Can a child who has not reached puberty lead prayer

Question

Is it acceptable for a young child to lead nafl or the daily prayer if they have not reached puberty. If so, give a thorough explanation backed up by reliable references and sunnah.

Answer 1

According to the Shafi'is, adulthood is not a condition for being an Imam. Their evidence is the hadith:

فقدموني بين أيديهم، وأنا ابن ست أو سبع، سنين

Amr bin Salama said: ... They therefore made me their Imam (to lead the prayer) and at that time I was a boy of six or seven years

^{— Bukhari}

According to the majority, adulthood is a condition for being an Imam when the congregation has adults and the prayer is obligatory. While it is valid for a child to lead supererogatory prayers like Taraweeh. And it is also valid for a child to lead a congregation of children.

Their evidence is that prayer is not obligatory on a child (Abu Dawud 4403) hence even when he offers obligatory prayer it is counted as supererogatory, and it is not possible to follow him in obligatory prayers. An Imam is liable (Abu Dawud 517), whereas a child is not liable for even himself, then he can also not be liable for others. Also because a child is more likely to make mistakes in silent prayer, rendering them invalid, which is a risk that must be avoided. And it is also based on a report from Ibn Abbas and from some Tabieen. As for the athar of Amr bin Salama that is noted above, it is possible that news of this event did not reach the Prophet ﷺ.

Please note that in the above discussion a child means one who is old enough to be at the age of discernment (مميز).

Ref: Islamic Jurisprudence According To The Four Sunni Schools , Mawsoo‘ah al-Fiqhiyyah

Answer 2

A child is allowed to lead the prayer, although jurists have different opinions on this issue, but the most strongest opinion is that it is allowed, because of great deal of evidence on that.

Abu Masu'd al-Ansari said: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: “The people should be led in prayer by the one who has most knowledge of the Book of Allah; if they are equal in knowledge of the Quran, then by the one who has most knowledge of the Sunnah.” (Narrated by Imam Muslim, 1530)

Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: “People should be led in prayer by the one who knows the most Quran among them.” (Narrated by Muslim, al-Masajid wa Mawadi’ al-Salah, 1078)

It was narrated in Sahih al-Bukhari that ‘Amr ibn Salamah al-Jarami said: “My father came from the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) and said that he had heard the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) say, ‘When the time for prayer comes, let the one among you who knows the most Quran lead you in prayer.’ They looked and they did not find anyone who knew more Quran than me, so they made me lead them in prayer, and I was a boy of six or seven years.” (Al-Maghazi, 3963. See Fatawa al-Lajnah al-Daimah, 7/389-390)

The evidence to be found in the hadith is that these Companions asked ‘Amr ibn Salamah to lead them in prayer when he was six or seven years old. This indicates that a boy who has reached the age of discernment can lead the prayers. If that were not permitted, there would have been Revelation to say that it was not allowed. (Ahkam al-Imamah wa’l-I-itimam fi’l-Salah by ‘Abd al-Muhsin al-Munif).

If a boy reaches the age of discernment, he is able to lead the prayers as long as he fulfills with the conditions and obligations. This is the most correct and strongest view.

And Allah knows best.