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How can a 20-year-old Tunisian student reconcile academic study (which does not accommodate prayer times and sometimes prevents attendance at Friday prayer) with the desire to obey Allah, taking into consideration the wish to pursue religious studies abroad or contribute to the advancement of the Islamic nation through worldly sciences, and what is the legal priority for each of these?

1 min readAlso available in العربية

Preserving one's religion takes precedence over all other interests. Prayer is the second pillar of Islam, and delaying it beyond its prescribed time is one of the gravest prohibitions, as Allah says: ﴿There succeeded them later generations who neglected prayers and pursued passions; so they are going to meet evil.﴾ (Maryam: 59), and His saying: ﴿Indeed, prayer has been decreed upon the believers a time-bound ordinance.﴾ (An-Nisa: 103). Failing to attend Friday prayer leads to the sealing of hearts, and abandoning three Friday prayers out of negligence causes a seal to be placed on the heart. The temptation of women is one of the most dangerous temptations. Therefore, it is essential to move to a country where a Muslim can preserve their religion and learn the rulings of Sharia.

Summarized from the full answer at Ftawy · reviewed Sep 2, 2026

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