What should one do who wants to pray and has a pure garment that has become mixed with impure garments, and he cannot distinguish it from among them?

The Shaykh : ... .

The questioner : One person has four or five garments, one of which is impure, and the matter has become mixed up for him as to which one is impure.

The Shaykh : Do you mean clothing?

The questioner : Clothing, yes. He wants to pray, so if he wears any one of them, is the prayer valid, and does the ruling follow the ruling of purity?

The Shaykh : No. If I were to answer you directly, it is not permissible for him to wear any one of them. But to be practical and not theoretical, is he not wearing something that covers his 'awrah (part of the body that must be covered)?

The questioner : He must be wearing something.

The Shaykh : But he wants to wear that garment which he does not know whether it is pure or impure?

The questioner : Let us suppose that the garment he is currently wearing is impure, and one of these garments is impure, and he wants to pray?

The Shaykh : I have already given you the answer to this, but do you not realize that your question was not realistic?

The questioner : No, a discussion arose between me and someone, and he asked me, so I said...

The Shaykh : I will frame the question for you in your own terms: A man has only one garment with which to cover his 'awrah. If he wants to pray, it is obligatory for him to cover his 'awrah, and he has only one garment out of four that is pure, while the rest are impure. If you prefer, reverse it, and the value is the same: three are pure and one is impure. He wants to pray. If he prays with his 'awrah exposed, his prayer is invalid. He must cover his 'awrah with one of these garments, but he does not know which is the pure one and which is the impure. Here we have an answer based on two scenarios. In the first scenario, it is not the case that he has a strong suspicion that one of the four is the pure one and the rest are impure. It may be that he has a strong suspicion, or it may not. Based on this possibility, if he has a strong suspicion that this one is the pure one, he covers his 'awrah with it and prays. The second possibility is that he does not have a strong suspicion that this one is the pure one. In this case, he must wash the four garments until he is certain that his prayer is on a pure garment. There may also be a second scenario where time becomes tight for him between washing them. Here, there are two scholarly opinions (ijtihad), similar to the case of a person who wakes up before the sun rises while in a state of major ritual impurity (janabah): does he perform dry ablution (tayammum) and not take a bath? Some say, including Ibn Taymiyyah, that he should perform tayammum. I say no, except in one case, which may or may not succeed. That is the case where he woke up a long time before the sun rose and finished [his preparations]. In this case, he is responsible if he is occupied with washing the garment and the sun rises on him. In this case, it is better not to allow him to perform tayammum because he is negligent. Is this scenario clear?

The questioner : Yes, yes.

The Shaykh : The second scenario is when he wakes up from sleep and the sun is about to rise. If he starts taking a bath, especially in winter days when he needs to heat the water and so on, the sun might rise. In this scenario, Ibn Taymiyyah says no, it is better to perform tayammum before the sun rises. I say no. This person is excused. As long as he is excused, if the sun rises while he is washing his garment or purifying his body, he is in the obedience of Allah the Exalted and Majestic, so he is not to be held accountable. The established ruling is the one that should be implemented, not the alternative ruling, when there is a legitimate religious excuse.