❀ Ruling on Leading Jumu‘ah Prayer in Impure Clothes ❀
Source: Fatāwā Amunpuri by Shaykh Ghulam Mustafa Zaheer Amunpuri
❖ Question:
An Imām led the Jumu‘ah prayer, and afterwards he came to know that he had prayed in impure clothes. What is the ruling?
❖ Answer:
He does not need to repeat the prayer, and his prayer is valid.
❖ Evidence:
Sayyidunā Abū Sa‘īd al-Khudrī (رضي الله عنه) narrated:
إن رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم صلى فى نعليه، فصلى الناس فى نعالهم، ثم ألقى نعليه ، فألقى الناس نعالهم وهم فى الصلاة، فلما قضى صلاته قال : ما حملكم على إلقاء نعالكم فى الصلاة؟ قالوا : يا رسول الله، رأيناك فعلت ففعلنا، قال : إن جبريل أخبرني أن فيها أذى، فإذا أتى أحدكم المسجد فلينظر فإن رأى فى نعليه أذى، وإلا فليصل فيهما .
“The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) prayed in his sandals, so the people also prayed in their sandals. Then, during the prayer, he removed his sandals, so the people also removed theirs. When he finished the prayer, he said: What made you remove your sandals in the prayer? They replied: O Messenger of Allah, we saw you do so, so we did the same. He said: Jibrīl informed me that there was impurity on them. So, when one of you comes to the mosque, let him look at his sandals, and if he sees impurity on them, let him remove them, but if not, he may pray in them.”
(Musnad al-Ṭayālisī, p. 286; Musnad Aḥmad, 3/20; Sunan Abī Dāwūd, 650; Musnad Ibn Ḥumayd, 880; Musnad Abī Ya‘lā, 1194; al-Sunan al-Kubrā, 2/406 – Authentic chain)
— Imām Ibn Khuzaymah (1017) and Imām Ibn Ḥibbān (2185) declared it ṣaḥīḥ.
— Al-Ḥākim (1/260) graded it ṣaḥīḥ according to the conditions of Imām Muslim.
— Imām al-Nawawī also said its chain is ṣaḥīḥ. (Khilāṣat al-Aḥkām, 1/319)
The Prophet ﷺ did not repeat the portion of prayer he had performed in impure sandals; rather, he declared it valid. From this ḥadīth, it is established that if someone prays in impure clothes unknowingly, then both the Imām’s and the followers’ prayers are valid.
Note: If the Imām leads the prayer without wudu or ghusl, then he must repeat the prayer, but the prayer of the followers remains valid, and they are not required to repeat it.
