A son cleaning his sick elderly mother and giving her a bath

13-11-2010 | IslamWeb

Question:

As Salam Alekum, Is it permissible for a son to look after his sick mother who is on a deadbed and is unable to get up, i mean to say that if there is no lady available to look after her during nijaaz(toilet) can i clean her or give her bath or not. please reply as i am alone and my wife is not supporting me in this case and even no one in my area is ready to serve for my mother in such conditions. Also my humble request from you all waliullah's to pray for my mother's health. Jazakallah Khair

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Answer:

All perfect praise be to Allaah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah, and that Muhammad is His slave and Messenger.

 

First of all, we ask Allaah to cure your mother as soon as possible and write for you the reward of being kind and dutiful to her, as He is the Most Generous. You should know that being kind and dutiful to the parents is an obligation upon the children at all times, and this is even more confirmed if one or both parents reach the stage of weakness due to old age or sickness.

As regards your question, then you should look for a woman to take care of your mother’s affairs and her needs because the disadvantage of a woman looking at the ‘Awrah of a woman is lesser than the disadvantage of a man looking at the ‘Awrah of a woman. In case this is not facilitated, then it becomes permissible for you to take care of her personal matters and help her in fulfilling her needs like cleanliness and relieving herself and the like, while endeavoring not to look or touch her ‘Awrah, but if this is difficult and you have to touch her ‘Awrah, then it is permissible in this case, because the necessity render the prohibitions permissible and the dire need is like a necessity.

Allaah Knows best.