Are My Past Fajr Prayers Valid if the Sun Rose While I Had Istihada?

Answered by Shaykh Irshaad Sedick

Question

I have istihada. Sometimes the sun rose while I was still praying Fajr, and I did not know whether my wudu remained valid or had to be renewed.

I assumed it was valid and prayed. Months later, I learned I was supposed to renew it. Are those prayers valid, and must I make them up though I do not know how many?

Answer

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

Your prayers are valid, and you do not need to make anything up.

The relied-upon position in the school does tie your purification to the prayer time, but given that this is a question about the past, that the door of ease is opened for people in such matters, and that you are afflicted with waswasa, you are well within your rights to follow the recognized position that the expiry of the time does not nullify your purification.

Going forward, simply apply the standard rule as best you can.

The Relied-Upon Position

As a woman with istihada, you are among those with a chronic state of minor impurity (daw’im al-hadath).

The relied-upon ruling in the Shafi’i school is that you renew your purification for each obligatory prayer after its time has entered, pray that one obligatory prayer with it, and may pray as many voluntary prayers as you wish thereafter. Imam Nawawi (Allah have mercy on him) states in “her purification is obligatorily performed after the time has entered, on the sound position.” [Nawawi, Rawdat al-Talibin]

On this view, the purification is bound to the prayer time, and so the soundest position is that the expiry of the time ends it.

This is the ruling you later learned, and it is correct. Apply it going forward.

Why You Have Relief for the Past

Three considerations together place you on firm ground regarding the prayers already performed.

First, this is a question about past actions. Acts of worship done in good faith are not questioned or undone.

Scholars usually choose the simplest valid opinion in these cases, rather than making things more complicated.

Second, the main opinion is not the only accepted one. Imam Nawawi (Allah have mercy on him) mentions in al-Majmu’ that the Shafi’i scholars have several views about a woman with istihada who delays past the prayer time.

Some, like Imam Qaffal and his teacher Khadari, say that the end of the prayer time does not break her purification, comparing it to dry ablution and noting that prayer times are flexible. [Nawawi, al-Majmu’]

The Maliki school also holds that istihada does not break purification. So, the view that your purification did not end when the sun rose is a valid and recognized opinion. [Mawsu‘a al-Fiqhiyya]

Third, you struggle with waswasa. This alone is enough reason to be lenient with you, even if others might not get the same allowance.

Sacred Law aims to make things easier for people in your situation, not to add more doubts or burdens.

Considering all of this, you can hold to the view that your purification was not broken and that your past prayers are valid. You do not need to count or repeat any prayers.

Allah (Most High) says: “Allah wills ease for you, and does not will hardship for you.” [Quran 2:185; The Quran Beheld]

Principle and Practical Guidance

As for the past, the issue is settled. Do not go back to it, do not try to count prayers you cannot remember, and do not let this worry come back. For the future, do your best to follow the standard rule: renew your purification after each prayer time begins, then pray.

If you start praying within the time, and the next time comes while you are still praying, do not let it bother you. Try to accept this as a mercy, and firmly ignore any doubts that tell you your worship is not enough.

And Allah (Most High) knows best.
[Shaykh] Irshaad Sedick
Checked and Approved by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani

Shaykh Irshaad Sedick was raised in South Africa in a traditional Muslim family. He graduated from Dar al-Ulum al-Arabiyyah al-Islamiyyah in Strand, Western Cape, under the guidance of the late world-renowned scholar Shaykh Taha Karaan (Allah have mercy on him), who taught there.

Shaykh Irshaad received Ijaza from many luminaries of the Islamic world, including Shaykh Taha Karaan, Shaykh Muhammad Awama, Shaykh Muhammad Hasan Hitu, and Mawlana Abdul Hafeez Makki, among others.

He is the author of the text “The Musnad of Ahmad ibn Hanbal: A Hujjah or not?” He has been the Director of the Discover Islam Centre, and for six years, he has been the Khatib of Masjid Ar-Rashideen, Mowbray, Cape Town.

Shaykh Irshaad has fifteen years of teaching experience at some of the leading Islamic institutes in Cape Town). He is currently building an Islamic podcast, education, and media platform called ‘Isnad Academy’ and has completed his Master’s degree in the study of Islam at the University of Johannesburg. He has a keen interest in healthy Prophetic living and fitness.