Praying salah without wudu

Salah will not be accepted without cleanliness so what should one do if they were stuck in a plane with no way of doing wudhu or tayammum? This issue is known as faqid al-tahurayn.

By A. Rahman
14 Rabi II 1437 | 25 January 2016

The prophet of Allah (peace be upon him) said, لاَ تُقْبَلُ صَلاَةٌ بِغَيْرِ طُهُورٍ (trans. salah will not be accepted without cleanliness). This was reported in Tirmidhi and Muslim. The sanad is Sahih. The scholars are unanimous that salah is not permitted without cleanliness and consider a severe sin if one prays without wudhu or tayammum.

So here is the conundrum. What is the ruling if salah time comes and one has no water or soil available with which they may gain cleanliness through wudhu or tayammum respectively?

The schools are differed on this matter. This case is called faqid tahurayn (a person who has no access to water or soil).

قضاء اداء امام
لا لا مالك
نعم نعم شافعي
لا نعم احمد
نعم لا أبو حنيفة

Imam Malik (may Allah Almighty have mercy upon him): Both ada and qadha are not wajib as the person is ‘ajiz (incapacitated). So salahis dropped similar to how it is dropped for a woman on her haydh.

Imam Shafi’i (may Allah Almighty have mercy upon him): The person should read salah even though he is not tahir (clean), but they will have to do qadha when they have sufficient water. This is also one of the views of Imam Ahmed bin Hanbal.

Imam Ahmed bin Hanbal (may Allah Almighty have mercy upon him): Ada is wajib even though the person is not tahir. They do not need to do qadha later.

Imam Abu Hanifa (may Allah Almighty have mercy upon him): Ada is not wajib, but the person must do qadha later when water is available. Imam Abu Yusuf (may Allah Almighty have mercy upon him) asserts that if possible the person should imitate those praying salah  (do the actions but not read anything) and then do qadha later. This is generally the preferred view amongst the ahnaf.

Note! Here ada means to read on time and qada means to read after the allotted time for salah has expired.

—–

14 Rabi II 1437
25 January 2016

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