Dought & clear - Prayer of an elderly person who has reached the stage of senility.

My mother is 61 years old and she is looking after my grandfather who
has reached the age of 90-odd. A long time ago he began to lose his
mind and he started imagining things that are not real. He has no
sense of time, and when he gets up to pray and we tell him that it is
time for Zuhr, for example, we find him praying Maghrib or Fajr. He
calls out to my mother in the middle of the night, telling her to get
up and make him breakfast or help him get up to pray 'Asr, for
example. My question is:Does my grandfather have to pray or is it
waived in his case?
My grandfather sometimes calls my mother repeatedly for no reason, and
sometimes he asks her what time it is and sometimes he tells her some
historical story. My mother is also getting onin years and she cannot
keep getting up and going to his room. If she is certain that he does
not need anything and that she has met all his needs of food, wudoo',
prayer etc, can she refrain from answering him without incurring sin?
Especially since he calls her a lot in the middle of the night.
Praise be to Allaah.
Firstly:
If the matter is as you describe, then your grandfather is not obliged
to pray, becauseof his losing his mind, The Prophet(peace and
blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: "The Penhas 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) and IbnMaajah (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(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him),
andhe added: "And the one who is senile." This hadeeth was classed as
saheeh by al-Albaani inSaheeh Abi Dawood.
Senility refers to when a person loses his mind as the result of
reaching a great age. It is stated in'Awn al-Ma'boodthat thereport
which mentions senility is da'eef (weak) because of the isnaad, but
something which suggests that the meaning is valid was narrated from
al-Subki. Al-Subki said: Senility may be added to these three, and it
is valid. What is meant thereby isan elderly man who has lost his mind
due to his great age. An old man may become confused and unable to
distinguish things, which may mean that heis no longer accountable,
but he is not described as insane, because an insane person may be
treated whereas a senile person cannot be treated. Henceit does not
say in the hadeeth "until he recovers", because in most cases he
cannot recover from it, until he dies. If he does recover from it
sometimes and comes back to his senses,then he is accountable again.
End quote.
Shaykh Ibn 'Uthaymeen (may Allaah have mercy on him) explained that
senility means that one is no longer accountable: Fasting is not
obligatory unless certain conditions are met: one, being of soundmind;
two, being an adult; three, being Muslim; four, being able to do it;
five, not being atraveller; six, being free of menses and postpartum
bleeding (nifaas) in the case of women.
1 – Being of sound mind,the opposite of which is having lost one's
mind, whether that is due to insanity or senility, i.e., old age, or
because of an accident which has caused one to lose one's mind and
sense of awareness. Such a person is not obliged to do anything
because he has lost his mind. Based on this, the old man whohas
reached the stage of senility is not obliged to fast or feed poor
persons instead, becausehe lost all sense of reason. Similarly the
onewho loses consciousness due to an accident etc is not obliged to
fast or feed poor persons instead, because he is not of sound mind.
End quote fromLiqa' al-Baab il-Maftooh.
To conclude, the person who has reached the stage of senility and has
no sense of time and cannot distinguish between the prayers is not
obliged to pray.
Secondly:
If your mother has takencare of what your grandfather needs, such as
food and drink, etc, and she thinks it most likely that his calling
for her is not due to some need, and it is just because of his
senility, then there is no sin on her if she does not answer him,
especially since that is causing her hardship.
And Allaah knows best.