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If a worshiper's ablutions are nullified during prayer, should they go out to perform ablution and then complete their prayer, or restart it anew?

1 min readAlso available in العربية

A minor ritual impurity (hadath) nullifies prayer by consensus. The majority of scholars hold that one who experiences a sudden minor ritual impurity during prayer should not continue but must restart the prayer from the beginning. However, the Hanafis are of the opinion that one may continue from where they left off, citing the hadith of Aisha: "Whoever experiences vomiting, nosebleed, regurgitation, or madhy (pre-seminal fluid) should depart, perform ablution, and then continue their prayer, and they should not speak during that time." But this hadith is flawed (ma'lul) and weak when attributed to the Prophet (marfu'). The more preponderant view is that if one experiences a sudden minor ritual impurity during prayer, their prayer becomes invalid, and they are required to restart it.

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

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