I am a woman who is praying, and my child is crying, so I pick him up, but I do not know if there is any ritual impurity on him, and he is contained. What is required of me?
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The questioner : A questioner says: “May the Shaykh be respected, I am a woman who is praying, and my child is crying, so I pick him up, but I do not know if there is any ritual impurity on him, and he is contained. What is required of me?”
The Shaykh : She owes nothing. That is to say, there is nothing wrong with a woman picking up her child when he cries and she does not know whether there is ritual impurity on him or not. The evidence for this is that a similar incident occurred with the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him). He was praying while carrying his granddaughter, Ummah bint Zaynab, whose father was Abu al-As ibn al-Rabi'. This girl was very small, so the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) would lead the people in prayer while carrying her. When he stood, he would carry her, and when he prostrated, he would put her down. It is well known that, in most cases, children’s clothes are not free from ritual impurity. But did the Messenger of Allah know that there was ritual impurity on her? He did not know, but what appears is that he did not know, as evidenced by the fact that when he prayed wearing his leather socks and there was filth on them, Jibril came to him and informed him during the prayer, so he took them off and continued his prayer. So I say to this woman: As long as this child is contained, and she does not know whether anything ritually impure has come out of her, the original state is purity, and there is nothing wrong with her picking her up and quieting her. However, if quieting this child requires patting her back, does she pat her back or not? Yes, she pats her back, because she is in prayer, as this is a pressing need. But she should not do it excessively, meaning, if she does it excessively, it may invalidate the prayer. But is it permissible for her to say, “Be quiet, my daughter, what is wrong with you,” or not? This is not permissible. Why? Because this is speech, and no speech of people is valid in the prayer. Yes.
The Shaykh : She owes nothing. That is to say, there is nothing wrong with a woman picking up her child when he cries and she does not know whether there is ritual impurity on him or not. The evidence for this is that a similar incident occurred with the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him). He was praying while carrying his granddaughter, Ummah bint Zaynab, whose father was Abu al-As ibn al-Rabi'. This girl was very small, so the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) would lead the people in prayer while carrying her. When he stood, he would carry her, and when he prostrated, he would put her down. It is well known that, in most cases, children’s clothes are not free from ritual impurity. But did the Messenger of Allah know that there was ritual impurity on her? He did not know, but what appears is that he did not know, as evidenced by the fact that when he prayed wearing his leather socks and there was filth on them, Jibril came to him and informed him during the prayer, so he took them off and continued his prayer. So I say to this woman: As long as this child is contained, and she does not know whether anything ritually impure has come out of her, the original state is purity, and there is nothing wrong with her picking her up and quieting her. However, if quieting this child requires patting her back, does she pat her back or not? Yes, she pats her back, because she is in prayer, as this is a pressing need. But she should not do it excessively, meaning, if she does it excessively, it may invalidate the prayer. But is it permissible for her to say, “Be quiet, my daughter, what is wrong with you,” or not? This is not permissible. Why? Because this is speech, and no speech of people is valid in the prayer. Yes.