A man prayed two rak'ahs, then remembered that he was not in a state of wudu; what should he do? A discussion on the issue of building upon a prayer.

The questioner : Teacher, a person entered the prayer, prayed two rak'ahs, then remembered that he was not in a state of wudu; what should he do?

The Shaykh : What prayer is it?

The questioner : The Dhuhr or 'Asr prayer, or an obligatory prayer.

The Shaykh : Yes, he continues, he goes to perform wudu and tayammum, and he builds upon what came before.

The questioner : Okay, he was without wudu.

The Shaykh : Yes?

The questioner : He remembered that he was without wudu.

The Shaykh: Yes, by Allah.

The questioner : How can he build upon something that was not valid?

The Shaykh : Why is the issue logical or rational?! The issue is following the Messenger (peace be upon him), and the Messenger of Allah did this: he said the takbir for the Fajr prayer, then gestured to them to stay in their places, then he returned to them with his head dripping water, and he prayed with them. After the prayer, he said to them: . So we find that he (peace be upon him) did not invalidate the prayer which he built upon the state of janabah that he had forgotten.

The questioner : He did not pray it.

The Shaykh : Yes?

The questioner : He did not pray it.

The Shaykh : He did not pray it, how?

The questioner : He did not pray...

The Shaykh : How do you know?

The questioner : ... .

The Shaykh : Did you notice? How did he not pray? Do you mean he did not start the prayer or he did not finish it?

The questioner : He only said the takbirat al-ihram.

The Shaykh : Yes, what is wrong with the takbirat al-ihram?

Eid Abbasi : .

The Shaykh : What is the ruling of the takbirat al-ihram? It is a pillar of the prayer. Yes, so if the Messenger (peace be upon him) counted this pillar while he was in a state of janabah, it means that he counted this pillar and did not invalidate it. Therefore, we find that when he (peace be upon him) remembered after saying the takbir, he did not say to them: "People, sit down and rest, I forgot to perform ghusl." Rather, he gestured to them, then gestured to them to stay in their places; meaning, as you are. Whether they were standing or sitting, whatever their state was, he could have relieved them from this waiting, but he was in prayer. He considered himself (peace be upon him) to be in prayer; therefore, he did not speak, but he sufficed with a gesture instead of words, and gestured to them to stay in their places as they were, and left them as they were.
Then he did not inform them of what had happened until after the prayer. And any person who is less than the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) in knowledge, character, and intellect would not want to torment his companions, neither psychologically nor physically. As for psychologically, without a doubt, it is a strange phenomenon: the Messenger (peace be upon him) enters the prayer saying: Allahu Akbar, and the Companions would wonder: what happened to him? This is psychological torment. So if the Messenger (peace be upon him) had been able, he would have said to them in plain words: "My story is such and such," and he would not have left them standing like that, holding them back. But this is proof that he was in prayer.
Therefore, he counted this takbir, and perhaps he recited other things after it, even though this was not explicitly stated in the hadith. He went and performed ghusl, then came and prayed with them; meaning, he completed the prayer with them. So from here we said what we said, not by analogy, intellect, or logic, as has been said.