What Should I Do regarding Sujud after Undergoing Laser Eye Surgery If It Causes Flashes of Light?

Answered by Shaykh Abdul-Rahim Reasat 

Question

I underwent laser surgery, and my retina specialist advised me to look out for flashes of light as they indicate a medical emergency. I was also told to avoid strenuous exercises, bending over, and activities that cause violent shaking of the eyes. I experience these flashes during sujud due to eye pressure fluctuation or probable traction within the eyes. What should I do in this case?

Answer

May Allah give you ease and well-being.

Don’t worry. You should pray all of your prayers sitting down with slight head movements.

Clearly, the sujud is too strenuous for you at the moment. If one is unable to perform the sujud, in the Hanafi school, the is no need to stand or bow, as they are means to getting to the sujud. [Maydani, al-Lubab] You should pray your prayers sitting and nod slightly to indicate moving from one stage of the prayer to the next. There is only one condition to this: you just need to make your nod for the sujud lower than the nod for the ruku’.

Besides this, pray as normal and don’t worry about it. You get the full reward of it. Allah knows your difficulty, and “No one loves excuses more than Allah.” [Bukhari] This means Allah knows the difficulties His servants are in, and He loves accepting their excuses and overlooking any deficiencies.

May Allah overlook all our mistakes and give us well-being in this life and the next.

[Shaykh] Abdul-Rahim Reasat

Checked and Approved by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani

Shaykh Abdul-Rahim Reasat began studying Arabic Grammar and Morphology whilst studying for a degree in English and History. After graduating, He traveled to Damascus and studied Arabic, Hanafi Fiqh, Usul al-Fiqh, Theology, and Logic with Shaykh Adnan Darwish, Shaykh ‘Abd al-Rahman Arjan al-Binsawi, Shaykh Husayn Darwish, Shaykh Muhammad Darwish, the late Shaykh Rashad Shams, and others. He then moved to Amman to continue his studies in those fields, as well as in Tafsir, Quranic Sciences, Hadith Methodology and Commentary, Prophetic Biography, Prophetic Perfections and Traits, Rhetoric, Arabic Literature, and Tajwid. His teachers include Shaykh Ali Hani, Dr. Hamza al-Bakri, Dr Salah Abu al-Hajj, Dr Mansur Abu Zina, Shaykh Ahmad Hasanat, Shaykh Ahmad Jammal, and others.