Afasia Pasca-Strok dan Implikasinya Terhadap Interpretasi Ketempangan Akal Menurut Uṣūl Al-Fiqh

Post-Stroke Aphasia and Its Implications for the Interpretation of Cognitive Impairment in Uṣūl al-Fiqh

Abstract

Post-stroke patients often experience cognitive impairment, with aphasia being one of the most common manifestations in acute until chronic phase. Aphasia, a language disorder caused by brain injury, impairs speech production, word retrieval, sentence construction, and comprehension. In uṣūl al-fiqh, speech ability significantly affects the determination of a Muslim’s status as a mukallaf, particularly under ‘awāriḍ al-ahliyyah classifications such as al-‘aṭah and al-junūn, which may exempt one from taklīf if speech becomes incoherent and resembles both sane and insane discourse. This study examines the implications of aphasia for interpreting cognitive impairment from both medical and uṣūl al-fiqh perspectives. Using a qualitative approach, data were collected through literature review and interviews and analysed thematically. Findings indicate that limitations in speech ability such as incoherent utterances or reduced comprehension in aphasia subtypes do not necessarily nullify taklīf, as cognitive capacity may remain intact. Acts of worship, such as prayer, by aphasic stroke survivors are analogous to those performed by mute individuals, where valid performance is maintained so long as the mind is sound. Furthermore, the performance of obligatory acts of worship, such as prayer, by stroke survivors with aphasia may be analogised to the case of a mute person or an individual with a physical impairment of the tongue, in that difficulties in producing clear speech do not affect the validity of worship so long as the mind remains sound.