Rulings related to ablution of one suffering incontinence
3-7-2017 | IslamWeb
Question:
Assalaamu alaykum wa rahmatullaahi wa barakaatuhu, Shaykh. I had asked the following question and was given a link; I read it, praise be to Allaah, but I still feel the need of it being answered. Please, if you can do so, Shaykh. Here it is:
I suffer from wind passing illness; hence, I renew my ablution after once the time for prayer begins. I read that for the Dhuha prayer, such a person cannot pray with their ablution of the Fajr. I want to know whether there is an opinion that allows one to pray with their ablution of the Fajr. The Dhuha prayer is not an obligatory prayer, and the Eid prayer is also not an obligatory prayer for women, and I heard that such a person needs to renew their ablution for obligatory prayers only. Hence, the ablution remains valid all the way until the person wants to pray the next obligatory prayer, and it does not become invalid by the end time of that prayer or by the start time of next prayer. Rather, such a person remains in the state of ablution but needs to renew it for every obligatory prayer; is that true? Hence, if such a person is travelling and combines prayers, for example, the ‘Asr with the Dhuhr, then the person remains in the state of ablution from the Dhuhr all the way until the person is to perform the Maghrib and then must renew their ablution to pray the Maghrib prayer. Am I right, Shaykh? I read that there is a difference of opinion on this subject; a group says that the ablution becomes invalid when the prayer time ends, and others say that it gets invalidated when the next prayer time begins, and I heard that the ablution does not get invalidated but that one rather needs to renew their ablution for an obligatory prayer only. Please advise regarding which is the more correct view based on evidence, and if you could provide evidence for the different opinions?May Allaah reward you, Shaykh
Answer:
All perfect praise be to Allah, The Lord of the worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allah and that Muhammad, sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, is His slave and Messenger.
First of all, you should know that the Maaliki view, which is also the chosen view of Shaykul-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah 
is that the ablution of the person who suffers from incontinence (continuous uncontrolled passing of wind, urine, etc.) is not invalidated by his discharge of impurity. He is not required to perform ablution except when his ablution is invalidated with his own choice (not because of his condition). Please, refer to fatwa 330445. Based on this scholarly view, the matter is quite clear: the person who suffers from incontinence should perform ablution for the Fajr prayer, for example, and if he retained his ablution until Thuhr, it is permissible for him to pray the Dhuha and the Thuhr with the same ablution (that of the Fajr).
That was the view of the Maaliki scholars. As for the view of the majority of the scholars, they held that the person who suffers from incontinence is required to perform ablution for each obligatory prayer. They held different views as to whether his ablution is invalidated by the end or the beginning of the prayer time, and both views are valid in the Hanbali school (according the view that ablution is invalidated by the end of the prayer time, his ablution is invalidated by the rise of the sun, but according to the view that ablution is invalidated by the beginning of the prayer time, his ablution is invalidation by the beginning of the Thuhr prayer).
Shaykh Ibn ‘Uthaymeen believed that the most likely correct view in this regard is that the person who suffers from incontinence should perform a separate ablution for the Dhuha prayer because it has a specific time interval within which it is to be performed. He was asked, “Is it permissible for that woman to pray the Dhuha with the ablution that she performed for the Fajr?”
He replied, “It is not permissible because the Dhuha prayer has a certain time frame, so it is essential to perform ablution for it after its time begins. This woman is like one who suffers from Istihaadhah (non-menstrual vaginal bleeding), and the Prophet, sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, commanded the woman who suffered from Istihaadhah to perform ablution for each prayer.” There is no doubt that this is the more prudent thing to do in order to be on the safe side in terms of clearing oneself of their liability. The lay-Muslim is required to follow the opinions of a reliable scholar whose knowledge and righteousness he trusts.
The scholars who held that it is allowed for the person who suffers from incontinence to combine two prayers (Thuhr and ‘Asr together, and Maghrib and ‘Ishaa' together) are the Hanbalis, but the conditions required for combining the prayers according to the Hanbali view must be fulfilled in this case, one of which is performing the two combined prayers right after each other. We could not find any statement of the Hanbali scholars on whether the ablution of a person with incontinence who performs Thuhr and 'Asr at the time of the Thuhr is invalidated by the end of the time of the Thuhr prayer or not. As for the scholars who held that it is not allowed for him to combine the prayers, such as the Shaafi‘is and Hanafis, their view in this regard is clear.
Allah knows best.