Can an excused person lead a prayer?

Dear Brother / Sister,

If a person is excused, he can lead prayers to excused people like him. However, such a person cannot lead prayers to those who are not excused. For, the state of the imam must not be inferior to the congregation. (Marghinani, al-Hidaya, I, 57)

However, according to Shafiis, those who are not excused can follow an imam who is excused. (Shirbini, Mughnil-Muhtaj, Beirut, 1418/1997, I, 3)

States that invalidate wudu and that occur continuously are called excuses. For instance, being unable to hold one’s urine, to break wind all the time, to have a nosebleed frequently, pus coming out of a wound continuously are excuses. A person who has such an excuse that invalidates wudu is called an excused person.

The state that invalidates wudu has to continue during a time period for a prayer for the person to be regarded as excused; that is, it must not stop for a short time that is enough to make wudu and perform a prayer. (This is the condition for the excuse to start.) The same thing has to occur at least once in a time period for a prayer after that. (This is the condition for the excuse to continue.)

We will explain it with an example: If the nose of a person starts to bleed at the beginning of the time period for the noon prayer and if it continues throughout the time period for the noon prayer, the condition for the start of the state of excuse occurs. If this bleeding occurs at least once in every time period for a prayer after that, such a person is regarded as "EXCUSED".

For, the state of excuse repeats in every time period for a prayer; thus the condition for the continuation of the excuse occurs. The state of excuse ends if it does not occur at all in a time period for a prayer. Such a person is not regarded as excused any longer. 

Our religion provides great ease for excused people. Their wudu is valid though the excuse that invalidates wudu continues. They perform prayers in that state. They do not have to clean the places that blood, pus, urine, etc. dirty again. For, those impurities occur again immediately after they are cleaned. 

For instance, if a person who has urinary leakage all the time, this leakage does not invalidate wudu and he does not have to wash the place dirtied by the urine. He performs his prayer despite the leakage. In return for the ease provided by our religion, the excused people have to be careful about the following issue:   

A person who is regarded as excused makes wudu for every time period for a prayer; he can perform as many nafilah and qada (missed) prayers with that wudu during that time period. He can also perform witr and janazah prayers. The wudu of an excused person is valid only for that time period for a prayer. When the time period for a prayer ends and the next one starts, his wudu is invalidated. He has to make wudu again for the new time period for a prayer.  

For instance, if an excused person makes wudu for the morning prayer in the time period for the morning prayer, this wudu is valid until the time period for the morning prayer ends. When it ends, that is, when the sun rises, his wudu is invalidated. He cannot perform any prayers with that wudu.   

An excused person cannot lead prayers in that case. He can lead prayers when his excuse ends.

Questions on Islam