the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: "The rak'ah and the two prostrations are a supererogatory act for him" (24). If he leads a group in the Zhuhr prayer thinking it is the 'Asr prayer, Ahmad said: He must repeat it, and they must repeat it. This is according to the narration in which he forbade a person performing a mandatory prayer from following one performing a supererogatory one. If the Imam remembers while he is in the prayer and completes it as an 'Asr prayer, it is a supererogatory act for him. If he changes his intention to Zhuhr, his prayer is invalidated, for the reason we mentioned previously. Ibn Hamid said: He completes it, and the mandatory obligation remains on his conscience.

Section: It is not valid for an adult to follow a minor in the obligatory prayer. This was explicitly stated by Ahmad, and it is the view of Ibn Mas'ud and Ibn 'Abbas. This is also the view of 'Ata', Mujahid, al-Sha'bi, Malik, al-Thawri, al-Awza'i, and Abu Hanifah. Al-Hasan, al-Shafi'i, Ishaq, and Ibn al-Mundhir permitted it. A similar ruling is derived for us based on the issue of an Imam performing a supererogatory prayer for one performing a mandatory one. The evidence for this is the generality of his (the Prophet's) saying: "The one who is most well-versed in the Book of Allah Most High shall lead you in prayer" (25). This falls under its generality. 'Amr ibn Salamah al-Jarmi narrated that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said to his people: "Let the one among you who is most well-versed in the Qur'an lead you in prayer" (26). He said: So I used to lead them in prayer while I was seven or eight years old. Narrated by Abu Dawud and others (27). And because he calls the Adhan for men, it is permissible for him to lead them in prayer, just like an adult. Our position is based on the statement of Ibn Mas'ud and Ibn 'Abbas, and because Imamah (leading prayer) is a state of perfection, and a minor is not among those of perfection, so he cannot lead men in prayer, just as a woman cannot. Also, one is not secure from the minor committing a flaw in one of the conditions of the prayer or in the recitation during the silent portions. As for the hadith of 'Amr ibn Salamah al-Jarmi (28), al-Khattabi (29) said: Ahmad used to weaken the affair of 'Amr ibn Salamah. He once said: Leave him, he is not of any clear standing. Abu Dawud said: It was said to Ahmad: What about the hadith of 'Amr ibn Salamah? He said: I do not know what this is! Perhaps he only refrained from it because he did not verify that the matter reached the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), as he was in the desert among a tribe