If the imam leads people in prayer and it is revealed to him after the prayer that he was not in a state of ritual purity, what is the ruling, is there a sin upon him, and is it obligatory for everyone to repeat the prayer?
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The questioner : This is his second question, in which he says: If I am leading a congregation as their imam, and after we finished the prayer I remembered that I was not in a state of ritual purity, what is the ruling? Is there a sin upon me for that? Is it obligatory for everyone to repeat the prayer, or only for me to repeat it? And what if I discovered this during the prayer?
The Shaykh : In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. Praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds, and I send prayers and peace upon our Prophet Muhammad, and upon his family and all his Companions. If you prayed in congregation and it became clear to you after finishing the prayer that you were not in a state of wudu', then there is no sin upon you, by the saying of the Exalted:[Al-Baqarah 2:286] Your action involves two matters. The first matter is praying while in a state of ritual impurity, and this occurred from you due to forgetfulness, so there is no sin upon you, because this falls under the category of committing a forbidden act, and committing a forbidden act in a state of ignorance or forgetfulness carries no sin, as mentioned in the noble verse. The second matter is that you prayed without wudu', and this falls under the category of leaving off what is commanded, and a person is not excused for this by forgetfulness; rather, if he forgets, he must perform what is obligatory upon him, by the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him): So he did not drop it due to forgetfulness. And so it is with all the commands of Allah and His Messenger; they are not dropped by forgetfulness as long as the demand for them remains. Based on this, we say that you must repeat the prayer because you prayed without wudu'. As for the followers who completed the prayer with you, there is no repetition required for them, because they prayed in a state of purity behind an imam whose state they did not know, so they did what they were commanded to do, and there is nothing upon them in that.
As for if you remember that during the prayer, it is obligatory for you to leave, because it is not permissible for you to continue in prayer while you are not in a state of wudu'; rather, you must leave your prayer. At that point, you order one of the people behind you to complete the prayer for the congregation behind you. If you had prayed two rak'ahs, he completes the remaining two rak'ahs with them if the prayer is four rak'ahs. If you did not do so, they have the option to bring forward one of them to complete the prayer with them. If that is not feasible, they complete their prayer, each one individually, and their prayer is not invalidated by that, because they—as I said—did what is obligatory upon them and did what they were commanded to do, which is following this man whose state they did not know. If it is revealed to him that he is not in a state of wudu', then the defect is revealed in his prayer alone, whereas no defect is revealed in their prayer. This is the ruling for the prayer of these people in the case where you know during the prayer. And as for if you do not know until after the prayer, the ruling is the same. As for those among the scholars who distinguished between knowing after the prayer and knowing during the prayer, saying that if he does not know until after finishing the prayer, the followers' prayer is valid, and if he knows during it, their prayer is invalid, this has no basis, because the operative cause is one: these followers are excused because they followed someone whose apparent prayer was valid, and they do not know about the hidden matters. If he remembers during the prayer, what invalidates the part of their prayer that has passed, when they have stood in it doing what is obligatory upon them? At that point, they continue in their prayer. And as I said, it is best for him to appoint one of them to complete the prayer with them so that they do not become confused in the rest of their prayer.
The questioner : And naturally, this is in the case of, whether the state of ritual impurity is major or minor?
The Shaykh : Whether the state of ritual impurity is minor or major.
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : As for if it is ritual impurity, meaning he remembered that there is ritual impurity on his garment during the prayer, for example.
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : Or when he finished the prayer. If he remembers when he finished the prayer, his prayer is valid and their prayer is also valid, if the ritual impurity is on his body or his garment.
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : And he forgot to wash it, or he did not know about it until after finishing the prayer, then his prayer is valid and their prayer is also valid, because this falls under the category of avoiding what is prohibited.
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : And as for if he remembers during the prayer that he did not wash this ritual impurity, or he did not know about it until during the prayer, meaning while he is praying he sees a spot of ritual impurity on his garment, then if he is able to remove this garment during the prayer, he does so as if he had two garments or more and saw the impurity in the upper garment and removed it, so he continues in his prayer. Or if he saw the impurity in his undergarment, for example, and removed it, he continues in his prayer. As for if he is not able, such as if he has only one garment and if he removes it he becomes naked, then at that point he leaves, and the followers complete their prayer as we mentioned before. For this reason, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) removed his sandals one day while he was leading people in prayer, so the people removed their sandals. When he finished, he asked them why they removed their sandals. They said, "We saw you remove your sandals, so we removed our sandals." The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said:Mishkat al-Masabih 766 And the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) continued in his prayer and did not restart it. And this is proof that if a person knows about ritual impurity during the prayer, that he has ritual impurity on his garment, he removes this impure garment if possible and continues in his prayer.
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. Praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds, and I send prayers and peace upon our Prophet Muhammad, and upon his family and all his Companions. If you prayed in congregation and it became clear to you after finishing the prayer that you were not in a state of wudu', then there is no sin upon you, by the saying of the Exalted:
Our Lord, do not impose blame upon us if we have forgotten or erred.
ربنا لا تؤخذنا إن نسينا او أخطاناWhoever sleeps through a prayer or forgets it, let him pray it when he remembers it.
من نام عن صلاة أو نسيها فليصلها إذا ذكرهاAs for if you remember that during the prayer, it is obligatory for you to leave, because it is not permissible for you to continue in prayer while you are not in a state of wudu'; rather, you must leave your prayer. At that point, you order one of the people behind you to complete the prayer for the congregation behind you. If you had prayed two rak'ahs, he completes the remaining two rak'ahs with them if the prayer is four rak'ahs. If you did not do so, they have the option to bring forward one of them to complete the prayer with them. If that is not feasible, they complete their prayer, each one individually, and their prayer is not invalidated by that, because they—as I said—did what is obligatory upon them and did what they were commanded to do, which is following this man whose state they did not know. If it is revealed to him that he is not in a state of wudu', then the defect is revealed in his prayer alone, whereas no defect is revealed in their prayer. This is the ruling for the prayer of these people in the case where you know during the prayer. And as for if you do not know until after the prayer, the ruling is the same. As for those among the scholars who distinguished between knowing after the prayer and knowing during the prayer, saying that if he does not know until after finishing the prayer, the followers' prayer is valid, and if he knows during it, their prayer is invalid, this has no basis, because the operative cause is one: these followers are excused because they followed someone whose apparent prayer was valid, and they do not know about the hidden matters. If he remembers during the prayer, what invalidates the part of their prayer that has passed, when they have stood in it doing what is obligatory upon them? At that point, they continue in their prayer. And as I said, it is best for him to appoint one of them to complete the prayer with them so that they do not become confused in the rest of their prayer.
The questioner : And naturally, this is in the case of, whether the state of ritual impurity is major or minor?
The Shaykh : Whether the state of ritual impurity is minor or major.
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : As for if it is ritual impurity, meaning he remembered that there is ritual impurity on his garment during the prayer, for example.
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : Or when he finished the prayer. If he remembers when he finished the prayer, his prayer is valid and their prayer is also valid, if the ritual impurity is on his body or his garment.
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : And he forgot to wash it, or he did not know about it until after finishing the prayer, then his prayer is valid and their prayer is also valid, because this falls under the category of avoiding what is prohibited.
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : And as for if he remembers during the prayer that he did not wash this ritual impurity, or he did not know about it until during the prayer, meaning while he is praying he sees a spot of ritual impurity on his garment, then if he is able to remove this garment during the prayer, he does so as if he had two garments or more and saw the impurity in the upper garment and removed it, so he continues in his prayer. Or if he saw the impurity in his undergarment, for example, and removed it, he continues in his prayer. As for if he is not able, such as if he has only one garment and if he removes it he becomes naked, then at that point he leaves, and the followers complete their prayer as we mentioned before. For this reason, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) removed his sandals one day while he was leading people in prayer, so the people removed their sandals. When he finished, he asked them why they removed their sandals. They said, "We saw you remove your sandals, so we removed our sandals." The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said:
Gabriel came to me and informed me that there was filth on them
إن جبريل أتاني فأخبرني أن فيهما أذى فخلعتهماThe questioner : Yes.