Can You Tell Me How to Pray Since I Am Chronically Ill?
Shafi'i Fiqh
Answered by Ustadha Shazia Ahmad
Question
I have a long-term illness and have been struggling. I have been unwell recently causing me to be fatigued most of the time, have difficulty breathing, and suspected irregular heartbeat that causes frequent dizziness. Alhamdulillah it is not the sickness that is causing me difficulty but rather not knowing how to navigate my prayer. Sometimes I’m too unwell to pray on time which lasts the whole prayer time or at least gets delayed. Sometimes I’m unable to get up to make wudu, sometimes I exert myself for one prayer by standing and it causes me difficulty in the next prayer. The variability of my condition is taking a toll on my faith and health because of the guilt.
Answer
Thank you for your question. I empathize with your suffering, fatigue and frustration and I pray that Allah Most High grants you good health and relief. Your reward will not be lost for what you are undergoing.
Standing
It says in the Reliance of the Traveller:
f14.0 THE PRAYER OF A SICK PERSON
fl4.1 Someone unable to stand may pray the prescribed prayer seated (O: and need not make it up), unable meaning that standing involves manifest hardship, will cause illness or the worsening of a present illness, or cause vertigo, as when one is on a ship. Such a person may sit for the prayer any way he likes, though the iftirash style of sitting (def: fB.37) is recommended. It is offensive in prayer to simply sit on the ground, palms down and knees drawn up, or to sit with legs outstretched (A: when there is no excuse).
f14.2 When seated for the prayer, the minimal bowing is to incline until the forehead is farther forward than the knees. The optimal way is to incline until the forehead is as far forward as the place where the head rests in prostration. When unable to bow or prostrate, one comes as close to the ground with the forehead as one can. When unable to do this, one performs them by nodding.
f14.5 If unable to stand and unable to sit. one lies on one’s right side (O: the right is recommended) facing the direction of prayer (qibla) with the face and front of one’s body, though one must bow and prostrate if possible (O: meaning one stands up enough to bow, then bows, then prostrates; or else sits up and bows). If this is not possible, one bows and prostrates by merely nodding one’s head (O: bringing one’s forehead as near to the ground as possible), deeper for prostration than for bowing. If unable to even nod, one merely glances down with the eyes for bowing and prostration. If one cannot, one goes through the integrals of the prayer in one’s mind. If unable to speak (O: to recite the Fatiha) one recites it in one’s heart. The obligation of prayer exists as long as one is able to reason (dis: f1.1, second par.).
f14.6 If one is standing during the prayer and becomes unable to remain standing, one sits to finish the prayer. If this occurs during the Fatiha, one may not interrupt reciting it, but must continue to do so as one proceeds to sit. If one’s condition improves enough (O: i.e. if seated during a prescribed prayer because of illness and a recovery of strength enables one to now stand), then one must stand to complete the prayer.
Tips
You are trying your best and that is what matters. If standing affects your next prayer, then pray sitting for all of them. If you find it difficult to make wudu, ask someone to help you pour the water. Or pray dhuhr at the end of its time, and asr at the beginning of its time so your wudu lasts for both, and it will feel like you are joining prayers. If you didn’t intend to miss a prayer but were asleep from before the beginning of the prayer time until it was over, you are not sinful for missing the prayer. Simply make up your prayer and place your full hope in Allah’s mercy.
Find solace in this Quranic verse. Allah Most High says, “Say, ‘O My servants who have transgressed against themselves [by sinning], do not despair of the mercy of Allah. Indeed, Allah forgives all sins. Indeed, it is He who is the Forgiving, the Merciful.’” [Quran, 39:53]
Please see details of the Hanafi school here:
The Sick Person’s Prayer With Pictures
Please see these links as well:
May Allah give you the best of this world and the next.
[Ustadha] Shazia Ahmad
Checked and Approved by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani
Ustadha Shazia Ahmad lived in Damascus, Syria, for two years, where she studied Aqidah, Fiqh, Tajweed, Tafseer, and Arabic. She then attended the University of Texas at Austin, where she completed her Master’s in Arabic. Afterward, she moved to Amman, Jordan, where she studied Fiqh, Arabic, and other sciences. She recently moved back to Mississauga, Canada, where she lives with her family.
