The ruling on one whom the doctor has decided should refrain from bathing for several months
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Question:
From the lands of Banu al-Harith, from the village of al-Shabashibah, this message reached us from the sender (N. A. H.), in which he says: I inform your eminence that I have been afflicted with an illness and underwent a surgical operation in the hospital. Upon my discharge from the hospital, the specialist doctor informed me that I must not bathe with water for a period of five months, including the coming blessed month of Ramadan.
I ask you to inform me: should I remain with what the doctor said—five months—or should I perform the full ritual bath, pray, and fast in Ramadan? And what is the ruling regarding the obligatory acts I have left off?
Answer:
It appears that you have an excuse in this matter regarding not bathing. You should perform dry ablution for major ritual impurity. However, as a precaution, you should consult other doctors who are specialists in this illness, for the sake of verification and to ask a second doctor. This is especially so with Muslim doctors who are trustworthy. If you take precaution by asking a second or third doctor, that is good.
As for if the one who informed you is the specialist doctor, and he is the one who handled the treatment, and you are reassured by his information, and nothing appears from him indicating that he is lax regarding Islam, or that he dislikes the rulings of Islam, then praise be to Allah. This is among the matters of medicine, and there is a fear of danger if you were to contradict it. So there is no harm in you acting according to his statement, and not performing the full ritual bath until the period has passed, as a precaution for your health and safety.
However, as a precaution and for the sake of verification, you should ask another doctor or two doctors if that is possible, as a measure of caution.
From the lands of Banu al-Harith, from the village of al-Shabashibah, this message reached us from the sender (N. A. H.), in which he says: I inform your eminence that I have been afflicted with an illness and underwent a surgical operation in the hospital. Upon my discharge from the hospital, the specialist doctor informed me that I must not bathe with water for a period of five months, including the coming blessed month of Ramadan.
I ask you to inform me: should I remain with what the doctor said—five months—or should I perform the full ritual bath, pray, and fast in Ramadan? And what is the ruling regarding the obligatory acts I have left off?
Answer:
It appears that you have an excuse in this matter regarding not bathing. You should perform dry ablution for major ritual impurity. However, as a precaution, you should consult other doctors who are specialists in this illness, for the sake of verification and to ask a second doctor. This is especially so with Muslim doctors who are trustworthy. If you take precaution by asking a second or third doctor, that is good.
As for if the one who informed you is the specialist doctor, and he is the one who handled the treatment, and you are reassured by his information, and nothing appears from him indicating that he is lax regarding Islam, or that he dislikes the rulings of Islam, then praise be to Allah. This is among the matters of medicine, and there is a fear of danger if you were to contradict it. So there is no harm in you acting according to his statement, and not performing the full ritual bath until the period has passed, as a precaution for your health and safety.
However, as a precaution and for the sake of verification, you should ask another doctor or two doctors if that is possible, as a measure of caution.
Source
binbaz.org.sa
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.