Back to search

Is a person considered an apostate (kafir) if he leads a prayer and his ablution (wudu') is nullified, but he continues the prayer out of embarrassment, with his desires overpowering him and with remorse over his action? Is there any evidence from the Quran and Sunnah for the apostasy of one who does this? And is apostasy negated from a person if there is no consensus on the issue and no evidence in the Quran and Sunnah?

1 min readAlso available in العربية

There is no evidence in the Qur’an or Sunnah to suggest that one who prays intentionally without purification is a disbeliever. The correct opinion among the majority of scholars is that he is not a disbeliever, while some jurists consider him a disbeliever due to his playing with or belittling the commands of the Sacred Law.

Some scholars elaborate that disbelief occurs in cases of denial or belittling the commands of purification. However, if one does so out of laziness or ignorance, he is a sinner, not a disbeliever, and he must repent and repeat the prayer. Based on this, one who prays intentionally without purification is not considered a disbeliever according to the correct opinion, and he must repent and repeat his prayer. The prayer of the congregants (behind him) is valid.

Summarized from the full answer at Ftawy · reviewed Sep 2, 2026

Read the full answer on Ftawy