A man woke up moments before the sunrise while in a state of major ritual impurity and had not prayed the Fajr prayer; is it permissible for him to perform dry ablution and pray, or must he perform the full ritual bath?

The Shaykh: Go ahead.

The questioner : A man woke up in the last moments of the Fajr time while in a state of major ritual impurity. If he were to perform the full ritual bath, the sun would rise and the Fajr time would end before he finished. Is it permissible for him to perform dry ablution?

The Shaykh : If your question is precise, as we assume it is, then the answer is that he should proceed with purification, even if the sun rises on him. If the sun rises on him, it does not rise while he is in a state of disobedience. Yes. The ruling differs, however, if a person wakes up in a state of major ritual impurity half an hour before the sun rises and, to use the Syrian expression, stretches it out and prolongs it, such that only five minutes remain before the sun rises. By the time he finishes the full ritual bath, the sun has risen and the time has passed. Therefore, I said that if your question is precise, as it is supposed to be, the answer is that if the sun rises on him, he was in the obedience of Allah. On this occasion, I like to mention a sound report from Abu Bakr al-Siddiq (may Allah be pleased with him) that he led the people in the Fajr prayer during his caliphate and lengthened the recitation. When he finished the prayer, it was said to him, “O Abu Bakr, you have lengthened the recitation until the sun was about to rise.” He said, “If it rises, it will not find us heedless.” If it rises, it will not find us heedless. What does that mean? He was reciting the Qur'an. Yes.