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What is the ruling on the prayer of an imam who suffers from continuous urinary and flatulence incontinence, and what is the ruling on his ablution and purity in this case, and is it permissible for him to continue leading the prayer?

1 min readAlso available in العربية

If the urine stops for a period sufficient for purification (wudu) and prayer (salat), then the person is not considered to have urinary incontinence ( سلس البول ). In this case, he must wait for the urine to stop, then purify himself and pray. It is not permissible for him to lead or join a congregational prayer before the urine stops, because proper purification takes precedence over congregational prayer. One should relieve themselves well before the prayer time. As for involuntary flatulence, if its timing is irregular, then one must perform ablution after the time for prayer begins and pray with that ablution; whatever is released afterwards does not matter. It is permissible for a person with urinary incontinence or involuntary flatulence to lead the prayer, according to the preponderant opinion.

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

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