If he refuses to take the medicine is his disobeying his father?

Question: 94843

1- I am an asthmatic patient. I normally go to hospital during the course of the year. They were giving me cortisone which had an effect on my bones. So I stopped taking it fearing that my health becomes worse, which made my father angry. Am I considered disobedient for this?

2- I suffer from excessive gas, so I pass wind a lot. How shall I purify myself for prayers?

For these reasons I cannot walk a lot, and after I stopped taking the cortisone I became even more ill, so I was ordered by the doctor to stay at home. Thus I cannot go to the masjid a lot except for Friday prayer, Am I sinning?.

Answer

Praise be to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon the Messenger of Allah and his family.

Firstly:

We ask Allaah to heal you and reward you for what has befallen you.

Secondly:

If the medicine is harming you and affecting your bones, then there is nothing wrong with stopping it, because you do not have to take that which will harm you, whether it is medicine or anything else. The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “There should be neither harming nor reciprocating harm.” Narrated by Ahmad and Ibn Majaah (2341) and classed as saheeh by al-Albaani in Saheeh Ibn Majaah.

But you should consult a doctor about that, because the harm caused by not taking it may be greater than the harm caused by taking it.

You should weigh up the interests served by taking the medicine and its harmful effects, and the harmful effects caused by not taking it.

If it is proven that the medicine is harmful to you, then your refusing to take it is not disobedience towards your father, because obedience is only required in that which is good and proper, as the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “Obedience is only in that which is good and proper.” Narrated by al-Bukhaari (7257) and Muslim (1840).

Thirdly:

You should look for a remedy for passing too much gas, so that you can perform the prayer with proper focus and peace of mind with the congregation. If it is continuous and does not stop for long enough for you to do wudoo’ and pray, then this is called “wind incontinence”, and in that case it is sufficient for you to do wudoo’ after the time for prayer begins, and pray the obligatory prayer and whatever naafil prayers you want with that wudoo’, and it will not matter if you pass wind even when you are praying.

But if the wind stops for long enough for you to do wudoo’ and pray, then you must offer the prayer at that time, even if that means that you do not pray in congregation in the mosque.

Fourthly:

If going to the mosque will harm you or is too difficult for you, there is nothing wrong with you offering the prayer in your house, because Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning):

“So keep your duty to Allaah and fear Him as much as you can”

[al-Taghaabun 64:16]

“Allaah burdens not a person beyond his scope”

[al-Baqarah 2:286]

Whenever you feel energetic and strong, you can go to the mosque.

We ask Allaah to heal you and make you well.

And Allaah knows best.

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