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How can one reconcile the fatwas that permit the validity of prayer despite the deliberate or known exposure of a small part of the awrah during prayer without covering it, with the ruling that mandates repeating the prayer if the worshipper becomes aware of the awrah's exposure and does not cover it? And what is the ruling if the exposure was deliberate?

1 min readAlso available in العربية

"Jurists differ regarding the validity of the prayer of one whose 'awrah (private parts) became slightly uncovered. Some, like Malik, Shafi'i, and most others, invalidate it. Others, like the Hanafis and Hanbalis, do not invalidate it. The opinion of non-invalidation has been attributed to most scholars. The fatwa that permits non-invalidation of the prayer considers the questioner's condition if she suffers from waswasah (obsessive whispering) to make things easier for her. The Hanbalis, who hold the view of non-invalidation, stipulate that the uncovering of the 'awrah must be unintentional, while the Hanafis justify the pardon for slight uncovering due to necessity. However, if the worshipper intentionally uncovers their 'awrah, their prayer is invalidated by the consensus of jurists."

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

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