Praying travelling tayammum
Assalamualaikum ..
1) I’ll be going to travel for some medical reasons via train and as trains moves it would be not possible to pray while standing due to fear of falling …. So can I pray while sitting in train? And if i can then do I need to repeat it afterwards?
2) as a women washing one’s feet for wudu in basins of train would be inappropriate so can I do tayammum ?
3) if due to injury one performs salah while sitting on chair because he/she cannot bow or prostrate like one should do in prayer … Will he/she need to repeat prayer after he/she has recovered from that injury ..?
Answer
Wa alaykum as-salām wa raḥmatullāhi wa barakātuhu.
May Allāh Ta’ālā grant you complete & speedy recovery.
1: Standing in prayer is obligatory. It is not permissible to pray sitting due to an (unreasonable) fear of falling. Alhamdulillah, many people successfully pray whilst standing, and they do not fall. Others stand at the entrances to relax or even queue for the toilet, and they do not slip.
If you are still fearful of falling, you may pray standing whilst holding onto something to avoid falling.
2: The feet must be washed as this is mandatory in Wudhū, and the conditions for Tayammum will not be met, in your case.
We should not follow our flawed reasoning. Rather we should go out of our way to obey the commandments of our Lord, even if we have to undergo a little difficulty. This will attract the blessings of Allāh and we will gain a lot of reward, in shā Allāh.
3: If one is unable to bow and prostrate, then Qiyām (standing) does not remain obligatory upon them.
It’s best to perform the entire prayer including the gestures for Rukū’ and Sajdah whilst sitting down, and there will be no need to repeat the prayer thereafter.