What Should I Do after Committing a Disliked Action in the Friday Prayer?
Answered by Ustad Sufyan Qufi
Question
Today, during the Friday prayer I was late. This is a bad habit I am working on breaking. My problem(s) was this: I did a probitively disliked action in the Friday prayer where I withheld gas in my stomach, I did not break prayer due to embarrassment and furthermore, this is something that usually occurs during prayers and sometimes even friday prayers (I believe it is to be due to certain foods or stress). Also due to being late I had to wear my backpack during the prayer which disturbed my focus due to the movement of its contents. What I did was afterwards pray 4 rakat sunna, repeat the 2 rakat jum’ah (with the intention: “2 rakat fard”) and then pray 4 rakat sunna after. Were my decisions wrong?
Answer
What you should have done was to pray alone in four cycles of Zuhr prayer. [Shurunbulali, Maraqi al-Falah]
It was indeed recommended (mustahab) for you to repeat the Friday prayer with found cycles because of the dislikedness attached to your performance behind the Imam. [ibid]
Thus, despite the exit of time, because you have not repeated this prayer properly, it still remains recommended for you to repeat this prayer. [ibid]
You won’t be sinful for failing to do so.
Praying while having the urge to relieve oneself
Please remember that it is only when fighting this urge prevents you from focusing in your prayer that the prayer becomes prohibitively disliked. At that time, it is necessary (wajib) to exit the prayer, relieve yourself, and repeat it. [Ibn Abidin, Radd al-Muhtar]
However, the mere need to relieve oneself while being able to focus is not problematic. [ibid]
Ustadh Sufyan Qufi is an advanced seeker of knowledge, originally from Algeria, who grew up in France. He began searching far and wide for answers to the fundamental questions of life and was disappointed at the answers he found.
Then, he connected with various traditional teachers and gradually connected with SeekersGuidance. He embarked on his journey of learning through the various teachers at SeekersGuidance, including his mentor, Shaykh Faraz Rabbani.
He studied numerous texts in Islamic Law, Theology, Hadith, and other areas with Shaykh Faraz Rabbani and other teachers, including Shaykh Abdurrahman al-Sha‘ar, Shaykh Ali Hani, and others.
He is an active instructor at SeekersGuidance and answers questions through the SeekersGuidance Answers Service.
