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Does Dementia Affect My Deen?

24 October, 2016
Q Respected scholars, as-salamu `alaykum. I have dementia. I have come to accept this as a mercy from Allah, but I worry that as my mental capacity diminishes how will this affect my deen? When I am no longer able to remember or to have control of my actions, how can I ask forgiveness if I am not aware of what I do? What if I forget prayers or wander around outside in inappropriate clothes? These possibilities worry me. Can you offer me advice that would ease my mind?

Answer

Wa`alaykum as-salamu wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh.

In the Name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful.

All praise and thanks are due to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon His Messenger.

Dear sister in Islam, thank you for your interest in learning more about the teachings of Islam. May Allah save us all from the traps of Satan and enlighten our hearts with the light of Islam.

Islam encourages its followers to take care of their health. Sick people should look for treatment for their sickness. In this context, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) is reported to have said, “O servants of Allah, seek treatment, for Allah has appointed cures for all diseases” (Abu Dawud). Islam does not burden people beyond their capability. Therefore, incapable, sick, and disabled people are held less accountable for the rules of Shari`ah according to their condition.

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In his response to your question, Sheikh Ahmad Kutty, a senior lecturer and Islamic scholar at the Islamic Institute of Toronto, Ontario, Canada, states,

If your condition is curable, you should definitely seek the appropriate cure. If it is not curable, then you must accept it as part of Allah’s will, pray that He grant you patience, and make patience a source of expiation and redemption for you.

You should be comforted to know that in Islam we are not accountable for actions or words which we do when we are not in our right senses. We are perfectly forgiven. So you need not worry about the consequences of your actions as long as you are not choosing to do them and they are not according your own free choice and will.

Having said this, I must also stress that you must consistently pray to Allah to heal you. You can do so by using ordinary du`aa’s such as, “As’alu Allaha Al-`Azheem R abba Al-`Arshi Al-`Azheem an yashfiyanee” (I ask Allah, the Lord of the Mighty Throne, to cure and heal me(.

Also, as often as you can, read Al-Fatihah and the three last surahs of the Qur’an and then blow into your hands and wipe your hands all over your body.

 

Allah Almighty knows best.