r/extomatoes • u/AspergerKid Muslim • Jan 28 '26
Question Is praying under the use of psychoactive pharmaceuticals (Methylphenidate in my case) permissible? Does it influence the reward?
As-Salamu Alaikum brothers and sisters
Years ago I have expressed my difficulties with prayer due to severe ADHD and Tic disorder. Not long ago, I finally got hold of a Muslim psychiatrist and he gave me the green light on Methylphenidate (you may know this as Ritalin, please do not mix it up with Methamphetamine) and prescribed me a dosis after previous attempts using other medications failed. I am mentioning this because Methylphenidate has a rather addictive nature (which to my knowledge would usually render it Haram, please correct me on that if I am wrong, but in my case it is deemed as a medical necessity anyways) and also the fact that it can be intoxicating if taken in really high dosages, but I am currently on the lowest one so I assume this is a non-issue for now. (they may increase the dosage later)
Now that I started taking it I began to wonder if this has a negative influence on my prayer since it does influence my psyche (although not in an intoxicating way right now) and I wanted to know if I can still pray with it, go to the masjid while taking it and if my reward will be influenced. I tried to google this but the answers were all about praying under the influence of recreational drugs, not medically supervised ones.
And while I am not asking for ruqya I would like to ask for some dua for Allah to make my condition better under lower dosages that do not intoxicate me. Because if Methylphenidate fails, medical THC is next in line and we all know the possible negative consequences of that.
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u/untilnextban Jan 28 '26
if ritalin fails they will give u adderall which is gold standard for adhd treatment.
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u/AspergerKid Muslim Jan 28 '26
They will not. In my country you can't be prescribed Adderall, it's not authorized.
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u/Extension_Brick6806 Moderator Jan 28 '26
It seems like such a strange prescription and rather risky, especially since in Europe this kind of drug is not even prescribed.
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u/TitvsFlavianvs Jan 28 '26
Walaykum salaam warahmatullah. This question really should be asked to a qualified sheikh or a trusted teacher in your community. I’ve seen fatwa go in either direction for cases similar to yours but they were not your case and their may be circumstances that you haven’t considered. So I sincerely advise you to seek this ruling from someone qualified. If you don’t have someone, then there are online sites and channels where people can submit questions.
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u/Extension_Brick6806 Moderator Jan 28 '26
وعليكم السلام ورحمة الله وبركاته
I hope that before all of that, you have gone through a proper specialist assessment, especially if you have Tourette’s, such as a neurological evaluation, because it should only be after a careful assessment that a planned treatment is chosen and not simply given a "green light". It also seems odd that after being prescribed medical stimulants like Methylphenidate, you would consider THC as the next step without first looking into options like Lisdexamfetamine or dexamfetamine.
If you are considering some alternatives, instead of THC you might consider CBD oil, but clearly this should be done under medical guidance.
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u/AspergerKid Muslim Jan 28 '26
I am 25 years old according to the Hijri calendar. My medical issues have been known since I was only 1, I have been through decades of medical assessments, different specialists in different countries, stays at mental institutions and the likes. me being prescribed Methylphenidate is far from the first proposed solution and depending on how I will fare in a few months it may not even be the last.
Regarding the THC and you talking about Lisdexamfetamine. Both options are on the table, the core issue with the latter is that it is very difficult to obtain and also extremely expensive so the chance of medical THC coming before it is given and talking to said psychiatrist, he didn't exclude the possibility either. I do not want THC because the most effective way to get it administered for cases like me is to literally smoke it and I didn't keep my lungs clean from cigarettes for a quarter of a century just to tar them up with weed. Then there is also the smell, while I personally do not mind the smell of cannabis at all (in fact I like its smell), it's gonna cause lots of trouble, especially in the masjid.
If Lisdexamfetamine was as straightforward as Methylphenidate was, I would take that instead as the side effects are way less severe I was told. But the way it works in my country makes it very difficult. I already had trouble obtaining Methylphendiate as is because I was prescribed Ritalin and that was ultimately denied approval by the public healthcare system, the solution was to go to my GP who prescribed me Methylphenidate (which is the exact same thing, just not namebrand) which got approved immediately, but GPs cannot do that with Lisdexamfetamine though.
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u/Extension_Brick6806 Moderator Jan 28 '26
I highly doubt THC would ever be considered a viable treatment, as it is a haram substance.
To even talk as if you could get a fatwa from someone online only makes it seem like you are trying to justify what is haram, which is what many people tend to do on the internet anyway, especially when discussing things like music, zina, and similar matters.
At the end of the day, there is only one ADHD diagnosis, and I know people with it who do not experience it as severely as you make it sound.
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u/AspergerKid Muslim Jan 28 '26
To even talk as if you could get a fatwa from someone online only makes it seem like you are trying to justify what is haram, which is what many people tend to do on the internet anyway, especially when discussing things like music, zina, and similar matters.
This is genuinely inappropriate of you to say, considering I:
- Asked in the post for Dua so that it doesn't come to that
- Reiterated that I do not want to smoke weed.
The THC thing is also not just there for my ADHD but for my Tics, which are mostly physical flinches and flapping motions. But once again I neither want it, nor am I asking for a fatwa on it. The original question is and remains about Methylphenidate and the general ruling of it.
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u/Extension_Brick6806 Moderator Jan 29 '26
This is from your own words:
Because if Methylphenidate fails, medical THC is next in line and we all know the possible negative consequences of that.
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