your ‘umrah what you would do during your Hajj.’” This man had committed an act prohibited during Hajj—wearing a robe—yet the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, did not require him to offer a sacrificial animal for it. Had he done so knowingly, a sacrifice would have been obligatory upon him.

It is established in the two Sahīh collections that he:

“Said to the Bedouin who prayed incorrectly, ‘Pray, for you have not prayed’—two or three times. The man replied, ‘By Him Who sent you with the truth, I cannot do any better than this, so teach me how to fulfil my obligation in prayer.’ He then taught him how to pray in a manner that fulfilled his obligation.”

He did not instruct him to repeat his earlier prayers, despite his saying, “I cannot do any better than this.” He only instructed him to repeat that particular prayer because its time had not yet ended, so he was still required to perform it. The prayer he had offered had not discharged his obligation, and its time still remained.

It is well known that if a child reaches puberty, a disbeliever embraces Islam, a menstruating woman becomes free of menstruation, or an insane person regains sanity while the prayer time remains, they must offer that prayer within its appointed time, not as a make-up prayer. If this occurs after the time has ended, there is no sin upon them.

Thus, when this man who prayed incorrectly out of ignorance learned, while the prayer time remained, that coming to rest in the postures of prayer was obligatory, it became obligatory upon him then; it had not been obligatory upon him before that. This is why he instructed him to come to rest in the postures of the prayer whose time remained, but did not instruct him to repeat earlier prayers. The same applies to his instruction that the person who prayed behind the row repeat his prayer, and that the person who left a patch of his foot unwashed repeat his ablution and prayer.

As for his initial words:

“Pray, for you have not prayed”