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:

How do you define prayer during working/office hours?

If we are working for time sensitive operation such as Airport, would it be possible to pray in small groups rather then all together which will impact operation/work? can i get some Hadith references

(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:

Prayer in emergency jobs

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 verse 103:

Indeed the Salaat is a prescribed duty that should be performed by the believers at (their) appointed times.

Allah Says in the Holy Quran Chapter 2 Surah Baqarah verses 45-46:

45 Nay seek (Allah's) help with patient perseverance and ‘salaah’: it is indeed hard except to those who bring a lowly spirit.

46 Who bear in mind the certainty that they are to meet their Lord and that they are to return to Him.

The Prophet (saws) said, "The head of the matter is Islam, its pillar is the prayer, and the top of its hump is Jihad in the Way of Allah."

Jabir reports that the Prophet (saws) said, "Between a person and disbelief is discarding prayer."

Related by Ahmad, Muslim, Abu Dawud, at-Tirmidhi and Ibn Majah.

The offering of the five obligatory prayers of the day and night are absolutely obligatory (fard-ayn) on every sane adult believer who has professed belief in Allah and the Last Day, absolutely regardless of where one happens to be or where one works or lives.

If one happens to work in a time-sensitive or emergency operation, the absolute majority of the scholars and jurists in Islam are of the opinion that there is absolutely no harm if the believers offer their obligatory prayer in separate batches in congregation.

Your Question: ….can i get some Hadith references

To the best of our knowledge there is no specific guidance in the authentic and established hadith regarding the prayers of believers who might happen to work in time sensitive or emergency operation….the ruling of the scholars and jurists in this regard would be based on ‘qiyaas’ from the ‘salaat ul-khawf’ or prayers during fear or war as described by Allah Subahnah in His Glorious Quran.

Allah Says in the Holy Quran Chapter 4 Surah Nisaa verse 102:

102 When thou (O Prophet (saws)) art with them and standest to lead them in prayer (during times of war) let one party of them stand up (in prayer) with thee taking their arms with them: when they finish their prostrations let them take their positions in the rear and let the other party come up which hath not yet prayed and let them pray with thee taking all precautions and bearing arms: the unbelievers wish if ye were negligent of your arms and your baggage to assault you in a single rush but there is no blame on you if ye put away your arms because of the inconvenience of rain or because ye are ill; but take (every) precaution for yourselves. For the unbelievers Allah hath prepared a humiliating punishment.

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