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:

Assalamoalaykum!

Please tell me from authentic (Sahih Ahadith) what would be right or  better of the two possibilities regarding 4 rakat prayers being in travel,when one finds a prayer congregation(Jamat) and when one(the traveller) has not been made the Imam(which usually happens) :- 1.Do Qasr(get that short) and offer prayer alone.Or 2. Offer prayer in Congregation (Jamat) without doing qasr, as the resident Imam will not do it, and one will need to follow him till he does the tasleem ? Tell me something else possible in this regard if I am making a mistake.

Jazakallaho Khair! May Allah hold you strong on path(have you Thabit Qadam) for what you and your team has been doing!

(There may be some grammatical and spelling errors in the above statement. The forum does not change anything from questions, comments and statements received from our readers for circulation in confidentiality.)

Answer:

Congregation during travel

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 none worthy of worship but Allah Alone, and we bear witness that Muhammad (saws) is His slave-servant and the seal of His Messengers.

Allah Says in the Holy Quran Chapter 4 Surah Nisaa verses 101-102:

101 When ye travel through the earth there is no blame on you if ye shorten your prayers.

Dear and beloved Brother in Islam, to make the observance of the deen easy, the Lord Most Merciful has permitted and given the option to the believers, men and women, to shorten their prayers when they are on a journey, as stated in the above Verse of Surah Nisaa…..but that does not in any way mean that the offering of full prayers is impermissible or unlawful for one who is traveling.

The Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah (saws) was that whenever he (saws) was on a journey, he (saws) would offer shortened or ‘qasr’ prayers.

Thus if one is on a journey and is praying alone or is made the ‘imam’ of a congregation, then it would be best if the worshipper offered his prayers in the ‘qasr’ or shortened format.

But when on a journey one happens to come upon believers offering their prayers in congregation, although there would be no blame on him if he chose to offer his prayers in the ‘qasr’ format alone, it would be best if the traveling believer joined the congregation and offered full prayers along with the congregation, so that he would be able to earn the multiple rewards for praying in congregation.

Hadrat Abdullah ibn Umar (r.a.) reports that the Prophet (saws) said: "Prayer in congregation is superior to a prayer performed individually by twenty-seven degrees."

Related by Bukhari and Muslim.

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