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Fatwa CenterSuffering stress urinary incontinence while praying
Question
Assalaamu alaykum. I have a problem of stress urinary incontinence; when I want to prostrate, I feel a drop of urine coming out, or when there is any other pressure on my abdomen, I feel like urine is coming out, should I sit and pray, or should I pray in the regular way?
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.
What you feel might be mere doubts (Waswasah) and not be real. If this is the case, then ignore these doubts and do not give them any attention at all. However, if this condition is verified and you are certain of it, then if urinary incontinence happens to you with every prayer, you should perform ablution for each prayer after its time starts and pray the obligatory prayer and as many voluntary prayers as you wish. You should bow and prostrate normally, according to the view of many scholars of Fiqh. According to some scholars, it is sufficient to gesture by nodding for bowing and prostrating. The first view is the one we choose.
Scholars held different opinions regarding the person who suffers urinary incontinence while bowing or prostrating; can he settle for gesturing as the Hanafi scholars held, or should he bow and prostrate normally, as the Hanbali scholars and others stated? You may choose either of the two views, but the one we choose is what we mentioned, that you bow and prostrate normally.
If the incontinence occurs while you are standing and not while you are sitting down, such that you bow and prostrate normally while sitting down, then you should perform the prayer while sitting down, as stated by scholars of Fiqh 
. Al-Buhooti 
said, "If a person suffers incontinence while standing, he should perform the prayer while sitting down. If he suffers it while bowing and prostrating, he should bow and prostrate normally..." [Ar-Rawdh Al-Murbi‘]
Allah knows best.
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