The Prayer of the Congregation When the Imam Advances in a State of Ritual Impurity

The questioner:
As for the one who comes while in a state of ritual impurity and leads the congregational prayer, forgetting that he is in a state of ritual impurity, and then remembers after one or two units of prayer, what is the ruling on the prayer of the congregation?

The Shaykh:
He should appoint one of them, according to the correct view, to complete the prayer with them. If he goes to perform ablution and returns, and they wait for him and he restarts the prayer with them, there is no harm. Or they wait for him while praying until he prays with them and completes his prayer with them, and they wait until they conclude the prayer with him; there is no harm. However, the better and more preferable course is that he appoint someone to complete the prayer with them so that he does not detain them or harm them. He appoints someone to pray with them, and he himself performs ablution and prays afterwards.

The questioner:
They proceed with their prayer, and it is valid.

The Shaykh:
This is the correct view. Some scholars hold that it invalidates their prayer and that they must restart it from the beginning, because he entered the prayer in a state of ritual impurity. This is the opinion of a group of scholars, who say that they should restart from the beginning: either one of them should be brought forward to start the prayer from the beginning, or they should wait for the imam to return so they can pray with him from the beginning. However, the correct view is that this is not required. Rather, he may appoint one of them as his substitute, or bring one of them forward to pray with him for the remainder of his prayer. This is the correct position.