What guidance is there for ill people who delay prayer or cannot purify themselves?
2026-09-19
F09 · Selected fatwas
Shaykh Ibn Bāz
الشيخ عبد العزيز بن عبد الله بن باز
Original Q&A · Full displayed answer
The original stored answer was already complete. Its Arabic and English answer paragraphs are preserved unchanged after source comparison. The answer applies while mental faculties remain intact and retains prayer according to ability, water or tayammum, dealing with impurity when possible and the exception when unable.
النص العربي
السؤال الأصلي
كثير من المرضى يتهاون بالصلاة ويقول: إذا شفيت قضيت الصلاة، وبعضهم يقول: كيف أصل وأنا لا أستطيع الطهارة ولا التنزه من النجاسة، فبم توجهون هؤلاء؟
الجواب
المرض لا يمنع من أداء الصلاة بحجة العجز عن الطهارة ما دام العقل موجودا، بل يجب على المريض أن يصلي حسب طاقته، وأن يتطهر بالماء إذا قدر على ذلك، فإن لم يستطع استعمال الماء تيمم وصلى، وعليه أن يغسل النجاسة من بدنه وثيابه وقت الصلاة، أو يبدل الثياب النجسة بثياب طاهرة وقت الصلاة، فإن عجز عن غسل النجاسة وعن إبدال الثياب النجسة بثياب طاهرة سقط عنه ذلك، وصلى حسب حاله؛
لقول الله عز وجل: ﴿فاتقوا الله ما استطعتم﴾ [التغابن: 16]
وقول النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم: «إذا أمرتكم بأمر فأتوا منه ما استطعتم» متفق على صحته،
وقوله صلى الله عليه وسلم لعمران بن حصين رضي الله عنهما لما شكا إليه المرض، قال: «صل قائما فإن لم تستطع فقاعدا فإن لم تستطع فعلى جنب» رواه البخاري في صحيحه، ورواه النسائي بإسناد صحيح، وزاد: «فإن لم تستطع فمستلقيا».
English translation
English rendering prepared for SalafAlSalih.com from the cited complete Arabic answer; not an official translation.
Original question
Many ill people are neglectful of prayer and say, “When I recover, I will make up the prayers.” Others say, “How can I pray when I cannot purify myself or keep free of impurity?” What guidance would you give them?
Answer
Illness does not prevent the performance of prayer on the grounds of inability to purify oneself, so long as the person retains his mental faculties. Rather, the ill person must pray according to his ability and purify himself with water if he is able to do so. If he cannot use water, he should perform dry purification and pray. At the time of prayer, he must wash the impurity from his body and clothes, or replace the impure clothes with clean ones. If he is unable either to wash away the impurity or to replace the impure clothes with clean ones, that requirement is waived for him, and he should pray in his present condition.
This is because Allah, Mighty and Majestic, says: “So keep your duty to Allah and fear Him as much as you can” [Al-Taghābun 64:16, excerpt].
And because the Prophet, may Allah’s blessings and peace be upon him, said: “When I command you to do something, do as much of it as you are able.” Its authenticity is agreed upon [by al-Bukhārī and Muslim].
And because he, may Allah’s blessings and peace be upon him, said to ʿImrān ibn Ḥuṣayn, may Allah be pleased with them both, when he complained to him of illness: “Pray standing; if you cannot, then sitting; and if you cannot, then on your side.” Al-Bukhārī narrated it in his Ṣaḥīḥ. Al-Nasāʾī also narrated it with an authentic chain and added: “If you cannot, then lying on your back.”
Source and editorial notes
Official Ibn Bāz website, fatwa 3900; website cites Majmūʿ Fatāwā wa-Maqālāt 10/307
توجيه للمرضى الذين يتهاونون بالصلاة
Guidance for patients who are negligent about prayer
Complete original answer rechecked; existing Arabic and English answer bodies preserved unchanged. The entire official answer was compared from its start to its final substantive words. Website navigation, related answers and editorial footnote markers are excluded. For F09 the existing stored Arabic and English answer bodies already match the full answer and remain unchanged. Arabic vowel marks and decorative formatting are omitted; honorific glyphs are expanded to words.