One who prays as imam and his ablution is broken during the prayer

Q: If the imam’s ablution is broken during the prayer, should he appoint a substitute to complete the prayer with them? Or is the prayer of everyone invalid, and he should order them to restart the prayer from the beginning?

A: The correct view is that it is prescribed for the imam to appoint a substitute to complete the prayer with the congregation, as 'Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) did when he was stabbed while praying; he appointed 'Abd al-Rahman ibn 'Awf (may Allah be pleased with him) to complete the Fajr prayer with them. If the imam does not appoint a substitute, some of those behind him should step forward to complete the prayer with the people. If they restart the prayer from the beginning, there is no blame on them, because there is scholarly disagreement on this issue, but the stronger position is that the imam appoints a substitute to complete the prayer, based on the action of 'Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) that we mentioned. If they restart it, there is nothing wrong with that, and success is from Allah.