What is the ruling on one whose ablution is broken during prayer? Does he continue the prayer or start it over?

The questioner : One of the brothers says: We heard that it is permissible for one whose ablution is broken during prayer to go, perform ablution, and complete what he missed, on the condition that he does not speak to anyone. Is this correct?

The Shaykh : We heard him say.

The questioner : Perhaps he said it in one of the tapes?

The Shaykh : This is a statement that has been started; what is its conclusion? You have a fragment; what is the news? It appears thatThe questioner : meaning, is this correct? I say there are two opinions in this issue; but we do not stop there, and I think most of you do not know the point that this answer, which I issue as a fatwa from myself or which I will issue from myself, is based on. There are two opinions in this issue. This is the talk of the ignorant, because if an issue can only have one opinion, then answering that there are two opinions in it is evidence of ignorance. Just like the mufti who appointed a mufti to replace him in his absence. They claimed that one of the old muftis had to travel, so he appointed his father. His father knew he was not fit to sit in the session of issuing fatwas, so he said to him, "O my father, how is this?" He said, "It is none of your concern. I will give you a system and a rule so you can manage things until I return to you." He said, "What is it?" He said, "Whenever a questioner comes to you asking about any issue, do not involve yourself in the group of scholars, but rather say, 'There are two opinions in this issue,' no matter who the questioner is. O my master,The Shaykh : as thisThe questioner : man said. A man’s ablution was broken during prayer. Did his prayer become invalid, or does he go, perform ablution, and continue it? The answer is: there are two opinions in this issue, and the matter is finished. I divorced my wife and said such and such. Did I divorce her, or is she still under my protection? There are two opinions in this issue. My daughter married herself without the permission of her guardian. Is her marriage valid or invalid? There are two opinions in this issue, and so on. He said to his father, "May Allah reward you with good," and he left and sat down. People began to flock to him as usual. The deputy mufti did not deviate from this answer until one of the smart ones realized that this man was ignorant. What does it mean that in every issue, there are two opinions in the issue? So he put it in one person’s mind and said, "Ask him. Tell him, 'Is there any doubt about Allah?'" He said to him, and he did not know he was being tested, "O my master,The Shaykh : Is there any doubt about Allah?" He said, "There are two opinions in this issue" — the studentsThe Shaykh : are laughing — but the truth is, this is a joke that may be a myth, but it represents a painful reality and a reality of people whom the masses of people think are people of knowledge and people of jurisprudence. They are those who are defined in this age as "doctors" (PhDs), where they present such statements with some philosophy in their teaching of students in the university, in the College of Sharia, who are supposed to graduate soon as doctors, where they say, "So-and-so scholar said such and such, and so-and-so scholar said such and such, and this one argues with such and such, and this one argues with such and such, and it is finished." So, what is the correct answer, O my master?The Shaykh : O professor, O doctor? The matter is as you heard: there are two opinions in the issue, and perhaps there are three opinions, as is the case in some issues. The opinion that is stronger for me, specifically in this particular issue, is that continuing the prayer is the stronger position. That is, if a person prayed one rak'ah or more of his prayer and then his ablution was broken, he must renew his ablution and continue his prayer, and not start it over. My evidence for this is not a clear hadith on the subject, because there is weakness in it. Rather, my evidence is what came in Sunan Abu Dawud and the Musnad of Imam Ahmad with a sound chain from Abu Bakrah al-Thaqafi. This is how Abu Bakrah al-Thaqafi said: First, he said: "He said the takbir, then he gestured, then he prayed." This is what he said. And the meaning of "he prayed" is that he continued from what had passed and did not start the prayer over. Otherwise, he would have been explicit, especially after he said at the beginning that he said the takbir; he would have said the second time, "So he said the takbir with them and prayed." But none of that was the case. So this is a practical text from the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) that the Muslim, not only when he enters prayer in a state of purity and then something happens that invalidates it, that he continues, but even if he entered it while forgetting his purity, what he missed of the prayer is considered valid, because the Messenger continued from that. So it is even more so that he should continue the rest of his prayer, for which he renewed his purity, from what he had already continued from in a state of purity. This is the answer to the previous question.