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Tahaarah Is a Basic Condition for the Validity of Prayer

Question

Is it a sin to pray a Salat without Wudu even though he takes Wudu for the other 4 prayers? Which one is a lesser evil: praying Salat on time without Wudu or praying Salat late with Wudu?

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 ( may  Allaah exalt his mention ) is His slave and Messenger.

Whoever performs the prayer knowing that he is not in the state of purity, no doubt such a person commits a great sin. So, he should make sincere repentance and should beg the Forgiveness of Allah.

Moreover, such a person should repeat all those prayers which he had performed without ablution. Tahaarah (ritual purity) is a basic condition for the validity of the prayer. Thus, a person must obtain the ritual purity and perform ablution for performing the prayer. Allah Says (what means): {And if you are in a state of janabah, then purify yourselves.} [Quran 5:6]
Moreover, the Prophet  sallallaahu  `alayhi  wa  sallam ( may  Allaah exalt his mention ) said: “Allah does not accept prayer without purification.” [Muslim]
In fact, the one who performs prayer without being in the state of purity is the same as the one who does not pray at all. Some scholars even believe that such a person becomes a disbeliever.

On the other hand, once a person performs ablution, he may perform as many prayers as he likes as long as the ablution is not nullified by one of its known nullifiers.

Allah knows best.

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