An elderly, ill woman whose mind is sometimes absent, who cannot stand to pray but only nods her head, and who constantly has impurity on her clothing: is it obligatory?
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The Shaykh: Yes.
The questioner: Peace be upon you.
The Shaykh: And upon you peace.
The questioner: How are you, Shaykh?
The Shaykh : Praise be to Allah, I am well.
The questioner : Is your health good?
The Shaykh : Praise be to Allah, I am in great good health.
The questioner : We praise Allah.
The Shaykh : Praise be to Allah.
The questioner : Our Shaykh, we want to ask you a question if you wish to give us a ruling.
The Shaykh : Please go ahead. If I have knowledge, I will give you a ruling based on it.
The questioner : May Allah reward you with good.
The Shaykh : And beware of that.
The questioner : I have a relative who is very old, over ninety-five or ninety-seven years old.
The Shaykh : What Allah willed!
The questioner : She is very ill; I believe she is currently on her deathbed.
The Shaykh : Yes.
The questioner : When the times for prayer come, she does not move; she can only nod her head, but her mind is sometimes absent. She cannot perform ablution, and she does not know when urine or feces come out on her clothes. Her children cannot wash her at every moment. I do not know what the ruling is here. They perform ablution for her themselves, then place her hand on her chest, and sometimes she is absent and does not realize she is in prayer?
The Shaykh : If she is absent, she may regain consciousness.
The questioner : She becomes absent and then regains consciousness.
The Shaykh : That is it.
The questioner : But she does not realize, for example, when they perform ablution for her and place her hand on her chest.
The Shaykh : My brother, may Allah reward you, do not repeat your words to me. I want to address you regarding her state of consciousness, not her unconsciousness. Does her state of consciousness not allow for a prayer of four rak'ahs, for example?
The questioner : No, it may allow for it.
The Shaykh : That is the intended meaning.
The questioner : Okay, what about the ablution? She does not move.
The Shaykh : No problem, one thing at a time. As they say in some countries, you have mixed up Sha'ban with Ramadan, so we need to distinguish now. Leave the issue of unconsciousness aside. We command her to pray during her times of wakefulness and awareness of herself. That is one thing. The other is: if she cannot perform ablution, can she perform dry ablution (tayammum)?
The questioner : Tayammum, yes, she can manage it.
The Shaykh : Yes, and even without going too far, in her state of consciousness.
The questioner: Yes.
The Shaykh : So she performs tayammum.
The questioner : She can, yes.
The Shaykh : She performs tayammum and prays during her times of wakefulness and awareness of herself.
The questioner : Okay, Shaykh, what about the fact that you know when impurity comes on her clothes, they cannot change them at every moment.
The Shaykh : Why cannot they?
The questioner : Because it is only her daughter, and she cannot lift her and undress her at every... she has frequent bowel movements and urinates frequently.
The Shaykh : No problem, no problem, my brother. It is five prayers, it is five prayers. For example, in the Fajr prayer, can this daughter not change her clothes?
The questioner : By Allah, she may be able to, yes.
The Shaykh : This is a problem. She may be able to, and perhaps she can. So I say she may be able to and she may not. The important thing is that the legal ruling in all rulings is tied to and dependent on ability. If ability exists, the ruling exists. So as long as this daughter is able to change her clothes, it is obligatory for the daughter to change them for her. But if we assume she is not able, we will say, "Allah does not burden a soul beyond that it can bear," meaning the elderly woman prays as she is.
The questioner : Meaning the prayer is not dropped from her?
The Shaykh : Absolutely, the prayer is not dropped from her.
The questioner : May Allah reward you with good, our Shaykh.
The Shaykh : And beware of that.
The questioner: Peace be upon you.
The Shaykh: And upon you peace.
The questioner: How are you, Shaykh?
The Shaykh : Praise be to Allah, I am well.
The questioner : Is your health good?
The Shaykh : Praise be to Allah, I am in great good health.
The questioner : We praise Allah.
The Shaykh : Praise be to Allah.
The questioner : Our Shaykh, we want to ask you a question if you wish to give us a ruling.
The Shaykh : Please go ahead. If I have knowledge, I will give you a ruling based on it.
The questioner : May Allah reward you with good.
The Shaykh : And beware of that.
The questioner : I have a relative who is very old, over ninety-five or ninety-seven years old.
The Shaykh : What Allah willed!
The questioner : She is very ill; I believe she is currently on her deathbed.
The Shaykh : Yes.
The questioner : When the times for prayer come, she does not move; she can only nod her head, but her mind is sometimes absent. She cannot perform ablution, and she does not know when urine or feces come out on her clothes. Her children cannot wash her at every moment. I do not know what the ruling is here. They perform ablution for her themselves, then place her hand on her chest, and sometimes she is absent and does not realize she is in prayer?
The Shaykh : If she is absent, she may regain consciousness.
The questioner : She becomes absent and then regains consciousness.
The Shaykh : That is it.
The questioner : But she does not realize, for example, when they perform ablution for her and place her hand on her chest.
The Shaykh : My brother, may Allah reward you, do not repeat your words to me. I want to address you regarding her state of consciousness, not her unconsciousness. Does her state of consciousness not allow for a prayer of four rak'ahs, for example?
The questioner : No, it may allow for it.
The Shaykh : That is the intended meaning.
The questioner : Okay, what about the ablution? She does not move.
The Shaykh : No problem, one thing at a time. As they say in some countries, you have mixed up Sha'ban with Ramadan, so we need to distinguish now. Leave the issue of unconsciousness aside. We command her to pray during her times of wakefulness and awareness of herself. That is one thing. The other is: if she cannot perform ablution, can she perform dry ablution (tayammum)?
The questioner : Tayammum, yes, she can manage it.
The Shaykh : Yes, and even without going too far, in her state of consciousness.
The questioner: Yes.
The Shaykh : So she performs tayammum.
The questioner : She can, yes.
The Shaykh : She performs tayammum and prays during her times of wakefulness and awareness of herself.
The questioner : Okay, Shaykh, what about the fact that you know when impurity comes on her clothes, they cannot change them at every moment.
The Shaykh : Why cannot they?
The questioner : Because it is only her daughter, and she cannot lift her and undress her at every... she has frequent bowel movements and urinates frequently.
The Shaykh : No problem, no problem, my brother. It is five prayers, it is five prayers. For example, in the Fajr prayer, can this daughter not change her clothes?
The questioner : By Allah, she may be able to, yes.
The Shaykh : This is a problem. She may be able to, and perhaps she can. So I say she may be able to and she may not. The important thing is that the legal ruling in all rulings is tied to and dependent on ability. If ability exists, the ruling exists. So as long as this daughter is able to change her clothes, it is obligatory for the daughter to change them for her. But if we assume she is not able, we will say, "Allah does not burden a soul beyond that it can bear," meaning the elderly woman prays as she is.
The questioner : Meaning the prayer is not dropped from her?
The Shaykh : Absolutely, the prayer is not dropped from her.
The questioner : May Allah reward you with good, our Shaykh.
The Shaykh : And beware of that.
Source
www.al-albany.com
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.