Praise
be to Allah
The obligation
to adhere to religious duties (including prayer), according to Islamic
teachings, is based on whether a person is of sound mind. If your brother is
of sound mind, and his disabilities do not affect his mental functioning,
then he is accountable. If his mental faculties are affected to the extent
that he has no power of discernment, or his discernment is weak, like that
of a small child, then in that case he is not accountable and is not obliged
to pray.
If your brother
is accountable, then his disabilities mean that some of the obligatory parts
of the prayer are waived in his case, namely the obligatory parts that he is
not able to do. If he is not able to pray standing, then he may pray
sitting; if he is not able to recite al-Faatihah correctly and in full, then
he should recite it however he is able to, and so on.
For more
information, please see the answers to questions no.
213606 and 50058.
It says in
al-Mawsoo‘ah al-Fiqhiyyah (10/79):
If the
worshipper is able to recite part of al-Faatihah, then the Maalikis,
Shaafa‘is and Hanbalis are of the view that he must recite it. The basis for
that, according to the Shaafa‘is, is the principle “what is possible cannot
be waived because of what is not possible (to do)”, i.e., not being able to
do something in full does not mean that the part that one is able to do is
waived. According to the Hanbalis, the principle is: Whoever is able to do
part of an act of worship must do it even though he is not able to do the
entire act, and there is no difference of scholarly opinion concerning that.
End quote.
Shaykh Ibn Baaz
(may Allah have mercy on him) was asked:
My grandmother
can only memorise a little of the Holy Qur’an, as she makes mistakes in
Soorat al-Faatihah. Some people in our village told her: if you do not
recite Soorat al-Faatihah properly in your prayer, then your prayer is not
valid. Is this true?
He replied:
Her prayer is
valid and she is excused, praise be to Allah. Allah, may He be exalted, says
(interpretation of the meaning): “So
fear Allah as much as you are able”
[al-Taghaabun 64:16].
So long as she has tried hard but has not been able (to recite it
correctly), her prayer is valid. The Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah
be upon him) said to the one who was not able to recite al-Faatihah: “You
may say, ‘Subhaan Allah, wa’l-hamdu Lillah, wa laa ilaaha ill-Allah, wa
Allahu akbar (Glory be to Allah, praise be to Allah, there is no god but
Allah, and Allah is most great).’”
She should try
her best if she is not able to recite it, then she should recite “Subhaan
Allah, wa’l-hamdu Lillah, wa laa ilaaha ill-Allah, wa Allahu akbar, wa laa
hawla wa laa quwwata illah Billah (Glory be to Allah, praise be to
Allah, there is no god but Allah, Allah is most great, and there is no power
and no strength except with Allah)” instead of reciting Qur’an, and that
will be sufficient. As for the one who deliberately omits al-Faatihah, when
he is able (to recite it) but he deliberately omits it, his prayer is not
valid. But in the case of an old woman, or an old man, who is not able to
recite it, then Allah says: (interpretation of the meaning):
“So
fear Allah as much as you are able”
[al-Taghaabun 64:16].
End quote from
Fataawa Noor ‘ala ad-Darb (8/236-237).
So strive hard
to teach your brother al-Faatihah and how to pray, and be kind in teaching
it to him, and let him do whatever he is able to do. If he is unable to
pronounce some of the letters, or he mixes them up, there will be no blame
on him and his prayer will be valid.
With regard to
inheritance, he is entitled to a full share of inheritance. Being sound in
mind and body are not conditions of being entitled to inheritance; rather
every Muslim is entitled to his share of inheritance, even if he is insane
or sick.
And Allah knows
best.