had lost his wudu and spoke, saying, “The dog has eaten me.” (1)
Moreover, Uthman, may Allah be pleased with him, once led the people in prayer while in a state of major ritual impurity, having forgotten it. He repeated his prayer, but they did not repeat theirs. (2)
An objection was raised regarding the report about Uthman: that Uthman did not remember until after he had concluded the prayer with the salutation.
We respond: if you maintain that the prayer as a whole is valid because the followers were unaware, then the validity of part of it is even more so. Thus, there is no difference whether the followers learn of it before or after the final salutation. As for one who knows that his imam is not in a state of wudu, it is not permissible for him to join the imam, because he would be following one whose prayer is invalid; this is mere frivolity.
According to this view, if the imam loses his wudu, or remembers that he is not in a state of wudu, he should appoint one of the followers to lead them in completing the prayer. It is not lawful for him to say to them, “Repeat the prayer,” because if he says:
(1) Narrated by al-Bukhari, Book of the Virtues of the Companions, chapter: The Account of the Pledge of Allegiance, no. 3700.
(2) It was also narrated by al-Daraqutni, 1:364, and al-Bayhaqi in al-Sunan al-Kubra, 2:400, and in al-Marifah wa al-Athar, 3:348, from Hushaym, from Khalid ibn Salamah, from Muhammad ibn Amr ibn al-Harith, who mentioned it.
Al-Daraqutni, 1:363, and al-Bayhaqi in al-Sunan al-Kubra, 2:399, and in al-Marifah wa al-Athar, 3:348, narrated from Ibn al-Munkadir, from al-Shurayd al-Thaqafi: “Umar led the people in prayer while in a state of major ritual impurity (janabah); he repeated the prayer, but they did not repeat it.”
It was also narrated by Malik, Book of Purification, chapter: Repetition of Prayer by One in a State of Major Ritual Impurity, nos. 115-118; and from him by Abd al-Razzaq in al-Musannaf, no. 3644, from Hisham ibn Urwah, from his father, from Zuyyid ibn al-Salt, from Umar ibn al-Khattab, with the same report.
I say: Its chain of transmission is authentic. Regarding Zuyyid ibn al-Salt, Ibn Main said: “Trustworthy.” Al-Bukhari said: “He heard from Umar ibn al-Khattab.” Al-Tarikh al-Kabir, 3:447; al-Jarh wa al-Tadil, 3:622.