How Does a Bedridden Sick Person Perform the Prayer Who Cannot Sense Whether He Urinated or Defecated?
Hanafi Fiqh
Answered by Mawlana Ilyas Patel
Question
After a stroke, a person cannot move his right hand and right leg. Also, he cannot speak properly. He is bedridden. He has a catheter attached to his penis/bladder for urine. He is wearing diapers for solid waste. He cannot sense whether he urinated or pooped.
Does he need to pray, or should he wait until he can sense excretion from the front and back passage? The doctor said toilet sensation could take another two months (or more). If he is required to pray under this condition, what is the ruling on wudu /tayammum? Also, should someone clean his front & back private parts before wudu/tayammum?
He could be excreting while praying or making wudu/tayammum, as he doesn’t have a toilet sensation. He cannot clean himself.
Answer
In the Name of Allah, the Most Merciful and Compassionate
I pray you are in good faith and health. Allah Most High, give him a speedy recovery and return to normality full of contentment and make his test a means for the continuous raising of status with Allah Most High and closeness to Him, Amin.
Prayer
There is a principle that a person is only considered able if by their ability. If he cannot do wudu or tayammum unassisted, stand or sit down and pray, neither on his both sides, then if he is able and intends to pray, then he can do so without the wudu and tayammum in this state in whichever direction his bed is facing. He will use his head for standing, then slightly lower it for bowing (ruku’) and more for prostration (sajda). There is no need to clean his private parts before the prayer as it will be challenging to do so. [Ibn ‘Abidin, Radd al-Muhtar]
The mercy of Allah Most High
Allah Most High says in the Quran, “Allah does not tax any soul but what it can bear.” [Quran, 2.286] Allah does not make a person responsible for more than one can. This only demonstrates Allah’s kindness, compassion, and generosity towards His creation. [Ibn Kathir, Tafsir Ibn Kathir]
Advice
I want to advise you, whenever possible have someone assist the person. Put a recitation of the Quran, talk, or various remembrances near him, so he can keep himself engaged mentally and allowed and facilitated to continue the worship of Allah (Most High) in other ways possible.
I want you to watch the video (8 min) linked in the answer below.
Check these links:
The sunna way of praying when injured or unable to stand (video)
Praying Rulings for The Sick, Injured, and Hospitalized – SeekersGuidance
Why not begin your search for knowledge by signing up for a course on
SeekersAcademy (seekersguidance.org)
May Allah Most High give him ease and relief from the illness.
I pray this helps with your question.
[Mawlana] Ilyas Patel
Checked and Approved by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani
Mawlana Ilyas Patel is a traditionally-trained scholar who has studied within UK, India, Pakistan, Syria, Jordan and Turkey.
He started his early education in UK. He went onto complete hifz of Qur’an in India, then enrolled into an Islamic seminary in UK where he studied the secular and Alimiyyah sciences. He then travelled to Karachi, Pakistan.
He has been an Imam in Rep of Ireland for a number of years. He has taught hifz of the Qur’an, Tajwid, Fiqh and many other Islamic sciences to both children and adults onsite and online extensively in UK and Ireland. He was teaching at a local Islamic seminary for 12 years in the UK where he was a librarian and a teacher of Islamic sciences.
He currently resides in UK with his wife. His personal interest is love of books and gardening.
