Are the prescribed religious acts obligatory for a mentally ill person who has lost awareness of time?
Legal accountability for religious rulings applies to those of sound mind because an insane person cannot comprehend the rulings of the Sacred Law. The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, said: "The pen is lifted from three: from the sleeper until he awakens, from the child until he matures, and from the insane person until he regains his sanity."
Scholars have agreed that Allah has only addressed those of sound mind and puberty with religious rulings.
Accordingly, if a mentally ill person's illness reaches the point of losing perception and comprehension, religious obligations are lifted from them. When they recover, religious accountability returns to them. However, if the illness does not cause them to lose their perception and discernment, they remain accountable for religious rulings.
In summary, mental illness does not waive accountability unless it removes the capacity for accountability by causing loss of perception or depriving the ability to choose.
Summary from Ftawy's records · added here
Reviewed by El Fatwa's sharia committee.
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- Ftawy
- Original fatwa ID
- 23617
- Added here
- . This is when the answer was added to El Fatwa, not the fatwa's date.
- Text
- Summary from Ftawy's records, reviewed by El Fatwa's sharia committee.
- Read the full ruling
- Read the full answer on Ftawy