aware of her surroundings and does not speak and does not ask for
food, but when we give her food, she eats. Sometimes she knows who is
speaking toher (which is rare), but she does not tell us what she
wants from us (she does not say: "I want a bath, may Allaah bless
you"). She is sleeping on abed without moving, and her children help
her to move. I want to ask aboutfasting and prayer; shouldwe pay
fidyah on her behalf and do we have to do anything for the time that
is past?.
Praise be to Allaah.
If a person reaches a stage of senility and feeble-mindedness, loses
his or her mental capacity and is no longer aware, the obligations of
fasting and prayer are waived, and he does not have to offer
expiation, because one of the conditions of being accountable is that
one should be of sound mind.
The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: "The Pen
has been lifted from three: from the sleeping person until he wakes
up, from the minor until he grows up, and from the insane person until
he comes to his senses." Narrated by Abu Dawood (4403), al-Tirmidhi
(1423),al-Nasaa'i (3432), Ibn Majaah (2041). Abu Dawood said: It was
narrated by Ibn Jurayj from al-Qaasim ibn Yazeed from 'Ali (may Allaah
be pleased with him) from the Prophet SAWS (peace and blessings of
Allaah be upon him). He added "andthe senile".
This hadeeth was classed as saheeh by al-Albaani inSaheeh Abi Dawood.
It says in 'Awn al-Ma'bood: Senility refers to when the mind becomes
no longer sound because of old age. What is meant here is the old man
has lost his mind because of old age. The elderly person may become
confused and losehis power of discernment,which means that he is
nolonger qualified to be regarded as accountable, but he cannot be
called insane. End quote.
Shaykh Ibn 'Uthaymeen (may Allaah have mercy on him) said: Fasting is
not obligatory unless certain conditions are met: (i) being of sound
mind; (ii) being an adult; (iii) being a Muslim; (iv) being able to do
it; (v) being resident (i.e., not travelling); (vi) being free of
menses or nifaas (post-partum bleeding), in the case of women.
With regard to the first, being of sound mind – theopposite is loss of
reason, whether it is due to insanity or senility, meaning old age, or
an accident which causes a person to lose consciousness and
feeling.Such a person does not have to do anything, because he is no
longer ofsound mind. Based on this, this elderly person who has
reached the stage of senility does not have to fast or feed the poor,
because he is not of sound mind. End quote from Liqa' al-Baab
al-Maftooh (4/220).
With regard to the past, if she was in this state, and was not aware
and could not understand anything, then she does not have tofast or
offer expiation.
If she was aware and could understand, but shedid not fast because she
was sick, then one of two scenarios must apply:
1. If at that time she was hoping to recover from her sickness,
but the sickness continued, then she does not have to do anything,
because what she had to do was make up the fasts when she recovered,
but she did notrecover.
2. If at that time there was no hope of recovery, then she should
offer expiation for each day, which is feeding one poorperson, half a
saa' of the local staple food. If she did not offer this expiation,
then you must offer it now from her wealth.
We ask Allaah to heal her and make her well, and toguide and help you.
And Allaah knows best.
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