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:

Assalamoalaikum Brother,

I am in a great confusion please help me to come aut of this.My mother who is 75 years old have lots of health problem. Because of this she cant perform regular prayers from past forty years. Though she knows every thing about jaza n saza but her heart do not go to prayers. Except prayers she recites many tasbih.

We all brother n sisters make an effort to convince her but she got engry. We make dua in every Salah for her.

But i just want to know, could we (her childrens) convince her. If not, then tell us a dua a supplication or any special namaz for her. We all are worried about her.

Please do prayer for her.

May Allah Shower His bounty on you.

With thanks.

Allah Hafiz.

(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:

Missing prayers

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.

Allah says in the Holy Quran Chapter 4 Surah Nisaa verse 103:

Indeed the Salaat is a prescribed duty that should be performed by the believers at (their) appointed times.

Allah Says in the Holy Quran Chapter 2 Surah Baqarah verses 45-46:

45 Nay seek (Allah's) help with patient perseverance and ‘salaah’: it is indeed hard except to those who bring a lowly spirit.

46 Who bear in mind the certainty that they are to meet their Lord and that they are to return to Him.

The Prophet (saws) said, "The head of the matter is Islam, its pillar is the prayer, and the top of its hump is Jihad in the Way of Allah."

Jabir reports that the Prophet (saws) said, "Between a person and disbelief is discarding prayer."

Related by Ahmad, Muslim, Abu Dawud, at-Tirmidhi and Ibn Majah.

Abdullah ibn 'Amr ibn al-'Aas reported that the Prophet (saws) one day mentioned the prayer and said, "Whoever guards and observes his prayer, they (his prayers) will be a light and a proof and a savior for him on the Day of Resurrection. Whoever does not guard and obvserve them, they will not be a light or a proof or a savior for him. On the Day of Resurrection, he will be with Qarun, Fir'aun, Haman and Ubayy ibn Khalf."

Related by Ahmad, at-Tabarani and Ibn Hibban.

A man came to the Prophet (saws) and said “ O Prophet of Allah (saws), what is the act or deed most loved by Allah?”

The Prophet (saws) replied: “To pray ones prayers on time.”

The man asked further: “What (deed or act most loved by Allah) next?”

The Prophet (saws) replied: “Obedience to ones parents.”

The man asked further: “What (deed or act most loved by Allah) next?”

The Prophet (saws) replied: “Jihaad in the Way of Allah.”

Related by Bukhari.

Intentionally missing an obligatory prayer is not even given as an option in the deen of Islam! If one is an adult and is mentally sane, it is absolutely obligatory for that believer to perform their obligatory prayers at their appointed times.

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 your mother is old and has severe physical health ailments which does not allow her to pray in the normal postures of prayer, there is absolutely no harm if she prays either on the floor or on the chair while making gestures for the ‘ruku’ and the ‘sujood’. If she can’t even do that, she has the option of offering her obligatory prayers in a lying down posture and making gestures with her eyes for her ‘ruku’ and her ‘sujood’. Allah Subhanah does not put a burden on a soul save what it can bear, and if the only reason one chooses to offer one’s prayers in the sitting or lying down positions is because of one’s physical disabilities, rest absolutely assured that The Lord Most Merciful is All-Knowing and He will not diminish the rewards of their striving in the least.

Your Statements: ….But i just want to know, could we (her childrens) convince her. If not, then tell us a dua a supplication or any special namaz for her. We all are worried about her.

As her children and sincere well-wishers in this world and the Hereafter, all you can do is try to instill the fear of her Lord Creator in her and remind her of her duty unto her Lord. In addition to striving your absolute utmost with wisdom, humility and above all patience, to instill the fear of Allah Subhanah and the Last Day, you obviously are at liberty to make as much supplications for her as you like in the Presence of your Lord Most Merciful for her.

The obligation of prayer must be fulfilled by every beleiver themselves; there is no ‘special namaz’ which one’s off-spring may pray which will fulfill the missed prayers of their parents (or anyone else for that matter!).

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