Foregoing Salaah due to illness
Q: My father is 92 years old and suffered a stroke about a year ago. The stroke left him weak on one side, he is now not able to control his urine and hence he messes himself. So he now wears diapers. My father had been living with my sister and brother in-law until last month. He now lives with me in Cape Town. I have just learnt that my father hasn’t performed any Salaah for the past year. He says he can’t perform any Salaah because he is always in the state of impurity because he messes himself and he has to wear a diaper. What is the Islamic ruling in regard to this matter?
A: On account of this illness he should not omit his Salaah. Even in this condition he is not excused from performing Salaah. It is mentioned in the Hadith that if one is unable to perform the Salaah standing, then he should sit and perform the Salaah and if he is unable to sit and perform the Salaah, then he should perform the Salaah while lying down. Hence, he should commence performing Salaah and also make qadha of all the missed Salaahs. If he is a ma'zoor, then he will make wudhu at the beginning of the Salaah time and he will be able to perform Salaah with that wudhu. The coming out of urine will not break his wudhu. For further details regarding the laws of a maz'oor, refer to http://muftionline.co.za/node/1571
And Allah Ta'ala (الله تعالى) knows best.
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