Mu' meneen Brothers and Sisters,

As Salaam Aleikum wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuh.  (May Allah's Peace, Mercy and Blessings be upon all of you)

One of our brothers/sisters has asked this question:

Asalamu alaykum warahmatullaahi wabarakaatu

First, just want to say great site masha`Allah! your efforts are greatly appreciated.
Just wanted to ask, if your praying sunnah salats and your mother calls you, do you break your sunnah prayer and answer her call, even if it isn`t an emergency situation? Jazakallaahu khair in advance. wasalaam.

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Answer:

Prayer Sunnah or Answer parent

In the name of Allah, We praise Him, seek His help and ask for His forgiveness. Whoever Allah guides none can misguide, and whoever He allows to fall astray, none can guide them aright. We bear witness that there is no one (no idol, no person, no grave, no prophet, no imam, no dai, nobody!) worthy of worship but Allah Alone, and we bear witness that Muhammad (saws) is His slave-servant and the seal of His Messengers.

May Allah Subhanah reward you with the best of this world and the Hereafter for your kind comments of encouragement for our humble efforts in the propagation of the Truth. If our humble and modest efforts have helped even one brother or sister get closer to Allah and His Deen of Truth, then we would consider ourselves indeed fortunate to have been given this opportunity by the Lord Most Merciful to serve in His Cause. We hope, beg, and pray the Merciful Lord accepts our humble and weak efforts, forgives us our shortcomings, and saves you, us, and all the believers from the torment of the Hell Fire. Ameen.

Your Question: Just wanted to ask, if your praying sunnah salats and your mother calls you, do you break your sunnah prayer and answer her call, even if it isn`t an emergency situation?

Ibn Mas'ud reports: "We used to greet the Messenger of Allah (saws) while he was in salah and he (saws) would respond to our greeting. When we returned from Abyssinia, we greeted him [during prayer] but he (saws) did not respond to our salutation. We said to him: 'O Messenger of Allah (saws), we used to greet you while you were in salah and you used to respond to us!' He (saws) then said: 'Prayer demands one's complete attention.'"

Related by al-Bukhari and Muslim.

If one is offering one’s supererogatory prayers and one’s mother unknowing that her child is in prayer calls the child, the child may say aloud in the prayer ‘Subhan-Allah’ (or clap if the one praying is a woman) to make it known to the mother that he is in prayer and will respond to her as soon as he is finished. But if the mother repeats her call and the child senses that it is an emergency situation, there is absolutely no harm if he breaks his prayer and responds to the call of his mother.

Whatever written of Truth and benefit is only due to Allah’s Assistance and Guidance, and whatever of error is of me alone. Allah Alone Knows Best and He is the Only Source of Strength.

Your brother and well wisher in Islam,

Burhan