My question is: Once, I entered a mosque during fajr, I saw a person with very small beard (less then one mushth) doing imaamat. I joined the jumaat. Was this a correct act? If not, what else should I have done?
Answer:
(Fatwa: 372=363/M)
In the above condition, you got the virtue and reward of Jamat provided there was no other thing in Salah that might nullify it:
و فی الدر: صلی خلف فاسق او مبتدع نال فضل الجماعة
If you joined Salah accidentally or unknowingly then there is no problem whatsoever. However, the imamah (leading prayer) of a person who has beard less than one fist is makrooh (unliked).
Allah (Subhana Wa Ta’ala) knows Best
Darul Ifta,
Darul Uloom Deoband