Question:
I want to ask Mufti, I am suffering from a chronic mouth illness where I would be salivating excessively. Hence, I could not talk normally, then how should I recite the recitations in prayer?
Answer:
Alhamdulillah, praise and thanks to Allah for the many countless blessings He has blessed us all with. Blessings and salutations to the Prophet Muhammad PBUH, his wives, his family, companions and all those that follow his teachings to the day of judgement.
In answering this question, we should first analyse what is hypersalivation.
To further understand the matter of hypersalivation, we include the explanation of a health journalist, Kanna Ingleson through his article titled: Everything you need to know about hypersalivation[1].
According to him, hypersalivation or scientifically known as sialorrhea or ptyalism is a condition of overproduction of saliva resulting in an excessive amount of saliva inside a person’s mouth. Hypersalivation is not a disease but it can be considered as a symptom of another underlying condition. Hypersalivation can be the result of excessive saliva production, an inability to effectively swallow saliva and difficulty keeping the mouth closed. Causes of hypersalivation are:
- morning sickness or nausea during pregnancy
- sinus, throat, or peritonsillar infections
- poisonous spider bites, reptile venom, and poisonous mushrooms
- ulcers, inflammation, or pain in the mouth and others.
Prayer is a commanded worship by Allah SWT where the movements in prayer are from the actions of the Prophet PBUH as the Prophet PBU himself state in a hadith narrated by Malik bin Huwairith RA:
صَلُّوا كَمَا رَأَيْتُمُونِي أُصَلِّي
“And offer your prayers in the way you saw me offering my prayers,”
Sahih al-Bukhari (6008)
Thus, guided by the teachings of the Prophet PBUH on how to pray, the jurists arranged a guideline for prayer which includes the requisites, conditions and sunnah matters in prayer. Hence, in answering this question, which is under the requisite of prayer, we will explain this issue so that we could understand it together.
Basically, requisite of a worship is something that is an obligation and if neglected, then the worship will be invalid. The requisite for prayer is divided into three, which are; qalbi (heart), qauli (recitation) and fi’li (actions) requisites.
Syeikh al-Sayid Abdullah al-Hadrami stated in Safinah al-Solat (44):
القولية، وهي خمسة: تكبيرة الإحرام أول الصلاة، وقراءة الفاتحة في كل ركعة وقراءة التشهد والصلاة على النبي والسلام آخر الصلاة، ثلاثتها في القعدة الأخيرة
“There are five Qauliah (requisite): Takbiratul Ihram at the beginning of prayer, recitation of al-Fatihah in every rakaat, tasyahud and blessings and salutations to the Prophet PBUH with salam, where three of them are in the last sitting.”
Thus, in the five requisites, a person should recite them when praying and the failure to recite one of the five requisites will invalidate the prayer. In explaining how one should recite the recitations in prayer, the scholars detailed it as the following.
In I’anah al-Thalibin, it is stated: “(And it is obligatory to be able to hear) the recitation of takbiratul ihram for a person performing prayer, if he has good hearing and not hindered by any other noise, such as loud noises, (which includes all qauli requisite) which are al-Fatihah, the last tasyahud and salam.” (See I’anah al-Thalibin 3/295)
Qauli requisite should be recited until the person praying himself could hear the recitation. This is what is meant for the recitation of prayer. Dr Muhammad al-Zuhaily state:
أن يسمع نفسه إذا كان صحيح السمع، ولا عارض عنده من لغط أو غيره، فإن كان بلسانه خبل (فساد) أو خرس، حرکه بما يقدر عليه، ويحرك شفتيه ولهاته بالتكبير بقدر الإمكان
“He himself should hear (what he is reciting), if he has good hearing and there is no noise disruption and others. If there is an issue in his verbal capability or mute, then he should move what is within his capability; which means moving his lips and uvula within his capability.” (See al-Mu’tamad,1/241)
As stated above, originally, the recitation should be heard by the person praying himself. However, for those who are unable to pronounce or recite it, then Islam does not force someone to perform what has been commanded. This is clearly stated by the Prophet PBUH through a narration from Abu Hurairah RA:
إِذَا أَمَرْتُكُمْ بِأَمْرٍ فَأْتُوا مِنْهُ مَا اسْتَطَعْتُمْ
“And if I order you to do something, then do of it as much as you can.”
Sahih al-Bukhari (7288)
Furthermore, in this case, it is not an issue to spit out the saliva or spit it on a handkerchief, tissue or cloth. This is as stated by the Prophet PBUH, according to the hadith from Anas bin Malik RA:
أَنَّ النَّبِيَّ صلى الله عليه وسلم رَأَى نُخَامَةً فِي الْقِبْلَةِ، فَشَقَّ ذَلِكَ عَلَيْهِ حَتَّى رُئِيَ فِي وَجْهِهِ، فَقَامَ فَحَكَّهُ بِيَدِهِ فَقَالَ " إِنَّ أَحَدَكُمْ إِذَا قَامَ فِي صَلاَتِهِ، فَإِنَّهُ يُنَاجِي رَبَّهُ ـ أَوْ إِنَّ رَبَّهُ بَيْنَهُ وَبَيْنَ الْقِبْلَةِ ـ فَلاَ يَبْزُقَنَّ أَحَدُكُمْ قِبَلَ قِبْلَتِهِ، وَلَكِنْ عَنْ يَسَارِهِ، أَوْ تَحْتَ قَدَمَيْهِ ". ثُمَّ أَخَذَ طَرَفَ رِدَائِهِ فَبَصَقَ فِيهِ، ثُمَّ رَدَّ بَعْضَهُ عَلَى بَعْضٍ، فَقَالَ " أَوْ يَفْعَلْ هَكَذَا
“The Prophet (ﷺ) saw some sputum in the direction of the Qibla (on the wall of the mosque) and he disliked that and the sign of disgust was apparent from his face. So he got up and scraped it off with his hand and said, "Whenever anyone of you stands for the prayer, ,he is speaking in private to his Lord or his Lord is between him and his Qibla. So, none of you should spit in the direction of the Qibla but one can spit to the left or under his foot." The Prophet (ﷺ) then took the corner of his sheet and spat in it and folded it and said, "Or you can do this. "
Sahih al-Bukhari (405)
Imam al-Nawawi state that spitting while praying is only for those who are praying outside of a mosque (in open lands). For those who are praying in a mosque, then he should use his cloth as advised by the Prophet PBUH. (See al-Minhaj, 5/39)
Imam al-Munawi said that the hadith also proves the permissibility of minor movements such as wiping one’s saliva or sputum on a scarf. (See Faidh al-Qadir, 2/413)
Conclusion
According to the above evidences and discussion, we would like to state that for those who are suffering hypersalivation problem, we suggest them to spit the saliva on a cloth or tissue and then continue to recite the requisite recitation in prayer. Moreover, he can also prepare a container by his side to spit his saliva in the container.
If the saliva is produced continuously and making it difficult to recite the recitation, then he should recite it according to his capability. If he is incapable to verbally recite the recitation, then it is enough to move one’s lips or uvula.
May Allah SWT give us understanding in practising His commandments. Amin.
End note: