Mu' meneen Brothers and Sisters,

As Salaam Aleikum wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuh. (May Allah's Peace, Mercy and Blessings be upon all of you)

One of our brothers/sisters has asked this question:

Dear Burhan, Assalam u Alaikum

I m a 47 yr old man suffering from osteo-arthritis in both knees. Alahamdulillah i m

punctual in my namaz from childhood.

Now a days im facing difficulty in sitting for Qaeda. I can only squat.

Now i have two practical options for offering my prayer in the mosque:

1) Offer prayer on a chair and thus skip sajdah.

2) Offer prayer normally and squat during qaeda-e-oola and qaeda-e-aakhir. But what to do for Jalsa?

As such during Ramzan I m going for the 2nd option but still its painful and increases the joint pain. First option though comfortable physically but lacks satisfaction at heart as there is no scope of Sajdah while sitting on the chair/stool.(In some mosques especially made chairs with a joint plank to perform sajdah are provided but such arrangement is not availalble in my locality furthermore in such an arrangement qayam and rukoo becomes very difficult. Pl note that i can perform sajdah but not qaedah or jalsah.

Pl help me out and guide me to correct and improve my prayer.

(There may be some grammatical and spelling errors in the above statement. The forum does not change anything from questions, comments and statements received from our readers for circulation in confidentiality.)

Answer:

Sick ill prayer sitting

In the name of Allah, We praise Him, seek His help and ask for His forgiveness. Whoever Allah guides none can misguide, and whoever He allows to fall astray, none can guide them aright. We bear witness that there is none worthy of worship but Allah Alone, and we bear witness that Muhammad (saws) is His slave-servant and the seal of His Messengers.

Fiqh-us-Sunnah Fiqh 2.103

Topic: The prayer of a person who is ill (Salatul Marid)

Whoever has some excuse due to illness and cannot stand during the ‘salah’ is allowed to pray sitting. If one cannot pray in a sitting posture, he may pray while on his side by making gestures. In such a case, his gestures for the ‘sajdah; should be lower than those for his ‘ruku'. This principle is based on Allah's words: "...And celebrate Allah's praises, standing, sitting, and lying on your sides (3:191)."

Imran ibn Hussain says: "I had piles [hemorrhoids], so I asked the Prophet (saws) about the prayer and he (saws) said: 'Offer the ‘salah’ while standing and if you cannot do so, pray while sitting, and if you can't do that, then make ‘salah’ while lying on your side."' (Related by Bukhari)

An-Nasa'i relates the same hadith with the following addition:: "……And if you cannot offer ‘salah’ while lying on your side, then do it while lying on your back.’ Then the Messenger of Allah recited the following verse of the Quran: ‘Allah does not burden a soul, save with what it can bear (2:286)."

Respected brother, if you have a physical ailment which does not allow you to pray in the normal postures of prayer, there is absolutely no harm if you pray either on the floor or on the chair while making gestures for the ‘ruku’ and the ‘sujood’. Allah Subhanah does not put a burden on a soul save what it can bear, and if the only reason you choose to offer your prayers in the sitting position is because of your ailment, rest absolutely assured that your Lord Most Merciful is All-Knowing and He will not diminish the rewards of your prayer in the least.

Abu Musa al-Ashari (r.a.) reported that the Prophet (saws) said, "If a slave (of Allah) is sick or travels, he will get a reward for those acts similar to what he would get if he was healthy and at his place of residence."

Whatever written of Truth and benefit is only due to Allah’s Assistance and Guidance, and whatever of error is of me alone. Allah Alone Knows Best and He is the Only Source of Strength.

Your brother and well wisher in Islam,

Burhan