the Friday prayer, in the view of most of Mālik’s companions, unless he is inside the congregational mosque; this was also Mālik’s own position, for Friday prayer is valid only there. A separate report from Mālik and a group of his students states that they held a worshipper who suffers a nosebleed must begin the prayer anew, because he has deliberately turned his back to the qiblah; Mālik considered this preferable, and it is the view I judge sound and follow.

Should he deliberately speak and then start over, that is even better, for it removes any room for disagreement. All are agreed that if he intentionally speaks after leaving the prayer, his prayer is invalidated. Someone whose nosebleeds are frequent should perform the bowing and prostration by mere indication; as for vomiting, in our school no one builds upon what he has already prayed after it occurs—he must start from the beginning.

If the imam experiences ritual impurity while delivering the Friday sermon, he should appoint another man to complete the sermon and lead the prayer. If the sermon has already been completed, he appoints someone simply to lead the prayer—unless he is close by, in which case they wait for him to perform ablution and then pray behind him; if he is far away, they do not wait.

One who doubts whether he has broken his ablution while in prayer, according to one opinion, should leave the prayer just as if he were certain of impurity, for a prayer cannot be offered on a purification about which there is doubt. This is the distilled position of Mālik. Another view holds that he continues and nothing is required of him until he is sure—by hearing a sound or perceiving an odor. This latter opinion is stronger in rational analysis and better supported by transmitted evidence. All of the foregoing represents the learning of the scholars of Madinah.