then he has two rewards; a reward [for his Ijtihad] and a reward for his correctness, or if he is mistaken, he has a reward for his Ijtihad and there is no sin upon him for the mistake, as it is pardoned from him. If he knows that [the Imam] is omitting a pillar or a condition that the follower believes in but the Imam does not, the manifest view of Ahmad's words is the validity of following him. Al-Athram said: I heard Abu Abd Allah being asked about a man who led a people in prayer while wearing fox furs. He said: 'If he wears it while interpreting [the hadith]: "Any hide that is tanned is purified," he may pray behind him.' It was said to him: 'Do you see it as permissible?' He said: 'No, we do not see it as permissible, but if he is interpreting it, there is no harm in praying behind him.' Then Abu Abd Allah said: 'If a man did not consider ablution to be necessary due to blood, would he not pray behind him?' Then he said: 'We consider ablution necessary due to blood, so shall we not pray behind Sa'id ibn al-Musayyib, Malik, and those who were lenient regarding blood?' Meaning: Yes, we do [pray behind them]. I saw for some of the followers of al-Shafi'i a separate discussion refuting those who denied this, and they argued that the Companions used to pray behind one another despite their differences. And because every Mujtahid is correct, or like the one who is correct, in terms of the removal of sin, the attainment of reward, and the validity of the prayer for himself, it is therefore permissible to follow him, just as if he had not omitted anything. The Qadi mentioned another report regarding this: that following him is not valid because he commits what the follower believes to be invalidating to the prayer; thus, following him is not valid, just as if he had differed from him regarding the Qibla while in a state of Ijtihad concerning it.

Section: If he performs something concerning which there is a difference of opinion, which he believes to be forbidden, if he is omitting what he believes to be a condition for the prayer or an obligation within it, then his prayer is invalid, as is the prayer of the one who follows him, even if the follower disagrees with his belief regarding that; because he has omitted an obligation in the prayer, so his prayer and the prayer of those who followed him have become invalid, just like that which is unanimously agreed upon. If he is doing what he believes to be forbidden in other than the prayer, such as one who marries without a guardian when he holds the view that it is void, or one who drinks a small amount of Nabidh (date wine) when he believes it to be forbidden, then if he persists in that, he is a sinner, and his ruling is the same as the ruling of other sinners. If he does not persist in it, there is no harm in praying behind him, because it is among the minor sins. Whenever the performer is like this, being a layman who follows someone who believes in its permissibility, then there is no issue for him in it; because the duty of the layman is to ask the scholars and follow them, as per the words of Allah Almighty: {So ask the people of the Reminder if you do not know}.