A man prayed the Fajr prayer and two rak'ahs of the Dhuhr prayer while in a state of major ritual impurity; what should he do?

The Shaykh : Now, here is a question: A man prayed the Fajr prayer and two rak'ahs of the Dhuhr prayer while in a state of major ritual impurity. What should he do?
It is well known that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) prayed part of his prayer while in a state of major ritual impurity, then he remembered, so he gestured to those behind him to stay in their places, and he went to perform the full ritual bath, then he continued from what he had done... The answer for us is based on a hadith and a report from 'Umar. The hadith states that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) entered the Fajr prayer and led the people, and he said the takbir, then he gestured to them to stay in their places, and he returned to his house, performed the full ritual bath, and returned with his head dripping water, so he prayed with them. After the prayer, he said to them: In this hadith, it is clarified that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) built upon his first takbir, the takbir of intention, because he did not speak, and on the other hand, he kept his companions standing and gestured to them to stay in their places. When he returned... he completed the prayer with them, and after the prayer, he said: From this hadith, we derive that if one remembers his ritual purity during his prayer, he builds upon what has passed after he purifies himself. The other incident I mentioned is the report from 'Umar that he prayed Fajr one day with his companions in Madinah, and after the prayer, he looked at his clothes and found a trace of semen, so he returned, performed the full ritual bath, and repeated the prayer, but he did not order the people to repeat the prayer. So we said: Since 'Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) repeated the prayer and announced this regarding those whose statement is considered among the Companions, and he did not order those who prayed behind him to repeat it, we derive two rulings here: If one remembers his state of impurity after the prayer, he must purify himself and repeat the prayer. But if he remembers it during the prayer, he purifies himself, completes it, and builds upon it. If not for the report of 'Umar, we would say there is no difference between one who remembers during the prayer or after the prayer. The report of 'Umar is what makes us distinguish between the two incidents. And when we adopt the report of 'Umar, we link that to a principle, which is that it is obligatory for us to understand the texts of the Book and the Sunnah according to the methodology and understanding of the righteous Salaf. Therefore, when Allah (Mighty and Majestic) said in the Noble Qur'an: He said: Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He) did not limit Himself to saying, "And whoever opposes the Messenger after the clear proof has come to him, We will turn him to what he has turned to," but He added to that: Because opposing the path of the believers means opposing their methodology in understanding the Book and the Sunnah. It is not sufficient for a Muslim to be safe on the Day of Resurrection to say, "My proof is the Book and the Sunnah," because all Islamic sects, despite the great disagreement among them, each claims to be upon the Book and the Sunnah. But the decisive judgment is returning to the path of the believers, especially the first of them, who are the Companions. Pointing to this reality, we find the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) saying: They asked, "Who are they, O Messenger of Allah?" He said, "They are" And in a strong narration supported by its corroborating evidence, he said: Why did he mention "and my companions" and not limit it to "what I am upon"? He added to that and said, "and my companions." Among the corroborating evidence for this hadith is the hadith of al-'Arba' ibn Sari'ah, who said: "The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) gave us a sermon that made our hearts tremble and our eyes shed tears. So we said, 'Advise us, O Messenger of Allah.'" He said: Why did he not say: That would have been sufficient, without a doubt, because we have nothing but the Qur'an and the Sunnah. But there is a profound wisdom, which is the Sunnah of the Rightly Guided Caliphs, based on the fact that they are the first carriers who... (peace and blessings be upon him) understood it with a correct understanding and applied it with a correct application. Therefore, one should not limit oneself to... This is the salvation and the refuge from the much and long disagreement in which Muslims have fallen during these many long centuries. It is necessary to return to the Book and the Sunnah first, and then to understand the Book and the Sunnah according to the understanding of the righteous Salaf second. And this methodology, in reality, its importance branches out to the fact that we must correct many of our concepts of some of the texts of the Book and the Sunnah and our argumentation with them. For example, I clarified to you that scholars have differed since before al-Bukhari regarding a man who enters the mosque and finds the imam bowing, so he bows and joins him in the bowing. Is it considered a rak'ah for him or not? The majority went to the view that it is counted as a rak'ah. Imam al-Bukhari and Ibn Hazm and others said, no... And its indication, as you see, is explicit: But this is an argumentation by the generality. When Imam al-Bukhari and Ibn Hazm argued that the one who catches the bowing... reading al-Fatihah in every rak'ah, and since he did not read al-Fatihah in this rak'ah, then it is not considered a rak'ah. So they argued with the generality of the text. But I say, deriving from the previous rule, that any general text upon which the practice of the Salaf has not been carried out, it is not permissible to argue with it and take its generality from what the practice of the Salaf has not been carried out. That is because they were purer in minds and cleaner in hearts, and they participated with the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) in his worship and his prayer. So if we find them, for example, considering catching the bowing as catching the rak'ah, that means our argumentation by the generality is incorrect, because if it were correct, they would have been more knowledgeable about the indication of this generality to this specific detail. We find, for example, that it is authentic from the first Caliph, Abu Bakr al-Siddiq, contrary to what al-Bukhari went to, that catching the bowing is catching the rak'ah. And the same is established from Zayd ibn Thabit, who by his effort collected the Qur'an between two covers.

The questioner : From the speech of Abu Bakr or his action.

The Shaykh : Yes, now it does not come to my mind specifically regarding Abu Bakr and Zayd, but the third report will come to you now. We mentioned Abu Bakr and Zayd ibn Thabit, mostly regarding action, and the third is Abdullah ibn Mas'ud. It is established from Abdullah ibn Mas'ud like what is established from the two previous Companions, but a clear statement from him on the subject is also established. Ibn Abi Shaybah in his Musannaf, and Imam al-Tabarani in his large Mu'jam, and others, narrated that Ibn Mas'ud entered the mosque with a companion of his, perhaps his name was Zayd ibn Wahb or Wahb ibn Zayd, the doubt is from me now. He found the imam bowing, so he bowed. When the imam said the taslim, Ibn Mas'ud said the taslim with him. As for his companion, he stood up to come for a rak'ah, so he held him by his garment and said to him, "You have caught it." So when we find such reports today, and they are all authentic, and similar was also reported from Abdullah ibn 'Umar ibn al-Khattab. If a person intends to track down the reports, perhaps Allah will bless him in them. When we find such authentic reports from the great Companions considering catching the bowing as catching the rak'ah, we do not give weight to arguing with the general text, as long as there is no specific text, because this general text may be subject to specification, and we do not know this specification, but those who heard the text directly from the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) knew it. And I give you an example of how it is not permissible to act with these general texts in matters upon which the knowledge of the Salaf has not been carried out. And in reality, our failure to observe this rule was an invitation to open the door of religious innovation, an innovation that destroyed the Sunnah in many cases. Like those who add to the adhan or the iqamah the prayer upon the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) and what they do with it, what is authentic and what is not. So if it is said to them, "My brother, how did Bilal call the adhan? What... There is no god but Allah, and it ended... He says to you, 'What is in it?' Allah said: The first thing... by arguing with the general text. The text is correct, a verse in the Noble Qur'an, but this general argumentation... neither the Companions, nor the Tabi'un, nor their followers, nor any of the mujtahid imams whom these people claim to follow. So this acting with the general text was not carried out in the early days of Islam. So this is one of the newly invented matters, and every innovation that exists among the Muslims must have a basis, namely a general text, but the practice was not carried out upon it at all. So their acting with what the righteous Salaf did not act with... is an innovation and an introduction in the religion.
Finally, let me give an example so that we do not stray too far from the previous discussion. The last example is that the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) said: to the end of the authentic hadith. So, if there were a private gathering of relatives with women and men present, and they looked and found a woman who was the most proficient in recitation and the most knowledgeable among them... with one of the attendees, and they cited the hadith and said, "The Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) said: So it is necessary that so-and-so lady or so-and-so woman lead us," or something to that effect. But this is an argument based on a general text that the practice of the Salaf did not follow in all this time. So this argument is incorrect, as are many other examples. You know the importance of combining the practice of the righteous Salaf with the Book and the Sunnah, because this practice is what clarifies the Book and the Sunnah for us. For the sake of this truth, Ibn al-Qayyim (may Allah have mercy on him) said... and what he says is:
"Knowledge is what Allah said, what His Messenger said, *** What the Companions said, not mere pretense"
The Companions, and this is part of his jurisprudence. He took it from the path of the believers in the Qur'an, he took it from the Sunnah of the Rightly Guided Caliphs in the hadith of al-'Abbas, he took it from from the hadith of Abu Hurayrah and others, and he said:
"Knowledge is: Allah said, His Messenger said *** The Companions said; it is not deception
What is knowledge? It is setting up foolishness for disagreement *** Between the Messenger and the opinion of a jurist
No, and neither denying the attributes nor affirming them *** Out of fear of denial of attributes or likening Allah to creation"
We return now to the original issue. We distinguished between the one who remembers his ritual purity during the prayer, in which case he must purify himself and complete the prayer without restarting it, and the one who remembers his ritual purity after the prayer, in which case he must restart it because he prayed the whole thing without purity, following the action of 'Umar and... from him regarding that in the presence of many of the Companions...

The questioner : Where is the report of our master 'Umar, Professor?

The Shaykh : In al-Muwatta, yes.
Another questioner: ...

The Shaykh : No, yes, he must face the qiblah.
Another questioner: Regarding... I repeat Fajr and I repeat Zuhr regarding the question?

The Shaykh : ... two rak'ahs of Zuhr, he completes...
Another questioner: ...

The Shaykh : They went and came back... You say they went and came back, from where did you bring that they came back...
Another questioner: ...

The Shaykh : You need to straighten your words. The Messenger and his Companions were with him in two groups. One group, as it came in the hadith, when the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) finished the two rak'ahs, the people quickly left the mosque; these are the ones who left. And a group remained in the mosque. So when you say they left and came back, from where did you get that they came back!

The questioner : ... .

The Shaykh : So those who were in the mosque naturally did what the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) did... I first correct the narration. When you say they left and came back, this would be if there were an explicit text that they left with their backs to the Ka'bah and then entered... We do not have a specification of that, but we have a specification regarding the one who is greater, concerning the Messenger (may Allah's prayers and blessings be upon him), because he went to a side of the mosque and lay down and placed one of his hands on the other... So the well-known discussion in the hadith took place. The important thing is this... correcting the prayer, and the Messenger was forgetting, that is a second topic. But as for... remembering, here he must try not to turn away from the Ka'bah.