Disclosing one's disabilities depends on what serves his interests Fatwa No: 362713
- Fatwa Date:25-10-2017
Are people with any kind of disabilities/impairments, regardless of their age, obliged by the Shariah to:
1. Inform the Islamic teacher, in a school or as their private tutor, that they have a type of defect?
2. Inform the shaykh in one's masjid that they have a type of defect if they at times meet with him?
3. Inform the shaykh/Mufti/Islamic speaker online that they have a type of defect before posing their question regardless of whether the inquiry is short or long?
4. Inform a regular Muslim who is wondering why this individual is behaving in a certain way in person or online?
5. Inform a Muslim counselor who is assisting them in person or online?
6. For all of the above, is it okay to delay or keep it a secret if the person with any kind of disabilities/impairments does not feel comfortable sharing that information?
All perfect praise be to Allah, the Lord of the worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allah and that Muhammad, sallallaahu ʻalayhi wa sallam, is His slave and Messenger.
This person is not obliged to inform anyone about his disabilities/impairments, and it is permissible for him to conceal this from all those mentioned in the question and others. The advice we give to him is that he should do what serves his best interests. If it is better for him to disclose his disabilities/impairments, he should disclose them; if it is better for him to keep them a secret, then he should keep them a secret.
Allah knows best.