Illness and the Prayer

Question: The questioner states that he stopped performing the obligatory prayers and fasting for two-and-a-half years because he was struck with hemiplegia, which lasted throughout that period. Afterward he was able to sit and move slightly, so he resumed praying and fasting to the extent he could. He is, however, distressed about the two-and-a-half years in which he left off the prayer and fasting, and he says he is now unable to make them up. What must he do?

Answer: A sick person prays according to his condition: standing if he is able; otherwise sitting, while signalling the bowing and prostration; or on his side, likewise indicating the bowing and prostration with head movements.

Your abandoning the prayer during the illness was a mistake on your part. As long as your mind remained sound and your awareness intact, you were required to pray in whatever way you could, for “Allah does not burden a soul beyond its capacity” (al-Baqarah 286). Pray according to your ability—even on your side—nodding your head for bowing and prostration while facing the qiblah; or lie on your back with your feet toward the qiblah and your head and face also directed toward it, still gesturing for bowing and prostration.

In short, a sick person must not leave the prayer so long as his intellect is present and his reasoning sound. Your failure to pray, despite being able to do so in the manner just described, was wrong, and you are obliged to make up what you missed. Make it up to the extent you are able. If you can perform all the missed prayers consecutively, then that is obligatory; otherwise, make them up in proportion to your capacity—even if, for example, you distribute them over the days according to