The ruling on making up fasting and prayer for one who suffered a stroke and lost consciousness

The questioner : The questioner says: Honorable Shaykh, my mother suffered a stroke, and she is now in the hospital, feeling nothing, having lost consciousness. What is obligatory for her regarding fasting?

The Shaykh : It is obligatory that if she regains consciousness, she must make up the fast if she is able to do so. If she is unable to do so due to an incapacity that is not expected to end, she must feed one poor person for every day. As for the prayer, if she regains consciousness, she does not make up what was missed, because she is not of sound mind, nor is she insane; the mind is present but covered, so it is not obligatory for her to make up the prayer. This is the stronger position. Some scholars said that she must make up the prayer, but the stronger position is that making it up is not obligatory, because this unconsciousness was not by her choice. When we say that the unconsciousness was not by her choice, we mean that if the unconsciousness were by the person's choice, such as if he were anesthetized and remained under anesthesia for the duration of two or three prayers, then he must make them up, because this unconsciousness was by his choice. Yes.