, to me it feels like the imam of our masjid makes a mistake in the recitation of al-fatiha that alters the meaning. He interchanges the "small" ha with "big" Ha when reciting ehdina assiraat al mustaqeem. Am I correct to assume it changes the meaning and hence I cannot pray behind this imam? Sometimes I feel like he is reciting it correctly but sometimes I think he is wrong. I myself am not an expert in tajweed so I sometimes doubt myself. I'm sure he will not listen to me. But, I still dropped a hint so as to not offend him but nothing changed. What should I do with my prayers? Repeat each time after I pray with him in jama'ah. What about Friday prayer? It's a big fitnah, unfortunately. Prayers like zuhr and asr are difficult to repeat because I have to go back to work. Some people in the masjid follow an opinion that the mistake of the imam in al-fatiha doesn't nullify the prayers behind him who can recite better than him. Is that true? Is it true? The imam might follow this opinion as well but I don't know. Am I allowed to follow this opinion? To be afflicted with fitnah in such a basic matter is a great difficulty. Please pray to Allah to make a way out.

Answer

All perfect praise be to Allaah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah, and that Muhammad sallallaahu `alayhi wa sallam ( may Allaah exalt his mention ) is His slave and Messenger.

Changing the Ha (ه) to Ha (ح) in the words of Allaah { اهدنا الصراط المستقيم } which means {Guide us to the straight path} [Quran 1:6] is considered a mistake that alters the meaning so, the prayer is not valid when reciting in the above manner.

The commentary of Ash-Shirbeeni, from the Shaafi‘i School, reads: "What is meant by altering the meaning is rendering the original meaning as meaningless or changing it to another meaning." [End of quote]



If this is the case, then the situation of the Imaam is one of the following two:



1. He is unable to correct the mistake because he is a non-Arab, or there is no one who can teach him. In this case, his prayer for himself (alone) is valid, and the jurists stated that the prayer of a person who recites Al-Faatihah while altering the meaning is valid if he is unable to learn correct recitation due to the absence of a teacher or due to time constraint, while he is willing to learn, as stated in Al-Fawaakih Ad-Dawaani by An-Nafraawi from the Maaliki School.

Read more from the source http://www.islamweb.net/emainpage/index.php?page=showfatwa&Option=FatwaId&Id=271183


My take on this is, APPROACH POLITELY

If your own recitation (especially of Fatiha) is better than that of the Imam, then you must re-perform your Solah always after praying with them.

You should find the best way to try and correct the Imam. And if he is someone ignorant and arrogant (not accepting correction especially from a younger fellow), then its better to keep repeating your solah or pray alone.

The default ruling on imamship is that the one with the best knowledge(in recitation) of the Qur'an leads the Solah. And Allah knows best.

STOP WASTING YOUR SALAH . . . do n0t perform salah behind such imam again ..

ShaheedBinAliyu:
STOP WASTING YOUR SALAH . . . do n0t perform salah behind such imam again ..

just listen to yourself