Prayer According to One's Ability
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
Fatwa No. ( 19757 )
Q: We have an elderly woman who is about sixty years old or more. She has suffered from a head ailment for about six years, which has caused a defect in her mind. The treating doctor has stated that, with the will of Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He), she cannot return to her normal state of complete sanity, as her mind sometimes leaves and sometimes returns. For instance, you may enter her room and she recognizes you, then forgets you, saying, "I have not seen so-and-so for a week," while you are sitting right in front of her. She also sees the jinn and says they go to the sea. In addition, she has no control over her bowel or bladder movements, cannot eat by herself, and cannot walk alone. The question is: Is she required to perform prayer, fasting, and other rulings? May Allah reward you with good.
A: If the reality of the woman's condition is as described, and she understands what is said to her, then she is ordered to pray when the time enters, and she prays according to her condition, even by performing tayammum (dry ablution with clean earth) if she is unable to use water. She is also ordered to fast in the month of Ramadan, and she fasts according to her condition; for Allah the Exalted said:[Al-Baqarah 2:286] . If she does not know the time of prayer and fasting, and does not understand what is said to her, then she owes no fasting and no prayer. And success is from Allah, and may Allah send prayers and blessings upon our Prophet Muhammad, his family, and his Companions.
Q: We have an elderly woman who is about sixty years old or more. She has suffered from a head ailment for about six years, which has caused a defect in her mind. The treating doctor has stated that, with the will of Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He), she cannot return to her normal state of complete sanity, as her mind sometimes leaves and sometimes returns. For instance, you may enter her room and she recognizes you, then forgets you, saying, "I have not seen so-and-so for a week," while you are sitting right in front of her. She also sees the jinn and says they go to the sea. In addition, she has no control over her bowel or bladder movements, cannot eat by herself, and cannot walk alone. The question is: Is she required to perform prayer, fasting, and other rulings? May Allah reward you with good.
A: If the reality of the woman's condition is as described, and she understands what is said to her, then she is ordered to pray when the time enters, and she prays according to her condition, even by performing tayammum (dry ablution with clean earth) if she is unable to use water. She is also ordered to fast in the month of Ramadan, and she fasts according to her condition; for Allah the Exalted said:
Allah does not charge a soul except [with that within] its capacity
لاَ يُكَلِّفُ اللَّهُ نَفْسًا إِلا وُسْعَهَا
Source
www.alifta.gov.sa
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.