Questions About Praying as a Muslimah – Need Some Advice
As-salamu alaykum sisters, I hope you’re all well. I’m sorry if this isn’t the best place to ask, but I really need some advice from fellow Muslim women. I was raised in a Muslim home but only recently, at 26, decided to get serious about my deen. I learned how to pray as a child but it was confusing and I would get distracted a lot, so I gave up. I was diagnosed with ADHD at 24 and now that I’m on medication, my focus has improved a lot. However, I still struggle with executive dysfunction and sensory issues, which makes some daily things hard for me. For example, and please don’t judge, I can’t shower every day. I usually only shower if I know I’ll be around people or if it’s been a few days and I start feeling unclean. Since I’m studying online and don’t have a job right now, I’m not around many people. This makes me worry-if I can’t shower regularly, how will I keep up with wudu consistently? Last year I bought big posters with step-by-step guides for wudu and prayer, and I also got a prayer mat and clothes to finally get started. But a few questions are holding me back, so I’d be grateful if anyone can help: 1. Can you pray if you didn’t shower that day but did wudu? What if your hair is oily? 2. Is it okay to pray without hijab if you’re alone at home, since you won’t be around men? I’ve seen people say this but I’m not sure. 3. I see many Muslim women wearing makeup and wonder how they manage wudu with it on. I heard about some special nail polish that’s allowed during prayer-does anyone know if there’s makeup like that? Also, can you pray with makeup on, then pray again later without removing it? 4. When you wake up for Fajr and do wudu, how do you manage to fall back asleep? Doesn’t wudu make you feel awake? 5. How do you handle skincare and prayer? For example, I use tretinoin at night-should I put it back on after praying or just leave it and go back to sleep? 6. I learned Al-Fatiha and another prayer (maybe At-Tahiyyat?) as a kid and try to recite them before bed, but I worry my Arabic isn’t perfect. Is that okay? I also want to understand the meaning better-where do most Muslims learn the translations? Is there a good website? Thank you so much if you read all this and for any advice you can share. JazakAllahu khair!