He has seizures whilst he is praying, and loses consciousness for a few seconds; is his prayer rendered invalid?

Praise be to Allah.

If you lose consciousness and are not aware of what is around you, even for a few seconds, then your wudu is broken and your prayer becomes invalid, and you must repeat your wudu and your prayer.

The jurists are unanimously agreed that wudu is broken by losing consciousness, even if it is brief. The same applies if reason is lost as a result of medicine, insanity or anything else.

An-Nawawi said in al-Majmu`, 2/25: The ummah is unanimously agreed that wudu is broken by insanity or losing consciousness. Ibn al-Mundhir and others narrated that there was consensus regarding that.

Our companions are unanimously agreed that if someone loses his reason due to insanity, loss of consciousness, sickness, intoxication from drinking wine or nabidh or anything else, or from taking medicine for a necessary reason or otherwise, and he loses his reason, his wudu is broken. End quote.

Ibn Qudamah (may Allah have mercy on him) said in al-Mughni, 1/234: Loss of reason due to insanity, loss of consciousness, intoxication and medicines that cause a loss of reason invalidate wudu, whether the episode is brief or lengthy, according to scholarly consensus. Ibn al-Mundhir (may Allah have mercy on him) said: The scholars are unanimously agreed that the one who has lost consciousness must renew his wudu [when he recovers].

That is because these people’s awareness is less than that of one who is sleeping, based on the fact that they do not respond to anything. The fact that renewing wudu is obligatory for one who slept indicates that it is obligatory in the case of that which causes a greater loss of awareness than sleep. End quote.

Shaykh Ibn Baz (may Allah have mercy on him) was asked: What is the ruling on wudu for those who blank out for a few moments?

He replied: This is subject to further discussion. If it is a brief episode in which they do not lose consciousness and there is nothing to prevent them from being aware when wudu is broken, then it does not matter, as in the case of one who feels drowsy but does not fall into a deep sleep; rather he can still hear movement. In this case, it does not matter, unless he knows that something came out of him.

This applies if the blanking out does not lead to lack of awareness.

But if the blanking out makes him unaware of whatever comes out of him, as in the case of one who is intoxicated or is suffering from a sickness that causes him to lose awareness to the point that he loses consciousness, this does break his wudu, as in the case of one who faints or those who suffer from epilepsy.

(End quote from Fatawa ash-Shaykh Ibn Baz, 10/145).

Shaykh Muhammad ibn Muhammad al-Mukhtar ash-Shinqiti said: Loss of reason is due to four causes: sleep, insanity, loss of consciousness and intoxication…

The second reason: insanity, which leads to loss of reason altogether. This breaks wudu according to scholarly consensus, as Imam Ibn al-Mundhir (may Allah have mercy on him) and others narrated. As the evidence indicates that wudu is broken by sleep, then it is more appropriate to suggest that it is broken by insanity, because by mentioning that which has a lesser impact, the evidence implicitly includes that which has a greater impact, to which it is more appropriate to apply the ruling.

The third reason: loss of consciousness, which also leads to loss of awareness, and often happens in cases of epilepsy, which comes under the same rulings as insanity in many aspects. Hence it was narrated that there was scholarly consensus on regarding it as being one of the things that break wudu.

(End quote from Sharh Zad al-Mustaqni`).

So if you lose consciousness, even for a few seconds, you must repeat your wudu and prayer.

We ask Allah, may He be Exalted, to heal you, grant you well-being and reward you for what has befallen you.

And Allah knows best.