Ruling when pure garments cannot be told apart from impure ones

F39Chapter of the Conditions of Prayer

Ruling when pure garments cannot be told apart from impure ones

When pure garments cannot be told apart from impure ones, how is one to pray?

Hanafi

One weighs the signs among the indistinguishable garments and prays in the one he judges most likely to be pure.

Reference: Al-Hidāyah — Radd al-Muḥtār — Marāqī al-Falāḥ

Maliki

If the pure garment cannot be told apart, he prays a number of prayers equal to the number of impure garments and adds one more, so as to be certain he has prayed in a pure garment.

Reference: Al-Sharḥ al-Kabīr — Ḥāshiyat al-Dasūqī — Minaḥ al-Jalīl

Shāfiʿī

One weighs the signs among the garments and prays in the one he judges most likely to be pure; he need neither wash them nor repeat the prayer.

Reference: Minhāj al-Ṭālibīn — Al-Majmūʿ — Mughnī al-Muḥtāj

Hanbali

One prays once in each garment until a prayer in a pure garment is certain, and does not weigh the signs between them when he has no others.

Reference: Zād al-Mustaqniʿ — Kashshāf al-Qināʿ — Al-Inṣāf