Not being able to Memorise The Fātiha

Question:

There is a sick person who has not memorised anything from the Qur’an, not even the Fātihah, nor is able to perfect the description of the prayer; meaning he does not even know what to say while prostration or in the bowing, his memorisation skills are very weak.

What can he do instead of the Fātihah and the Qur’ān of remembrances?

And is it permissible for him to just take someone as an example while praying?

Answer:

If he is about to miss an obligatory prayer, and is unable to learn how to pray; then it is obligatory upon him to pray in congregation in the Masjid and to take the Imām as an example.

However if he is unable to due to his sickness, then he can pray in his house while taking someone as an example, and repeating this will teach him, with the permission of Allah.

As for what relates to the Fātihah; then it is a pillar from the pillars of the prayer, due to what is found in the two Sahīhs on the authority of ‘Ubādah bin As-Sāmit, may Allah be pleased with him, that the Prophet ﷺ said:

(لا صلاة لمن لم يقرأ بأم الكتاب)

“There is no prayer for he who has not read the Umml Kitāb (Fātihah).”

So it is a must that he memorises it, and if the time until the start of the coming obligatory prayer does not suffice, and finds himself not having memorised anything from the Fātihah nor anything else from the Qur’ān nor any remembrances, then he prays while taking someone else as an example as previously mentioned.

If it was the case that he memorised some of it, then he prays with what was made easy for him to memorise, due to the statement of Allah, the Most High:

(لَا يُكَلِّفُ ٱللَّهُ نَفْسًا إِلَّا وُسْعَهَا)

“Allah burdens not a person beyond his scope.”
[Baqara:286]

And due to the statement of the Prophet ﷺ:

(ما نهيتكم عنه فاجتنبوه وما أمرتكم به فأتوا منه ما استطعتم)

“Stay away from what I prohibited you from, and perform as much as you can that which I ordered you with.”

[Bukhari & Muslim on the authority of Abu Hurayrah, may Allah be pleased with him]

If it is not possible to memorise it or some of it due to the nearness of the obligatory prayer, then let him do what has come in the hadīth of ‘Abdullah bin Abu Awfā, may Allah be pleased with him, whereby he said:

“A man came to the Prophet ﷺ, and said: I can’t grasp anything from the Qur’ān, so teach me what will suffice me.
Whereby he ﷺ said:

(قل: سُبْحَانَ اللَّهِ وَالْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ وَلاَ إِلَهَ إِلاَّ اللَّهُ وَاللَّهُ أَكْبَرُ وَلاَ حَوْلَ وَلاَ قُوَّةَ إِلاَّ بِاللَّهِ)

“Say: Say Glory be to Allah, and praise be to Allah, and there is no deity worthy of worship except Allah, and Allah is most great, and there is no might and no strength but in Allah.”

[Narrated by Ahmed, Abu Daud, Nasā’ī & others] (1)

It could be said:
Whoever could memorise this remembrance, could memorise the Fātiha, or at least some of it, and this is more obligatory.

This is true, but a man could not be able to memorise anything from the Qur’ān due to the severity of the foreignness of Arabic language upon him, or due to the severity in weakness of his memory, or old age for example, or other than this of the different reasons, and if he is however able to memorise this remembrance, than it would upon this hadīth suffice him.

And the statement:

(إني لا أستطيع أن آخذ شيئا من القرآن)

“I can’t grasp anything from the Qur’ān”

Points to this.

Khāttābi, may Allah have mercy upon him, said:

“If a man was not able to memorise anything of the Qur’ān, due to incapability in how he was created, bad memory, the Arabic being really foreign upon his tongue, been stricken by a calamity.

Then the most befitting remembrance after the Qur’ān is what has been taught by the Prophet ﷺ of saying subhanallah, alhamdulilah, la hawla wa la quwata ila billah, Allahuakbar.”

[End of speech]

(1) I say:
This hadīth revolves, as mentioned by Ibn ‘Addiy in “Al-Kāmil”, around Ibrahim As-Saksaki, and he has been declared weak due to his memorisation.

And Ibn ‘Addiy clearly mentioning that the hadīth revolved around him, points to the lack of him being considered sound to be used as a Mutābi’ah to the chain of narration of Talha bin Musarrif; due to it being from the way of Al-Fadl bin Muwwafiq with Ibn Hibbān in his “Sahīh”, and the custom of the Huffādh is negating the weak Muttābi’āt due to the lack of being considered.

And Al-Hāfidh in “At-Talkīs” mentioned it as a Mutaabi’ah except that,
it does not appear to be the case of him doing so that he considered it strengthening to the hadīth of As-Saksaki, whereby he said:

“He was not the only one who mentioned it rather At-Tabarāni and Ibn Hibbaan in his “Sahīh” also, by way of Talha bin Musarrif from Ibn Abu Awfaa but in its chain of narration is Al-Fadl bin Muwwafiq and Abu Hatim declared him weak.”

[End of speech]

And the ruling of Abu Hatim Ar-Rāzi is as mentioned in “Al-Jarh wat Ta’dīl”:
“His hadeeth is weak, he was a righteous shaykh, close to Ibn ‘Uyyaynah, and would narrate fabricated Ahadīth.”
[End of speech]

So declaring the hadīth Hassan due to using him to strengthen it is incorrect, and Allah knows best.

Answered by:
Shaykh Abu Hatim Yusuf Al-‘Inaabi Al-Jazaa’iree – may Allaah preserve him.

Source:
t.me/abouhatem/200

Answered on:
2nd, Rabee’ Ath-Thaani, 1438H.

Translated by:
Abu ‘Abdirrahman ‘Abdullaah bin Ahmed Ash-Shingaani