Are Previous Prayers Affected by Errors Made Prior to Learning and Correcting?
Answered by Ustadh Sufyan Qufi
Question
If someone made an error in Salah unknowingly but corrected it upon learning, are their previous prayers affected?
Answer
In the name of Allah, the Most Compassionate, Most Merciful,
I pray this finds you in the best of states.
It depends on the nature of the mistake. If it is a mistake that invalidates the prayer according to the four schools of Islamic law, then there is no doubt that all the previous prayers containing this mistake will be invalid.
Indeed, ignorance of Islamic law for a believer is, in many cases, not an excuse. [Mulla Jivan, Nur al-Anwar]
The Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him and give him peace) has said: “Seeking knowledge is an obligation on every believer.” [Ibn Maja]
If you are following the Hanafi School for example, and your mistake invalidates the prayer in the Hanafi School but not in another school, then there is leeway in not repeating those prayers. The same will go if there is a weaker position in the Hanafi School that deems your past prayers valid. [Ibn ‘Abidin, Sharh ‘Uqud Rasm al-Mufti]
Thus you will need to inform a reliable scholar of your exact mistake so that he will be able to give an informed judgment. [ibid]
And Allah knows best.
Wassalam
[Ustadh] Sufyan Qufi
Checked and Approved by Shaykh Abdul-Rahim Reasat
Ustadh Sufyan Qufi is an advanced seeker of knowledge, originally from Algeria, who grew up in France. He began searching far and wide for answers to the fundamental questions of life and was disappointed at the answers he found. Then he connected with various traditional teachers and gradually connected with SeekersGuidance. He embarked on his journey of learning through the various teachers at SeekersGuidance, including his mentor Shaykh Faraz Rabbani. He studied numerous texts in Islamic Law, Theology, Hadith, and other areas with Shaykh Faraz Rabbani and other teachers, including Shaykh Abdurrahman al-Sha‘ar, Shaykh Ali Hani, and others. He is an active instructor at SeekersGuidance and answers questions through the SeekersGuidance Answers Service.
