He prayed in a state of janaabah because he forgot, then he remembered after a while

Question: 302878

My paternal uncle died, and I was told about his death, so I quickly travelled to the scene of the accident, covering a distance of 90 km, when I was in a state of janaabah. I reached the place, and was unable to find water, so I did tayammum and washed him, and we came back to the village for the burial and reached the mosque. The weather was extremely cold, so I forgot that I had done tayammum, and I went in and did wudoo’, then I prayed Fajr, after which we offered the funeral prayer then we went to the burial. I went down into his grave and put him in the niche, and I did not pay attention to anything because I was extremely exhausted. One year after that, I remembered what had happened. Is my prayer valid? And is there any sin on me?

Answer

Praise be to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon the Messenger of Allah and his family.

Tayammum is prescribed for one who cannot find water, or who can find water but he cannot use it because of illness, or fear of becoming ill, as we have explained previously in the answer to question no. 11973.

Based on that, if you did tayammum because there was no water available, then your tayammum was valid, but its validity is temporary and lasts only until the excuse for doing it no longer applies. When you entered the village, the excuse was no longer applicable, because water was available and it was possible to heat it. So when you prayed Fajr, you did so without being in a state of purity, because you prayed when you were in a state of janaabah. Therefore you have to repeat that prayer, but there is no sin on you for that, because you did not deliberately pray in a state of janaabah. Allah, may He be exalted, says (interpretation of the meaning): “And there is no blame upon you for that in which you have erred but [only for] what your hearts intended” [al-Ahzaab 33:5].

An-Nawawi (may Allah have mercy on him) said:

The Muslims are unanimously agreed that it is forbidden for one who is in a state of impurity to pray, and they are unanimously agreed that such a prayer is not valid, regardless of whether he knew that he was in a state of impurity, or he was unaware of that, or he forgot, but if he prayed out of ignorance or he forgot, there is no sin on him.

End quote from al-Majmoo‘ (2/67).

Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyah (may Allah have mercy on him) said:

If someone forgets to purify himself from impurity and prays in that state, then he must repeat the prayer after purifying himself, and there is no difference of scholarly opinion concerning that.

End quote from Majmoo al-Fataawa (22/99).

Shaykh ‘Abd al-‘Azeez ibn Baaz (may Allah have mercy on him) said:

If someone prays thinking that he has wudoo’, then he realizes that he prayed without wudoo’, is his prayer valid or does he have to repeat it?

He replied: If someone prays, believing or thinking that he has wudoo’, then he realizes that he does not have wudoo’, he has to repeat the prayer, because the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) said: “Allah does not accept any prayer without [the worshipper] having purified himself [beforehand].” And he (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) said: “Allah does not accept the prayer of any one of you if he is in a state of impurity, until he does wudoo’.”

This is according to the consensus of the Muslims. If a person prays then realizes that he did not have wudoo’, then he must do wudoo’ and repeat his prayer.

End quote from Fataawa Noor ‘ala ad-Darb (7/229).

He was also asked:

I remembered that I once prayed without wudoo’; should I repeat that prayer?

He replied: Yes, you must repeat it, according to the consensus of the Muslims, because the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) said: “Allah does not accept any prayer without [the worshipper] having purified himself [beforehand].” Narrated by Muslim in as-Saheeh. And he (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) said: “Allah does not accept the prayer of any one of you if he is in a state of impurity, until he does wudoo’.” Saheeh – agreed upon.

End quote from Fataawa Noor ‘ala ad-Darb (7/230-231).

You are not regarded as having sinned, because doing things by mistake or forgetting are reasons for which a person is excused.

And Allah knows best.

Was this answer helpful?

Source:

Islam Q&A