Salah on 10 hrs flight
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:
Assalam o Alaikum, I am travelling soon from UAE to Australia on a 10 hrs direct flight. the trip is for 20 days. please guide me on how to offer Salah while on flight as i am moving to the eastern side how do i manage there would be time differences. Since i am travelling for 20 days, whether i would offer Salat ul Qasar while on my trip? please advice on this as well
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Answer:
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.
Brother only in your place of residence are you required to offer the full prayers. Everywhere else whether you go for a day or 10 days or couple of months you are eligible to offer the prayers qasar va jamaa (shortened and zohar/asr and maghrib/isha joined). If you have a smart phone, you can easily punch in the city and it will automatically show the time of prayers and the direction of the Kaaba. If not you will have to find out the sunrise and sunset times and then calculate the Zohar timings. The direction of the Kaaba can be found by the help of a simple compass.
In the flight you can ask the air steward to let you know the direction of the flight and then you can approximately guess the direction of the Kaaba. The time at the exact area the aircraft is flying over can also be had from the air steward. Then you must locate an area wherein you can stand and prostrate (mostly where the cabin crew sit near the entrance of the aircraft) and offer your prayers. If no area can be found then you can sit in your seat and say the prayers in a sitting position or change your seat in an empty seat to face the Kaaba. Or you can stand and say your prayers facing the Kaaba without prostrating but making slight movements to mark the ruku and sajdah.
Whatever written of Truth and benefit is only due to Allah’s Assistance and Guidance, and whatever of error is of me. Allah Alone Knows Best and He is the Only Source of Strength. Allah Alone Knows Best and He is the Only Source of Strength.
Your brother and well wisher in Islam,
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