Further information:
She cannot sit on the ground due to her weight problem. As, if she sits she cannot get up. So She prays while sitting on a chair & does Sujood while sitting but she raises her hands in the air showing that its sujood but in rukooh she doesn’t do this.
Further information:
She cannot sit on the ground. She can only sit on a chair. That’s why she prays while sitting on a chair. As she cannot sit on the ground, she cannot do Sajda on the ground. She does sajda while posing in a sitting position in salat.
Answer:
- She should offer her entire salat sitting on a chair. Qiyaam (standing) is not compulsory on her, as qiyaam is not compulsory on a person who cannot do sujood (i.e. on the floor in the normal manner).
- For ruku’ and sujood, she will lower her head. It is compulsory that she lowers her head in sujood more than in ruku’. Even if she lowers her head slightly more in sujood than in ruku’, her salat will be valid. She does not have to lower her head as much as she possibly can. However, if her sujood is not even slightly lower than her ruku’, her salat will not be valid.
You mentioned that she raises her hand in sujood to indicate that it is sujood. She should not do this.
If she wants, she can perform the entire salat standing up. In this case also, she will do ruku’ and sujood by lowering her head (while she is standing) in the manner described above. However, it is better (and probably easier for her) that she offers the entire salat sitting on a chair.
(Imdaad al-Fattah: 449; Shaami: 2/97,98, Saeed)
Mufti Faizal Riza
16/4/2012