The Prayer of the Congregation Behind an Imam Who Prayed Without Ablution
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
Question:
The questioner says: I led the people in prayer while I was not in a state of wudu' (ablution). After one rak'ah (unit of prayer) of the prayer, I remembered that I was not in a state of wudu' (ablution). I broke off the prayer, and one of the ma'mum (those praying behind the imam) stepped forward to complete the prayer. Is their prayer in the first rak'ah (unit of prayer) valid, or do they have to repeat it?
Answer:
There is a disagreement among the scholars, and the stronger position is that it is not valid because you entered the prayer without being in a state of taharah (ritual purity). You entered the prayer without being in a state of taharah (ritual purity). Appointing a substitute is only done if you entered the prayer in a state of taharah (ritual purity) and then your wudu' (ablution) was broken; in that case, you appoint someone to complete it. But if you entered the prayer without being in a state of taharah (ritual purity), it was not valid in the first place. It is necessary to repeat it. Yes.
The presenter:
May Allah reward you.
The questioner says: I led the people in prayer while I was not in a state of wudu' (ablution). After one rak'ah (unit of prayer) of the prayer, I remembered that I was not in a state of wudu' (ablution). I broke off the prayer, and one of the ma'mum (those praying behind the imam) stepped forward to complete the prayer. Is their prayer in the first rak'ah (unit of prayer) valid, or do they have to repeat it?
Answer:
There is a disagreement among the scholars, and the stronger position is that it is not valid because you entered the prayer without being in a state of taharah (ritual purity). You entered the prayer without being in a state of taharah (ritual purity). Appointing a substitute is only done if you entered the prayer in a state of taharah (ritual purity) and then your wudu' (ablution) was broken; in that case, you appoint someone to complete it. But if you entered the prayer without being in a state of taharah (ritual purity), it was not valid in the first place. It is necessary to repeat it. Yes.
The presenter:
May Allah reward you.
Source
شرح كتاب التوحيد [ صالح الفوزان ]، تابع باب ما جاء في السحر — islamhouse.com (53:06)
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.