Author(s): Amenah Irshied Al-Oqaili
Persons with physical disabilities are considered to be like other members of society. They have the same rights and duties as other members of society have. In view of the hardships they suffer as a result of their physical disability, it has become imperative for their societies to give them more care and attention in various aspects of life, each according to the degree and type of disability that they suffer. In addition, societies are witnessing a significant increase in the number of individuals with disabilities in general and physical disabilities in particular as a result of factors including diseases, infections, accidents, as well as wars that afflict societies, especially in developing countries, which, according to the United Nations Development Program, are witnessing more persons with disabilities. Ritual purity (Tahara) of members any society should be at the top of the priority list because of its impact on the health of the individuals in particular and the health of society in general. Therefore, Islam gave Ritual purity a great interest and treated all aspects related to it, including the cleanliness of people with physical disabilities. This study aimed to shed light on the issue of the Ritual purity of persons with physical disabilities from an Islamic perspective, and to define the rights and duties of persons with disabilities in Islam. As Muslim-majority countries are mostly developing countries, that calls for a greater understanding and a correct Islamic approach to the Islamic rules related to the Ritual purity of Muslims with physical disabilities and to offer them the opportunity to receive professional assistance in cleanliness within the permissible Shari'a limits. The study concluded a number of results, the most important of which is that Islamic Shari'a gave a special interest for the Ritual purity of people with disabilities and assigned each of them, according to the type and degree of disability he suffers, to do this himself/herself as much as he/she can and to seek the assistance of others if he/she is unable to do so in order to avoid revealing the genital organs.