Answered by Ustadh Tabraze Azam
Question: Assalam alaykum
If someone breaks his wudu in a sunna or voluntary prayer is it obligatory to complete it?
Answer: Wa alaikum assalam wa rahmatullah,
Yes, it is necessary (wajib) to make up a voluntary prayer (nafila) which was started, then broken. The sunna prayer is deemed to be a specific form of the voluntary prayer.
This is because beginning an action makes it binding in view of the Words of Allah Most High, “Do not let your deeds go to waste.” [47.33]
If it is a confirmed sunna prayer, it would be proper to perform it right away within the time in which it is due. But if missed, you would still need to make it up later.
[Ibn `Abidin, Radd al-Muhtar `ala al-Durr al-Mukhtar (1.250)]
Please also see: The Fiqh of Voluntary (Nafl) Prayers
And Allah Most High alone knows best.
[Ustadh] Tabraze Azam
Checked and Approved by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani
Ustadh Tabraze Azam holds a BSc in Computer Science from the University of Leicester, where he also served as the President of the Islamic Society. He memorised the entire Qur’an in his hometown of Ipswich at the tender age of sixteen, and has since studied the Islamic Sciences in traditional settings in the UK, Jordan and Turkey. He is currently pursuing advanced studies in Jordan, where he is presently based with his family.