❖ Timely Prayer for Those with Tayammum or Incomplete Purification
Written by: Imran Ayub Lahori
✦ Definition and Context
In this discussion, deficiency in Salah refers to a situation where a person, due to illness, is unable to fully perform the physical postures of the prayer.
Deficiency in purification (طہارت) refers to situations where a person is unable to wash certain limbs of Wudu due to wounds, injuries, or other valid excuses.
✦ Refutation of the View that Such Persons Must Delay Salah
Some people opine that individuals in such situations must delay their prayer until they are able to attain full purification or perform complete Salah. However, this opinion is incorrect and goes against both reason and the Shar‘i texts.
✦ Evidence from Qur'an and Sunnah
A careful study of the Qur'an and Sunnah reveals:
❖ None of the Companions (رضي الله عنهم) ever delayed the prayer beyond its prescribed time due to such excuses.
❖ Let alone making such a delay obligatory, there is not a single narration suggesting that a prayer was deliberately delayed due to incomplete purification or the inability to perform all physical acts of prayer.
✦ Tayammum and Immediate Prayer
When water is unavailable at the time of Salah, the legislation of Tayammum is established, proving that timely prayer takes precedence even over complete purification.
Similarly, if someone is unable to perform complete Wudu or physical movements due to illness, then:
✔ He should pray as he is able
✔ At the appointed time
✔ According to his capacity
And this is what is required of him, and it is obligatory.
If delaying the prayer had been obligatory, the Lawgiver (Allah’s Messenger ﷺ) would have clearly instructed this—yet, there is no evidence for it.
✦ Prophetic Guidance for the Ill
The Prophet (ﷺ) said:
"صل قائما فإن لم تستطع فقاعدا فإن لم تستطع فعلى جنب"
"Pray standing; if you cannot, then sitting; and if you cannot even do that, then on your side."
[Bukhari 1117; Kitab al-Jumu‘ah: Bab Idha Lam Yastaṭi‘ Qā‘idan Ṣallā ‘ala Janb; Nasa’i 3/224; Bayhaqi 3/155; Abu Dawood 952; Tirmidhi 372; Ibn Majah 1223]
This Hadith affirms:
✔ Flexibility in posture due to illness
✔ But no permission to delay the prayer beyond its prescribed time
✦ Historical and Scholarly Consistency
Throughout:
◈ The Prophetic era
◈ The era of the Companions (رضي الله عنهم)
◈ The era of the Tābi‘īn
◈ The era of the Tabi‘ al-Tābi‘īn
— there is no known case where anyone was instructed to delay the prayer due to incomplete purification or limited physical ability.
Furthermore, none of the Four Imams (Abu Hanifah, Malik, Shafi‘i, Ahmad) ever issued such a ruling.
This incorrect view appears to be a modern innovation, primarily held by some people of our contemporary time and region.
Sources:
[Al-Sayl al-Jarrār 1/191–193; Wabl al-Ghamām 1/303; Al-Rawdah al-Nadiyyah 1/210]
✔ Conclusion:
◈ Tayammum and partial Wudu are valid forms of purification when necessary.
◈ Physical limitations do not exempt a person from praying on time.
◈ A Muslim must offer prayer within its designated time, even if:
- He can only pray by gesturing
- Or he can only purify partially
- Or he uses Tayammum due to lack of water or inability to use it
❖ Delaying prayer due to such limitations is baseless in the light of Qur'an, Sunnah, and the understanding of the early generations.
والله أعلم
