Dought & clear, - They stipulated that he should lead a communal du‘aa’ and not place onehand over the other; should he lead them in prayer or leave them?.

I was asked to be an imam and Jumu'ah khateeb in the town in which I
live, but they stipulated that I should recite du'aa' out loud after
every prayer, and that I should not place one hand over the other in
the prayer. Please note that I am the only one who is studying Islamic
sciences in this town. Should I accept or refuse?
Praise be to Allah.
Firstly:
We appreciate your keenness to do good, follow the Sunnah and avoid
that which is contrary to it; we ask Allah, may He be exalted,to
enable you to do that which pleases Him.
Secondly:
We should differentiate between that on which the scholars are
unanimously agreed that it is a reprehensible innovation (bid'ah) and
that concerning which the scholars have differed, such as about
placing one hand over the other when standingin the prayer, du'aa'
following prayer, Qunoot in Fajr prayer every day, and so on.
So we should be more strict in objecting to the first type (that
concerning which there is scholarly consensus that it is an
innovation); objections to the second type (that concerning which the
scholars differed as to whether it is innovation) should be of a
lesser degree. In fact, one may refrain from objecting altogether and
keep quiet about it because there is such a difference of opinion
concerning it.
See the answer to question no. 70491 for information on
differentiating between issues concerning which the one who acts
differently should be denounced and those concerning which he should
not be denounced.
We should also note thatIslam came to achieve and complete that
whichis in people's best interests and to ward offand reduce that
which isharmful to their best interests.
In the event of a conflict between achieving something good and
warding off something bad, we should see which of the two is
moreimportant and then give it precedence.
Based on that, the Sunnah confirms that the hands should be placed on
the chest when standing in prayer, and the Sunnah is to recite dhikr
audibly following the obligatory prayer; each worshippershould recite
it audibly on his own, then if he offers supplication (du'aa') after
reciting this dhikr, he should do so quietly on his own.
What they are calling you to do is not good and is contrary to the Sunnah.
But should you refuse to lead them in prayer so that you will not end
up doing something that is contrary to the Sunnah and committing this
wrong practice, or should you agree?
The answer to that is as follows:
If your refusing to lead them in prayer will result in their bringing
an imam who is more able than you to make these people follow the
Sunnah and teach it to them, and he will not end up going against the
Sunnah, then you should refuse.
But if your refusal meansthat they will bring an ignorant imam who
will do these actions that arecontrary to the Sunnah and add many more
to them, and he will not teach the people the Sunnah or adhere to it;
rather he may oppose the Sunnah and those who follow it, out of
ignorance on his part or because he is following his whims and
desires, then in that case you should not hesitate to agree to be an
imam for these people, even if they make you do these actions that are
contraryto the Sunnah, because that will lead to less negative
consequences than if you refuse.
We stated above that Islam came to ward off and reduce wrong
practices. Moreover, if you develop a close connection with them later
on, then you can try to teach them the Sunnah and lead them towards it
little by little.
You can also tell them about the views of some scholars whom they
respect who spoke against what you want to denounce of innovations, so
long as you do that gradually so as not to alienate the people.
There follow the views of some scholars about the imam refraining from
some things that he thinks are Sunnah and mustahabb, so as to soften
the hearts of the congregation.
Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyah (may Allah have mercy on him) said:
If the imam thinks that something is mustahabb and the congregation
does not think that it is mustahabb, and he refrains from doing it for
the sake of unity andharmony, then he has done something good. An
example of that is Witr, concerning which there are three scholarly
opinions, one of which is that it can only be three continuous
rak'ahs, like Maghrib, as is the view of some of the Iraqi scholars.
The second view is that it can only be one rak'ah that is prayed
separatelyfrom whatever comes before it, as is the view of some of the
Hijazi scholars. The third view is that both are permissible, as is
the prevalent view of the Shaafa'i madhhab, Ahmad and others, and this
is the correct view, however they favoured the view that it should be
separate from what comes before it. If the imam thinks that it should
be separate but the congregation favours the view that Witr prayer
should be done like Maghrib, and he goes along with that so as to
soften their hearts, then he has donewell, as the Prophet (blessings
and peace of Allah be upon him) said to 'Aa'ishah: "Were it notthat
your people have only recently left Jaahiliyyah behind, I would have
demolished (and rebuilt) the Ka'bah and made its door level with the
ground, and I would have given it two doors, one through which the
people could enter and one through which they could exit." But he
refrained from doing that which was better in his view lest he
alienate the people.
Similarly, if a man thinksthat the Basmalah ("Bismillah ir-Rahmaan
ir-Raheem") should be recited out loud but he is leading in prayer
people who do not thinkthat doing so is mustahabb, or vice versa, and
he goes alongwith them, then he has done well. End quote.
Majmoo' al-Fataawa, 22/268
Shaykh 'Abd al-'Azeez ibn Baaz (may Allah havemercy on him) was asked:
Is it permissible to refrain from saying Ameen out loud in the prayer
and not to raise the hands?
He replied:
Yes, if he is among people who do not raise their hands or do not
sayAmeen out loud, then it is better not to do that, so as to soften
their hearts and be able to callthem to what is good, and so that he
can teach them and guide them, and so that he will be able to teach
them the right way. That is because if he differs from them they will
find that objectionable, because they think that this is the Islamic
way, and they think that not raising the hands, apart from the opening
takbeer, is the Islamic way, and they have beenused to that all their
lives. The same applies to not saying Ameen out loud, which is the
subject of a well-known difference of opinion among the scholars; some
of them say that it should be said out loud and some of them say that
Ameen should not be said out loud. According to the hadeeth, the
Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) raised his voice,
and according to other hadeeths he said it quietly. Even though the
correct view is that Ameen should be said out loud and it is something
mustahabb, and he will be omitting something mustahabb inthis case,
the believer should not do somethingmustahabb if it will lead to
division, dispute and fitnah; rather the believer should refrain from
doing that which ismustahabb in that case. For the one who is calling
people to Allah, may He be glorified and exalted, if his refraining
from something will serve a greater interest, then he should do so. An
example of that is when the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be
upon him) refrained from demolishing the Ka'bah and rebuilding it on
the foundations of Ibraaheem. He said: "Quraysh have only recently
left kufr behind," and it is for that reason that he left itas it was
and did not change it, in the public interest. End quote.
Fataawa Shaykh Ibn Baaz, 29/274, 275
And Allah knows best.