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Fatwa CenterRulings Related to Prayer in a State of Janabah
Question
Assalamualaikum. I had a wet dream and woke up in a state of janab and it was time for fajr prayer, the weather was cold and the water was also cold and I had no means of heating the water so I performed ablution(not tayammum) and prayed. Is my prayer valid? And was it the right thing to do?
Answer
All perfect praise be to Allah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allah, and that Muhammad, sallallaahu 'alayhi wa sallam, is His slave and Messenger.
The correct approach when a Muslim is unaware of a religious ruling is what Allah the Almighty says in His Book: {So ask the people of knowledge if you do not know} [Quran 21:7]
The obligation for someone who cannot perform Ghusl for Janabah (major ritual impurity) is to resort to Tayammum (dry ablution). Allah the Almighty says: {O you who have believed, do not approach prayer while you are intoxicated until you know what you are saying and not in a state of janabah, except those passing through [the mosque], until you have washed. And if you are ill or on a journey, or one of you comes from the privy or you have touched women, and you do not find water, then seek clean earth and wipe over your faces and hands. Indeed, Allah is ever Pardoning and Forgiving.} [Quran 4:43]. So Allah has made Tayammum the substitute for Ghusl in the case of Janabah. If you are truly unable to perform Ghusl and it is not due to negligence, then you should resort to Tayammum.
As for what you have done by substituting Wudu (ablution) for the Ghusl of Janabah, it does not suffice as a replacement. As stated in the Mukhtasar Fiqhi by Ibn ‘Arafah al-Maliki, Ibn Abi Dulaym 
said: “No jurist from among the jurists in the Muslim provinces has said that – i.e. that Wudu suffices in this case - except for some of the Hadith scholars.” [End quote]
Allah knows best.
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