Making up the prayer for the insane and the unconscious
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The questioner:
Your Eminence the Shaykh! Also, regarding the insane person who regains his sanity at times, is he required to make up the prayers he missed while he was insane?
The Shaykh:
No, in the state of insanity, no, he is not required to pray while in that state. If he is sane one day and not sane another, he is required to perform the acts of worship on the days he is sane, including prayer and other obligations, and he is not required to do anything on the days when his mind is gone.
The questioner:
As for the unconscious person, is he to be treated like the insane person in that he is not held accountable for the obligatory acts?
The Shaykh:
The matter regarding the unconscious person requires a detailed explanation. Some scholars hold that he is like the insane person in all cases, meaning that if the time for prayer passes while he is unconscious, he owes nothing. Other scholars hold that he must make up the entire day; if he regains consciousness after a full day has passed, he must make up the prayers. It is also narrated from 'Amir and some of the Companions that if he is unconscious for three days or less, he must make up the prayers, but if it is more than that, he does not make them up. This is a close opinion. Yes. Because a person may be unconscious for a day, two days, or three days, which resembles sleep. So, when he regains consciousness, he makes up what he missed on that day, or the two days, or the three days. However, if it is more than that, he does not make them up, because at that point it is no longer similar to sleep; it becomes more like the state of the insane and the loss of reason.
The presenter:
May Allah reward you, Shaykh,
Your Eminence the Shaykh! Also, regarding the insane person who regains his sanity at times, is he required to make up the prayers he missed while he was insane?
The Shaykh:
No, in the state of insanity, no, he is not required to pray while in that state. If he is sane one day and not sane another, he is required to perform the acts of worship on the days he is sane, including prayer and other obligations, and he is not required to do anything on the days when his mind is gone.
The questioner:
As for the unconscious person, is he to be treated like the insane person in that he is not held accountable for the obligatory acts?
The Shaykh:
The matter regarding the unconscious person requires a detailed explanation. Some scholars hold that he is like the insane person in all cases, meaning that if the time for prayer passes while he is unconscious, he owes nothing. Other scholars hold that he must make up the entire day; if he regains consciousness after a full day has passed, he must make up the prayers. It is also narrated from 'Amir and some of the Companions that if he is unconscious for three days or less, he must make up the prayers, but if it is more than that, he does not make them up. This is a close opinion. Yes. Because a person may be unconscious for a day, two days, or three days, which resembles sleep. So, when he regains consciousness, he makes up what he missed on that day, or the two days, or the three days. However, if it is more than that, he does not make them up, because at that point it is no longer similar to sleep; it becomes more like the state of the insane and the loss of reason.
The presenter:
May Allah reward you, Shaykh,
Source
شرح كتاب المنتقى من أخبار المصطفى صلى الله عليه وسلم [ برنامج إذاعي ]، بداية من أسئلة في باب حجة من لم يكفر تارك الصلاة — islamhouse.com (11:34)
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.