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The question

What should someone with incontinence do if they perform ablution for each prayer, and the time for it expires during their prayer, and there isn't enough time left to complete it?

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Source: FtawySummarized from the full answer at Ftawy · reviewed Sep 2, 20261 min readAlso available in العربية
The answer

Scholars differ regarding the ablution (wudu') of a person afflicted with سلس ( سلس البول - urinary incontinence, or سلس الريح - continuous flatulence, or سلس المذي - continuous pre-seminal fluid discharge). Some scholars are of the opinion that their ablution does not become invalid if the سلس is continuous for most of the time. Others believe that it becomes invalid upon the entry of the time for the next prayer. Still others say that it becomes invalid upon the expiration of the time for the prayer for which they performed ablution. Based on this, a person whose prayer time expired during the third rak'ah can follow the opinion of those who do not consider the ablution invalid except upon the entry of the time for the next prayer, or those who do not consider it invalid at all if the سلس is continuous, because it is not permissible to interrupt an obligatory prayer after commencing it without a valid reason. After completing the prayer, it is preferable to repeat it as a precaution, if there is no hardship in doing so. As for limiting oneself to the pillars and omitting the sunnah acts to catch the prayer time, many scholars have permitted this.

Summarized from the full answer at Ftawy · reviewed Sep 2, 2026

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