The Imam’s Appointment of a Successor and the Successor’s Completion or Restarting of the Prayer
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The questioner:
Honorable Shaykh, may Allah grant you success. He says: When is it permissible for the imam to appoint a successor to complete the prayer for the people? And when is the successor required to restart the prayer from the beginning?
The Shaykh:
Yes. If he feels that a state of ritual impurity is about to occur, meaning his ablution will be invalidated, but something has not yet happened, and he feels he cannot continue the prayer—for example, if he is experiencing urinary urgency and cannot continue—then the state of impurity has not yet occurred. In this case, he appoints a successor, and the successor completes the prayer. However, if the state of ritual impurity has already occurred and his ablution has actually been invalidated, then he appoints a successor, but the successor starts the prayer with them from the beginning. This is the most cautious and complete approach. Yes.
The questioner:
Honorable Shaykh, may Allah grant you success.
The Shaykh:
This is the difference between the one for whom the state of impurity has not yet occurred and the one for whom it has already occurred. Yes.
Honorable Shaykh, may Allah grant you success. He says: When is it permissible for the imam to appoint a successor to complete the prayer for the people? And when is the successor required to restart the prayer from the beginning?
The Shaykh:
Yes. If he feels that a state of ritual impurity is about to occur, meaning his ablution will be invalidated, but something has not yet happened, and he feels he cannot continue the prayer—for example, if he is experiencing urinary urgency and cannot continue—then the state of impurity has not yet occurred. In this case, he appoints a successor, and the successor completes the prayer. However, if the state of ritual impurity has already occurred and his ablution has actually been invalidated, then he appoints a successor, but the successor starts the prayer with them from the beginning. This is the most cautious and complete approach. Yes.
The questioner:
Honorable Shaykh, may Allah grant you success.
The Shaykh:
This is the difference between the one for whom the state of impurity has not yet occurred and the one for whom it has already occurred. Yes.
Source
المنتقى من أخبار سيد المرسلين 18-02-1435هـ — alfawzan.live (49:17)
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.