Praise be to Allaah.
Firstly:
With regard to the prayers that you offered when you were not
aware of the ruling on this action, there is no sin on you for that, and you
do not have to make up the prayers that you offered when you were junub.
Islam excuses the one who is ignorant whether he omitted obligatory actions
or committed forbidden actions, so long as he did not fail to ask and try to
find out. But if he failed to ask and try to find out, then he is sinning
because of that shortcoming.
The scholars of the Standing Committee said:
It is not valid to pray without purifying oneself, for one
who is in a state of minor or major impurity, according to scholarly
consensus, because Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning):
“O you who believe!
When you intend to offer As-Salaah (the prayer), wash your faces and your
hands (forearms) up to the elbows, rub (by passing wet hands over) your
heads, and (wash) your feet up to the ankles”
[al-Maa'idah 5:6]
And the Prophet
(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “No prayer is accepted
without purification.” Narrated by Muslim, 224.
Fataawa al-Lajnah al-Daa’imah,
6/259.
Secondly:
If you knew the Islamic
ruling on praying when one is junub, and that it is not permissible for the
junub person to pray until he has done ghusl, then you have sinned by doing
that. You have to repent and seek forgiveness, regret what you have done and
resolve not to go back to it. You also have to make up the prayers that you
offered in that state.
The Scholars of the Standing Committee were asked:
I am a woman who has been married for seventeen years. At the
beginning of my marriage I was unaware of some if not all of the rulings on
ghusl following janaabah, because I was unaware of the causes of janaabah.
My husband was similarly unaware. This ignorance made us think that only the
husband becomes junub. I got married approximately two months before
Ramadaan. At the end of Ramadaan in the same year, I came to know the
ruling. What do I have to do with regard to the prayers that I offered
during that period? Please note that I took showers with the intention of
making myself clean, not with the intention of purifying myself, and I did
not always do that, i.e., I did not take a shower every time I had
intercourse. Please also note that I always do wudoo’ for every prayer. All
this is the result of ignorance on my part, of course, as I stated. And what
about my fasting during the blessed month of Ramadaan?
They replied:
You have to make up the
prayers that you offered without having done ghusl from janaabah, because of
your carelessness and not trying to learn about your religion. As well as
making up the prayers, you also have to repent to Allaah for that. With
regard to the fasts, they are valid so long as no intercourse took place
during the day.
Fataawa al-Lajnah al-Daa’imah,
6/269.
Thirdly:
Those who prayed behind you do not have to repeat their
prayers, because their prayers are valid, and have nothing to do with the
validity of the prayer of their imam who prayed whilst junub without their
knowledge.
The scholars of the Standing Committee were asked:
A few days ago when I wanted to do wudoo’ for Maghrib prayer,
I noticed some maniy (semen) on my lower garment, so I did ghusl and prayed
Maghrib, but I do not know when that wet dream occurred – was it before Fajr
prayer or during the mid-day nap? The point here that I want to find out is:
I think that I prayed three obligatory prayers – Fajr, Zuhr and ‘Asr – in a
state of janaabah without realizing. In fact I offered these three prayers
as an imam, leading a group of other worshippers who numbered some three
hundred. What should I do? Should I make up these three prayers? And what is
the ruling on the prayer of those who prayed behind me? Is there any sin in
what I did? Please advise us, may Allaah reward you with good.
They replied:
You have to repeat your
Zuhr and ‘Asr prayers after doing ghusl from janaabah, and you have to do
this soon. With regard to those who offered these prayers behind you, they
do not have to repeat them. ‘Umar (may Allaah be pleased with him) led the
people in praying Fajr when he was junub but had forgot, so he repeated Fajr
but he did not tell those who had prayed behind him to repeat it. They were
excused because they did not know that he was in an impure state. But you do
not have to repeat Fajr, because the maniy may have appeared during your
sleep at midday, and the basic principle is that a duty has been discharged
and does not need to be repeated unless there is evidence to that effect.
Fataawa al-Lajnah al-Daa’imah,
6/266.
And Allaah knows best.