Mufti Online — Madrasah Ta'leemuddeen

Fidyah for a person with dementia

· 6 Muharram 1448 AH1 min readEnglish

Question

My grandmother passed away some years ago. During the final portion of her life (approximately two years), she suffered from dementia, due to which she would be very confused as to what day it was, whether she had eaten or not, etc. At this time, she stopped performing salaah as well. My questions are:

(1) Does fidyah need to be paid for the all salaah she did not perform during the period she suffered from dementia?
(2) If yes, can the fidyah be paid from her estate/wealth?
(3) If the fidyah cannot be paid from the estate, who is responsible for paying it?

Answer

If she was not in her right frame of mind and in her senses, then she was ma'zoor. Hence, she will not be accountable for not performing salaah in that state, and fidyah will not have to be paid for the salaah that she missed in that condition of her life.

And Allah Ta'ala (الله تعالى) knows best.

References (Arabic / Urdu sources)

وإذا عجز المريض عن الإيماء بالرأس في ظاهر الرواية يسقط عنه فرض الصلاة ولا يعتبر الإيماء بالعينين والحاجبين ثم إذا خف مرضه هل يلزمه القضاء اختلفوا فيه قال بعضهم: إن زاد عجزه على يوم وليلة لا يلزمه القضاء وإن كان دون ذلك يلزمه كما في الإغماء وهو الأصح، هكذا في فتاوى قاضي خان، والفتوى عليه، كذا في الظهيرية، وإن مات من ذلك المرض لا شيء عليه ولا يلزمه فدية، كذا في المحيط. (الفتاوى الهندية 1/137)

(ولو مات وعليه صلوات فائتة وأوصى بالكفارة يعطى لكل صلاة نصف صاع من بر) كالفطرة

قال ابن عابدين – رحمه الله تعالى - : (قوله وعليه صلوات فائتة إلخ) أي بأن كان يقدر على أدائها ولو بالإيماء، فيلزمه الإيصاء بها وإلا فلا يلزمه وإن قلت، بأن كانت دون ست صلوات، لقوله - عليه الصلاة والسلام - فإن لم يستطع فالله أحق بقبول العذر منه وكذا حكم الصوم في رمضان إن أفطر فيه المسافر والمريض وماتا قبل الإقامة والصحة (رد المحتار 2/72)

Answered by
Mufti Zakaria Makada
Checked & approved by
Mufti Ebrahim Salejee (Isipingo Beach)
View original Compare with other Darul Iftas
Questions about this ruling, answered only from the archive with sources.

Where scholars differ, it’s safer to take the more cautious view.

Fatawa SA is an independent, read-only index of fatawa already published by Mufti Online — Madrasah Ta'leemuddeen. It is not a fatwa service. For your own situation, please ask a Mufti. Report an issue

For corrections or mistakes, please email us at fatawasa786@gmail.com.

Source: Mufti Online — Madrasah Ta'leemuddeen — https://muftionline.co.za/node/36746
Fatawa SA: https://fatawa.co.za/fatwa/muftionline-36746

Related fatawa