stand, but whose physician has told him: “Standing will harm you, and you must remain reclining.” He may therefore pray reclining.

His prayer is not valid if he prays sitting in a ship while able to stand. The obligatory prayer, however, is valid on a mount when there is fear of harm, but not on account of illness.

His statement, “His prayer is not valid if he prays sitting in a ship while able to stand,” refers to the obligatory prayer. A voluntary prayer is valid when offered sitting despite the ability to stand, whether in a ship or elsewhere. This is because a ship is unlike a mount: a person can pray standing in it, bow, and prostrate, due to its spaciousness. Thus, if he is able to do so, he must pray standing. If he is unable to do so—either because the winds are stormy and the ship is unstable—then he prays sitting; or if the ship’s ceiling is too low, then he prays sitting. However, it has already been mentioned that if he can stand, even in a posture resembling that of one bowing, he must do so (1).

His statement, “The obligatory prayer is valid on a mount,” means on a camel, donkey, horse, or the like.

His statement, “when there is fear of harm,” is left unrestricted by the author, and thus includes harm of any kind, whether from mud, rain, or anything else. The point is that if he would be harmed by praying on the ground and would be unable to remain settled in his prayer, he may pray on the mount. The author restricts this to the obligatory prayer because voluntary prayer on a mount is permissible whether one fears harm or not. It is authentically established from the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, that “he would pray voluntary prayers on his mount wherever it turned him” (2).

In his statement, “The obligatory prayer is valid on a mount when there is fear of harm,” he did not mention