QUESTION:
It is incumbent upon the one who has lost his memory or one who is unconscious to fulfill the obligation of the Islamic law:
ANSWER:
Verily Allaah, the Most Gloried has made the acts of worship incumbent upon a person, if he possesses rationality by which he is able to understand things. As for one who has no rationality, he is not obliged to implement the Islamic laws. Therefore, the insane person is not obliged by them, nor is the minor, who is unable to discriminate, indeed, neither is the one who has not reached the age of puberty, and this is from the mercy of Allaah. Similar is the mentally ill person, whose mind is affected to a degree less than insanity; and the same with the elderly person who has lost his memory: It is not incumbent upon him to pray or fast, because he has lost his memory, so he is the same position as a child who is unable to discriminate, the obligations are removed from him and it is not necessary for him to perform them. As for financial obligations, they are incumbent upon his wealth, even though he has lost his memory. So for example Zakah is incumbent on his wealth, and it is an obligation upon the executor of his affairs to pay Zakah for him, because the obligation to pay Zakah is related to his wealth, as Allaah, the Most High says;
"Take Sadaqah [alms] from their wealth in order to purify them and sanctify them" [Q 9:103 ]
SO He says: Take Sadaqah [alms] from their wealth and he did not say: take from them. The Prophet [peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him] said to Muadh [RA] when he sent him to Yemen :
"Inform them that Allaah has made incumbent upon them the payment of Sadaqah from their wealth, to be taken from their rich and given to their poor." [Bukhari]
So based upon this, financial obligations are not removed from the one who has lost his memory. But as for the physical acts of worship such as prayer, purification and fasting, they are removed from such a man, because he is not rational. As for one whose rationality is gone from losing consciousness because of illness or the like, he is not obliged to pray. This is according the view of the majority of the scholars. If a sick person loses consciousness for a day or two, he is not obliged to make up for it, because he has no rationality and he is not like the sleeper about whom the Messenger of Allaah [peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him] said:
"Whoever slept through his prayer or forgot it, must pray it when he remembers it"[Bukhari]
This is because the sleeper has perception, meaning he is able to wake up if he begins to awaken, but as for the one who is unconscious, he can not wake up even if someone tries to wake him. This is if the loss of consciousness is without cause, such as the one who is unconscious due to an anaesthetic or the like, he must make up for the prayers which he missed while he was unconscious. And Allaah knows best.
This article was culled from the publications of Deen Communication Limited