Salat: The Ritual Prayer
General Rules
- The mujtahids say that salat cannot be skipped under any circumstances.
It means that it is not to be omitted whether one is travelling or at home;
even if the time is running out, it is obligatory upon the Muslim, for example
a traveller, to say his salat in a plane, ship, car, or a train whether stationary
or moving; it could be performed any where: in the waiting room, in a public
park, on the side of a road, or at the work-place, etc.
- When it is not possible for the traveller to say the salat in a plane or
a car or a train in a standing position, he should say it while he is seated.
If it is not possible for him to find the direction of the qiblah, he should
face the direction that he most probably thinks to be the qiblah; if he is
unable to prefer one direction to the other, he should pray in whatever direction
he is facing. If it is not possible to face the qiblah except for takbiratul
ihram (the opening "Allahu akbar"), he should at the least say the takbir
facing the direction of qiblah. (See the question-answer section below.)
- It is permissible to ask the airhostess about the direction of the qiblah
so that she may ask the pilot about it. If you have confidence in their information,
you can rely on it even if they are non-Muslims.
Similarly, it is permissible to rely on scientific instruments for determining
the direction of the qiblah, for example the compass, if a Muslim is convinced
about its correctness.
- If a Muslim cannot do wudhu (minor ritual ablution) for the salat, then
he should do tayammum instead.
- The length of day and night differs from place to place. If the day and
the night are clearly known by the rising of the sun and its setting, the
Muslim should rely on the rising and the setting of the sun for determining
the times for salat and fasting. This is so even if that means that the prayers
have to be said more frequently shorter days or that fasting becomes lengthier
shorter nights.
- In some places the sun does not set or does not rise at all for a number
of days or months. As a matter of precaution Muslims should rely on the timings
of the closest city that has night and day in a twenty-four hour period. Thus,
they will, pray five salats according to the times of that closest city with
the intention of qurbat in general [i.e., without saying ada (prayer on time)
or qadha (prayer outside its time)].
- If it is not possible for a Muslim to determine the beginning of true dawn
(fajr) or the midday or sunset for his prayers and fasting, and he has faith
in the timings given by the observatories, he can rely on the same, even if
the scientists running the observatories are non-Muslims-as long as you have
faith in their determining true dawn or noon or sunset times.
- For a traveller, it is obligatory to say salat in qasr form; that is, he
will recite the noon, afternoon and night prayers only two cycles (rak'at)
[instead of the normal four rak'at] provided he travels for forty-four kilometers
or more (in both ways), starting from the last houses of his city in normal
cases.*
There are detailed and specific rules in the Manual of Islamic Laws explaining
when to pray qasr and when not to pray qasr while travelling. (For some rules,
see the questions-answers at the end of this section.)
- Praying Friday salat with due attention to its required conditions is preferable
to praying the noon salat, and is sufficient; that is, if a person says Friday
prayer, he does not have to say noon prayer.
- Praying in congregation (jama'at) is preferable to praying individually.
Its preference is stronger in the dawn, sunset and night prayers. A noble
hadith says: "A salat [in congregation] behind a learned scholar is like [praying]
a thousand cycles; and behind a Qurayshi is like [praying] a hundred cycles."
As the number of the worshippers increases, the preference [and the reward]
also increases.
* "In normal cases" means other than
the major metropolitan cities where going from one end to another is considered
travelling.
