How do sick people who are unable to perform wudu or tayammum pray?

The questioner : The questioner says: I prayed in the hospital for several days, and I saw that the patients, especially those who are bedridden, do not perform the prayers. This is because they are unable to perform wudu. Some are not even able to perform tayammum. Is their prayer valid without wudu or tayammum? And if tayammum is obligatory in this case, why is it not made available in hospitals?

The Shaykh : We say that the sick people must perform the prayer to the extent of their ability, based on the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) to 'Imran ibn Husayn . They must pray with wudu if they are able to do so. If they are not able, they pray with tayammum. If they are not even able to perform tayammum, they pray even without tayammum, based on the general meaning of the saying of Allah the Exalted . It is also obligatory for them to pray in the order we mentioned: standing, then sitting, then on their side. The prayer is performed with intention. If they are unable to signal with their heads, they signal with their eyes, according to some scholars. If they are unable to do that either, they pray with their hearts: they say takbir and recite, they say takbir for ruku' and intend it in their hearts, and they rise from ruku' by intention. And so it is with the rest of the actions; they intend them in their hearts, because this is their ability. Allah the Exalted said . It is the same whether they pray in pure clothes or in impure clothes that they cannot wash or remove. If the patient has impure clothes, or the bedsheet under him is impure, and he is unable to purify it or remove it, he prays according to his condition. I have heard that some patients, when their clothes are impure, say, "I will not pray until I am cured of the illness and purify my clothes." This is forbidden for them. Rather, it is obligatory for them to pray in these clothes, and there is no need to repeat the prayer afterwards, because this prayer is the obligatory prayer required of them by the saying of Allah the Exalted . As for the statement of some scholars that one who is unable to pray in pure clothes and prays in impure clothes must pray and then repeat it, this is a weak opinion without doubt. For Allah does not obligate His servants two acts of worship, but rather the act of worship is once, unless it is repeated by a vow or something similar. Based on this, we say that if one prays in impure clothes, or on an impure bedsheet that he cannot get rid of, his prayer is valid, and there is no need to repeat it.