How Can I Perform ‘Umra if I Suffer From Incontinence?
Shafi'i Fiqh
Answered by Shaykh Irshaad Sedick
Question
If an excused person with incontinence or flatulence problems, and subsequently sometimes has some traces of filth, how can he perform ‘Umrah and read the Qur’an in Masjid Al-Haram? Also, how can he perform prayers in Masjid Al-Nabawi and read the Quran?
Answer
In the Name of Allah, the Most Merciful and Compassionate.
A person with chronic incontinence or flatulence, etc., should do the following Four Steps:
[Shirbini, Mughni Al-Muhtaj]
Clean
1. They should make sure that they have cleaned and relieved themselves properly. You can find more details on how to do this in the answer: How Can I End Urine Drops Quickly?
Cover
2. Wrap a cloth or other material (such as a sanitary towel) to prevent any leakage from spreading from the immediate area. If one has wrapped the area to the best of one’s ability, then if anything escapes, it is of no consequence.
It is not a condition to do the above in the prayer time, but it is a condition to perform ablution (wudu) immediately after applying the wrap (see below), and the ablution must be made once the prayer time has commenced. Therefore, it is advisable to perform the above after the prayer time has set in, and Allah knows best.
Ablution
3. Perform ablution with the intention of “seeking to make the prayer permissible” – I intend permission to perform the obligatory prayer-, or whatever worship they may want to do.
Immediacy
4. One must then pray the prayer they intended immediately, with no unnecessary delays. If they delay more than the approximate time it takes to pray a brief two cycles (raka‘at), then all the above is rendered invalid and they must redo the above steps, even if the wrap has not moved out of place or no fluids have leaked.
Legitimate Delays
However, if they delay the prayer for reasons which are beneficial to the prayer, such as waiting for the congregational prayer, or repeating the Call to Prayer (adhan), then this does not invalidate any of the above, and Allah knows best.
The above steps are according to the reliable opinion of the Shafi‘i School. There is a weaker opinion in our School that one does need to perform instinja’ and change the wrap for each prayer. With the following conditions:
1) nothing has leaked from the wrap, and
2) the wrap has not moved from its place.
However, one would still need to perform ablution for each obligatory prayer after the prayer time has entered.
[Mughni al Muhtaj]
I pray this is of benefit, that Allah guides us all.
[Shaykh] Irshaad Sedick
Checked and Approved by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani
Shaykh Irshaad Sedick was raised in South Africa in a traditional Muslim family. He graduated from Dar al-Ulum al-Arabiyyah al-Islamiyyah in Strand, Western Cape, under the guidance of the late world-renowned scholar, Shaykh Taha Karaan.
Shaykh Irshaad received Ijaza from many luminaries of the Islamic world, including Shaykh Taha Karaan, Mawlana Yusuf Karaan, and Mawlana Abdul Hafeez Makki, among others.
He is the author of the text “The Musnad of Ahmad ibn Hanbal: A Hujjah or not?” He has served as the Director of the Discover Islam Centre and Al Jeem Foundation. For the last five years till present, he has served as the Khatib of Masjid Ar-Rashideen, Mowbray, Cape Town.
Shaykh Irshaad has thirteen years of teaching experience at some of the leading Islamic institutes in Cape Town). He is currently building an Islamic online learning and media platform called ‘Isnad Academy’ and pursuing his Master’s degree in the study of Islam at the University of Johannesburg. He has a keen interest in healthy living and fitness.
