5 Common Problems in Solah
Brothers & Sisters,
The excerpt below is taken from the writings of Shaikh Salih Munajjid. It discusses what to do base on maqbool ahadith on the following situations in solah:
- Movement in solah (including evidences for permissibility to turn off one’s ringing cell-phone in prayer)
- How to respond to salam in Solah
- Breaking wind in jamaah prayer
- Praying sunnah when iqamah is given
- Feeling sleepy during Friday’s khutbah
May Allah let us be among those who understand His religion.
5 Common Problems in Solah
A knock on the door when one is praying, or a mother seeing her child do something dangerous
If someone knocks on the door whilst one is praying, or a mother who is praying sees her child playing with an electrical outlet or doing something similarly dangerous, what should be done?
If a person who is praying needs to do something relatively minor, such as opening a door, there is nothing wrong with doing so, so long as he continues to face the qiblah.
The evidence for this is the hadeeth narrated by Abu Dawood from ‘Aa’ishah (may Allaah be pleased with her) who said: “The Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) used to pray with the door closed. I came and asked him to open it, so he came and opened it for me, then went back to his prayer.” The narrator mentioned that the door was in the direction of the qiblah. (Sunan Abi Dawood, no. 922; Saheeh Sunan Abi Dawood, 815).
The same applies if a mother is praying and needs to move her child away from something dangerous or harmful, and so on. A simple movement to the right or left, or forwards or backwards, will not affect her prayer. Similarly, if one’s ridaa’ (upper garment) falls off, the one who is praying can pick it up, and if the izaar (lower garment) becomes loose, he can tighten it. In certain cases, sharee’ah allows excessive movements during prayer, even if this means moving away from facing the qiblah, as is reported in the hadeeth narrated by Abu Hurayrah (may Allaah be pleased with him): “The Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: ‘Kill the two black things while in prayer: the snake and the scorpion.’” (Sunan Abi Dawood, no. 92; Saheeh Sunan Abi Dawood, 814).
Responding to salaam when praying
If salaam (Islamic greeting) is given to a person whilst he is praying, he can reply with a gesture, as was reported from Suhayb (may Allaah be pleased with him), who said: “I passed by the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) as he was praying. I greeted him with salaam, and he responded with a gesture.” (Sunan Abi Dawood, 925; Saheeh Sunan Abi Dawood, 818). The gesture is described in a number of ahaadeeth, such as that narrated by Ibn ‘Umar (may Allaah be pleased with him) who said: “The Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) went out to Qubaa’ to pray there. The Ansaar came to him and greeted him with salaam whilst he was praying. I asked Bilaal, ‘How did you see the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) reply to them when they said salaam to him and he was praying?’ He said: ‘Like this,’ and flattened his hand.” Ja’far ibn ‘Awn (one of the narrators) flattened his hand with the palm facing downwards and the back of his hand facing upwards. (Sunan Abi Dawood, 927; Saheeh Sunan Abi Dawood, 820).
Breaking wind during a congregational prayer
If a man breaks wind during a congregational prayer, what should he do in this embarrassing situation?
He should put his hand over his nose, and go out. The evidence for this was reported by ‘Aa’ishah (may Allaah be pleased with her), who said: “The Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: ‘If one of you passes wind whilst he is praying, he should hold his nose and leave.’” (Sunan Abi Dawood, 1114; see also Saheeh Sunan Abi Dawood, 985). Al-Teebi said: “The command to hold one’s nose is to make it appear as though one is bleeding. This is not lying; it is a form of action that is allowed so that Shaytaan will not convince a person in this situation not to leave because he feels too shy of others.” (Mirqaat al-Mafaateeh Sharh Mishkaat al-Masaabeeh, 3/18).
This is an example of the kind of ambiguity that is allowed and approved of, in order to avoid embarrassment, as whoever sees him leaving in this manner will assume that he is suffering a nosebleed. Another benefit of this Prophetic advice is that it puts a stop to the insinuating whispers of the Shaytaan, which may otherwise cause him to stay in the row or continue praying with the congregation when he has passed wind, and this does not please Allaah. How can he stay when the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) has commanded him to leave? In this case he is permitted either to pass through the rows, or to walk to the edge of the mosque, in order to leave, so that he can go and make wudoo’, then come back and rejoin the prayer.
Still praying sunnah when the iqaamah is given
If a person has entered the mosque and is praying sunnah, then the iqaamah is called, the best opinion in this case is that if he is in his second rak‘ah, he should finish it quickly, and if he is in the first rak‘ah, he should just break his prayer and enter the congregation with the imaam. (Fataawa Ibn ‘Uthaymeen, 1/345). The basis for this is the report which Imaam Muslim narrated in his Saheeh:
“The Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: ‘If iqaamah is called for the prayer then there is no prayer except the obligatory one.’” (Saheeh Muslim, 1/493)
So, if a person has performed the rukoo’ of the second rak‘ah when the iqaamah is called, then he should complete his prayer. If the iqaamah is called before he does the rukoo’ of the second rak’ah, then he should discontinue because what is left of sujood and tashahhud is not needed any more. Moreover, he should break without salaam, and it is enough to have the intention in the heart, contrary to common misconception.
Feeling sleepy when listening to Friday sermon
If a person becomes sleepy or dozes while listening to the Friday sermon, it is recommended for him to change places with the person next to him. In doing this he should be careful not to speak; rather, he should communicate by gestures. The evidence for this is the hadeeth narrated by Samurah who said: “The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: ‘If one of you dozes during the Friday sermon, he should change places with the person sitting next to him.’” (Al-Bayhaqi, 3/238; Saheeh al-Jaami‘ no. 812)
Another hadeeth was narrated by Ibn ‘Umar who said: “The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: ‘If one of you dozes in the mosque on Friday, he should move to another place to sit.’” (Abu Dawood, no. 1119; Saheeh al-Jaami‘ no. 809)
Taken from,
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