Answered by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani
I have been studying the Shafi Madhab. I was asked to wear a heart monitor for a week. I cannot take a bath in the monitor as it will damage it and I cannot take it off. My Menses will finish during this time and I wanted to know – how do I do ghusl since I can only do the following: Only sponge bath for the chest area – no water is allowed on the monitor area. I can flow water from my navel down. And I can use the sink to wash my hair, face and hands as long as I do not get water on the heart monitor. Do I just do a sponge bath or how can one do ghusl in such a situation?
Walaikum assalam wa rahmatullah,
I pray that this finds you well, and in the best of health and spirits. May Allah grant you all good and success in this life and the next.
Allah does not make us responsible for more than we are able, and He has not placed any undue hardship for us in religious matters. The scholars explain that when there is genuine hardship or harm feared from washing completely, then one washes what one can (as best one can) and wipes what one can–and even the wiping can be left if harm is feared from it. [ Ala’ al-Din Abidin, al-Hadiyya al-`Ala’iyya]
Faraz Rabbani