He suffers from urinary incontinence and intermittent gas; how can he pray when his break time at work is short?

Praise be to Allah.

Firstly:

In the case of urinary incontinence and uncontrollable passing of gas, there are two scenarios:

The first is where there is a time during which the gas or urine ceases, and this time is sufficient for doing wudoo’ and praying. In that case he must wait until this time, then wash himself, do wudoo’ and pray.

 It is not permissible for him to pray before it stops, because by doing that he is praying in an imperfect state of purity when there is no necessity for doing that.

The second scenario is when there is no time during which the gas or urine ceases; rather it is expected that they will occur at any time. In this case he should protect himself from the urine by using a napkin or piece of cloth so that the impurity (najaasah) will not spread, and do wudoo’ for prayer after the time for the prayer has begun, and pray. It will not matter if anything comes out after doing wudoo’, even if that happens whilst praying.

Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyah (may Allah have mercy on him) said:

If a person cannot maintain a state of purity for the duration of the prayer, then he may do wudoo’ and pray, and it will not matter whatever comes out of him whilst praying, and his wudoo’ will not be invalidated by that, according to the consensus of the leading scholars. The most that is required of him is to do wudoo’ for each prayer.

End quote from Majmoo‘ al-Fataawa (21/221).

See also the answers to questions no. 39494 and 244009.

It is not permissible for him in this case to do wudoo’ before the time for the prayer begins, but the scholars have granted a concession in the case of Jumu‘ah prayer, when he may do wudoo’ for it shortly before the time begins, so that he will be able to listen to the khutbah.

The Permanent Committee for Iftaa’ were asked about a man who suffers from urinary incontinence, and has to wait for some time after urinating for leakage to cease; if he waits until the incontinence ceases, the prayer in congregation will have ended. What is the ruling?

They replied: If he knows that the incontinence (leakage) will end, then it is not permissible for him to pray whilst that is still ongoing, seeking the virtue of joining the congregational prayer. Rather he must wait until it stops, then wash himself after that, then do wudoo’ and pray, even if he misses the prayer in congregation. He should hasten to wash himself and do wudoo’ after the time for the prayer begins, in the hope that he will be able to join the prayer in congregation.

End quote from Fataawa al-Lajnah ad-Daa’imah (5/408).

It also says (5/452-453):

If your condition is as described, and you are continually passing gas, then you must do wudoo’ for each prayer after the time for the prayer has begun, and it will not matter whatever comes out of you after that.

With regard to Jumu‘ah, you can do wudoo’ for it before the khateeb comes in, at a time that will enable you to listen to the khutbah and offer the prayer. End quote.

So long as you know that the leakage of urine is not ongoing, you must wait until it stops, then do wudoo’ and pray.

Based on that, you should start to get ready for the prayer approximately one hour before the time for it begins. So go to the bathroom, and protect yourself from urine, then when the time for prayer has begun and the urine has stopped, wash yourself and pray.

With regard to Friday, there is no blame on you if you do wudoo’ shortly before the time for the prayer begins, then go out to the prayer so that you can listen to the khutbah – as mentioned above.

Secondly:

It is permissible for the one who is suffering from incontinence to combine Zuhr and ‘Asr prayers, and Maghrib and ‘Ishaa’, so as to make things easier for him and to ward off the hardship of having to do wudoo’ and take measures to protect himself from urine for every prayer.

Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyah (may Allah have mercy on him) said:

Whenever a person is unable to do any of the obligatory actions of prayer, he is exempt from that. So he should not delay the prayer until the time for it has ended; rather he should pray at the correct time according to what he is able to do.

But according to most of the scholars it is permissible for him to combine two prayers when there is an excuse for doing so, to the extent that it is permissible for a sick person, a woman suffering from istihaadah [irregular, non-menstrual bleeding], or anyone with a valid excuse, to put prayers together, according to the more correct scholarly opinion.

End quote from Majmoo‘ al-Fataawa (21/223).

Shaykh Ibn ‘Uthaymeen (may Allah have mercy on him) said:

If someone is suffering from urinary incontinence and it is difficult for him to offer every prayer on time, then he may put prayers together, exactly as in the case of the woman who is suffering from istihaadah.

Moreover, we have a principle which says: when it is too difficult for a person not to put prayers together, it is permissible for him to put them together.

End quote from Ta‘leeqaat Ibn ‘Uthaymeen ‘ala al-Kaafi (2/159).

Note: doing ghusl on Friday does not take the place of wudoo’, so if someone did not do wudoo’ at the time of doing ghusl, it is not permissible for him to pray with this ghusl. This has been explained previously in the answer to question no. 99543.

And Allah knows best.