A man prayed as imam in congregation, and some of it came out of him, and he was convinced of the state of ritual impurity, indeed he was certain of it, but he continued in the prayer and shyness overcame him, then
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The questioner : A man prayed as imam in congregation, and some of it came out of him, and he was convinced of the state of ritual impurity, indeed he was certain of it, but he continued in the prayer and shyness overcame him, then after the prayer he repeated it. Now what is the way out? And how does he clear his conscience? The story is from eight years ago?
The Shaykh : As for his conscience, it has been cleared. As for his continuing in the prayer while he had become ritually impure, he did a forbidden thing, because it is obligatory for one who becomes ritually impure during his prayer to leave it. Shyness should not occur in a man regarding a prescribed matter, because the prescribed matter is truth, and Allah the Exalted does not shy away from the truth. What is prescribed in this case is that if a person becomes ritually impure during his prayer, he leaves it, and it is not permissible for him to continue. But what does he do if he leaves in the middle of the prayer? As for the followers behind him, we say: either he designates one of them and says, "O so-and-so, come forward and complete the prayer for them," or he says, "Let one of you come forward to complete the prayer for you," and this does not designate a specific person, or he pulls one of them to complete the prayer for them, bringing him forward to complete the prayer, or he leaves them, and they have the choice between completing it individually or bringing one of them forward. But the best is that he designates someone to complete the prayer for them, whether he designates him by saying, "O so-and-so, complete the prayer for them," or by action, by bringing him forward and saying, "Complete the prayer for them," so that they do not fall into confusion. There is no difference between the state of ritual impurity occurring during the prayer, or if he had become ritually impure before entering the prayer but forgot, and remembered during the prayer, then he does what we said for one who becomes ritually impure during the prayer.
The questioner : May Allah reward you, O honorable Shaykh, and may Allah bless you and your knowledge, and benefit the Muslims through you.
The Shaykh : As for his conscience, it has been cleared. As for his continuing in the prayer while he had become ritually impure, he did a forbidden thing, because it is obligatory for one who becomes ritually impure during his prayer to leave it. Shyness should not occur in a man regarding a prescribed matter, because the prescribed matter is truth, and Allah the Exalted does not shy away from the truth. What is prescribed in this case is that if a person becomes ritually impure during his prayer, he leaves it, and it is not permissible for him to continue. But what does he do if he leaves in the middle of the prayer? As for the followers behind him, we say: either he designates one of them and says, "O so-and-so, come forward and complete the prayer for them," or he says, "Let one of you come forward to complete the prayer for you," and this does not designate a specific person, or he pulls one of them to complete the prayer for them, bringing him forward to complete the prayer, or he leaves them, and they have the choice between completing it individually or bringing one of them forward. But the best is that he designates someone to complete the prayer for them, whether he designates him by saying, "O so-and-so, complete the prayer for them," or by action, by bringing him forward and saying, "Complete the prayer for them," so that they do not fall into confusion. There is no difference between the state of ritual impurity occurring during the prayer, or if he had become ritually impure before entering the prayer but forgot, and remembered during the prayer, then he does what we said for one who becomes ritually impure during the prayer.
The questioner : May Allah reward you, O honorable Shaykh, and may Allah bless you and your knowledge, and benefit the Muslims through you.