al-Khudri that it was said to him during his illness: "The prayer?" He replied: "It suffices me; action is only in health." Also, because the prayer consists of actions which he became entirely unable to perform, so it falls away from him, according to the words of God Almighty: "God does not burden any soul beyond its scope" (15). Our argument is what we have mentioned from the hadith of Imran (16), that he is a Muslim, of age, and of sound intellect (17), so the prayer is incumbent upon him, like one capable of gesturing with his head, and because he is capable of gesturing, he resembles the original case.

Section: If he performs the prayer sitting, and prostrates one prostration but gestures for the second, while being able to prostrate, while ignorant of the prohibition of doing so, and does the same in the third (18), then learns of it before his taslim, he should perform a prostration that completes the second rak'ah for him, and perform a rak'ah, just as if he had omitted a prostration out of forgetfulness. The Qadi mentioned that the first rak'ah is completed for him by the second prostration. This is the school of al-Shafi'i, and this is not the implication of our school; for when he commences the recitation of the second before completing the first, the first becomes void, and the second becomes his first, and this has already passed in the [chapter on] prostration of forgetfulness.

Section: Whenever the sick person becomes capable, during the prayer, of what he was previously unable to do, whether it be standing, sitting, bowing, prostrating, or gesturing, he should transition to it and continue from where he left off in his prayer. Similarly, if he were capable and then became unable during (19) the prayer, he should complete his prayer according to his state, because what has passed of the prayer was valid, so he should continue upon it, just as if his state had not changed.