VOLUME TWENTY-FOUR
THE BOOK OF JURISPRUDENCE
PART FOUR:
From Prayer for Those with Valid Excuses to Zakat

In the name of Allah, the Most Merciful, the Bestower of Mercy.

CHAPTER: PRAYER FOR THOSE WITH VALID EXCUSES

Shaykh al-Islam Ahmad ibn Taymiyyah—may Allah have mercy on him—was asked:

An elderly man’s limbs have grown so weak that he cannot eat, drink, move, or cleanse himself with water after relieving himself. If he prostrates, he cannot raise himself again. How should he pray?

He replied:

As for prayer, he should do whatever he is able. If he cannot stand, he should pray sitting and gesture with his head as his condition allows. If he prostrates on his thigh, that is permissible. He should wipe himself with a cloth after relieving himself, and someone else should perform ablution for him if possible.

He may combine the two prayers: someone should perform ablution for him at the end of the time for the noon prayer, and he should then offer the noon and afternoon prayers without shortening them. Then, when the time for the sunset prayer begins, he should offer the sunset and night prayers. Someone should also perform ablution for him for the dawn prayer.

If he cannot pray sitting, he should pray lying on his side with his face toward the qiblah,