Does Praying without Ghusl Due to Embarrassment Invalidate Others’ Salah in Congregation?

Answered by Shaykh Yusuf Weltch

Question

If an individual, upon whom ghusl is obligatory, is called to pray and, out of embarrassment, joins the prayer alongside two other men, does this affect the validity of the other individuals’ salah?

Additionally, does the junubi person’s role in giving the Iqama for that salah impact the completion of the others’ prayers?

Answer

In the Name of Allah, the Most Merciful and Compassionate.

As long as the person in the state of ritual impurity did not lead the prayer, the other congregants’ prayer remains valid.  [Maydani, al-Lubab fi Sharh al-Kitab]

If the one in the impure state has called the Iqama, the Sacred law dictates that such an Iqama does not count and would be made up. Since the prayer was performed and the Iqama was not made up – the prayer is still valid, and nothing more than seeking forgiveness from Allah Most High is due upon the impure person.  [Ibid.]

Hope this helps
Allah knows best
[Shaykh] Yusuf Weltch
Checked and Approved by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani

Shaykh Yusuf Weltch teaches Arabic, Islamic law, and spirituality. After accepting Islam in 2008, he completed four years at the Darul Uloom Seminary in New York, where he studied Arabic and the traditional sciences.

He then traveled to Tarim, Yemen, where he studied for three years in Dar al-Mustafa under some of the most outstanding scholars of our time, including Habib Umar Bin Hafiz, Habib Kadhim al-Saqqaf, and Shaykh Umar al-Khatib.

In Tarim, Shaykh Yusuf completed the memorization of the Quran and studied beliefs, legal methodology, hadith methodology, Quranic exegesis, Islamic history, and several texts on spirituality. He joined the SeekersGuidance faculty in the summer of 2019.