Was My Fajr Prayer Valid if I Finished Praying During Sunrise?

Answered by Ustadha Shazia Ahmad

Question

In the morning after praying, I saw that I had brown discharge after menses. I went and cleaned myself and performed wudu again but a couple of seconds of the prayer were after sunrise.

Was that prayer valid? I read somewhere that when you have consistent discharge you perform wudu and it is valid until the end of prayer time, or does it mean I prayed without wudu?

Answer

Thank you for your question. May Allah reward you for asking and for sincerely wanting to do the right thing.

Menses

If you saw brown discharge after your menses was over, and your menses was less than 15 days, your menses was not over. You would have to ascertain that your discharge became clear or white, then take a ritual bath (ghusl) and then pray. Feel free to write back and let us know how long your last period was and when the brown discharge appeared.

Sunrise

As for the prayer, if a few seconds of a person’s prayer coincides with sunrise, the prayer remains valid and is not considered a make-up prayer. Please see the ruling here:

“If less than one rak’a of one’s prayer occurs within the proper time (A: meaning that one does not lift one’s head from the second prostration of the rak’a before the time ends) and the remainder takes place after it, then the whole prayer is considered a makeup. If one rak’a or more takes place within the prayer’s time and the remainder is after it, then the prayer is considered a current performance, though it is unlawful to intentionally delay the prayer until part of it occurs after the time is finished.“ [The Reliance of the Traveller, f2.3]

May Allah give you the best of this world and the next.
[Ustadha] Shazia Ahmad
Checked and Approved by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani

Ustadha Shazia Ahmad lived in Damascus, Syria for two years where she studied aqidah, fiqh, tajweed, tafsir, and Arabic. She then attended the University of Texas at Austin, where she completed her Masters in Arabic. Afterward, she moved to Amman, Jordan where she studied fiqh, Arabic, and other sciences. She later moved back to Mississauga, Canada, where she lives with her family.