Question Summary
I prayed six prescribed prayers with the same clothes and then realized I had a tear in my pants. Should I repeat all the prayers even though I was unaware?
Question Answer
In the Name of Allah, the Most Merciful and Compassionate
May Allah guide us to what pleases Him.
Clothing one’s nakedness is a necessary condition for the validity of the prayer (when one is able). Seeing a hole in one’s clothes after a prayer is like seeing a spot of filth, meaning the prayer must be repeated. [Misri, ʿUmda Al-Salik]
Based on the above, all the prayers you completed in the torn garment should be repeated unless this is too difficult.
You may, in that case, follow the subdominant view that Imam Al-Nawawi preferred in Al-Majmuʿ Sharh Al-Muhadhdhab, which opines that no repetition is required, and Allah knows best. [Ba’Ishn, Bushra Al-Karim]
I pray that this benefits and that Allah guides us all.
[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.
Shaykh Irshaad received Ijaza from many luminaries of the Islamic world, including Shaykh Taha Karaan, Mawlana Yusuf Karaan, 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 served as the Director of the Discover Islam Centre and Al Jeem Foundation. For the last five years till present, he has served as the Khatib of Masjid Ar-Rashideen, Mowbray, Cape Town.
Shaykh Irshaad has thirteen years of teaching experience at some of the leading Islamic institutes in Cape Town). He is currently building an Islamic online learning and media platform called ‘Isnad Academy’ and pursuing his Master’s degree in the study of Islam at the University of Johannesburg. He has a keen interest in healthy living and fitness.