Chapter: One Who Becomes Ritually Impure During the Prayer

Whoever experiences a state of ritual impurity while praying and is certain of it must break off the prayer. If he is the imam, he appoints someone to lead the congregation in completing the remaining actions of the prayer; the appointee takes the imam’s place without distinction. The person who became impure then performs wuḍū’ and starts the prayer anew. The same ruling applies to a follower: he leaves, performs ablution, and begins the prayer again. No one may continue a prayer while in a state of ritual impurity.

If the impurity occurs during the tashahhud, before the salām, the prayer is invalid. Should the imam fail to appoint a successor, or not notice that someone has taken over, the congregation themselves advance one of their number to finish the prayer for them. If the person appointed had missed part of the imam’s prayer, he may do nothing except what the imam was due to do; he must neither sit nor stand except at the points where the ritually-impure imam would have sat or stood. When he has completed the prayer