“Rukhsah” solat among hospitalized patients: Where are we now?

Solat ranked the second among the five pillars of Islam. Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) had taught us about Solat during sickness. As narrated by ‘lmran bin Husain had piles so I asked the Prophet about the prayer. He said “Pray while standing and if you can’t pray while sitting and if you cannot do even that then pray lying on your side.” Having the knowledge of performing Solat during sickness is crucial in allowing Muslim patients to perform Solat despite being hospitalized. This study aims to assess the level of knowledge, attitude and practice of Solat and ablution among hospitalized Muslim patients and its association with the demographic data. This is a cross sectional study among hospitalized Muslim patients at selected hospitals in Malaysia caring for medical, surgical, orthopedic and otorhinolaryngology patients. Patients are required to answer a set of questions carry out by face-to-face interview. The response rate for the study sample was 95.8%. Out of total 385 respondents, 255 (66.2%) were male and 130 (33.8%) females. Mean age of the respondents was 46.89±16.77 years. 45% respondents have at least completed secondary education. 21% (n = 81) respondents know about rukhsah solat. Only 8% respondents received guidance of rukhsah solat that are mostly from the family members. From all the respondents only 67% perform daily five times solat at home and 48% did not perform solat during hospitalization. The mean knowledge score is 17 (max 22), mean attitude score is 41 (max 55) and mean attitude score is 9 (max 12). Knowledge, attitude and practice score are moderate among patients.