Is it permissible to delay the Dhuhr prayer until after eating for the purpose of gaining strength, knowing that work hours extend from seven in the morning until three in the afternoon?
The length or delay of one's working hours is not an excuse to delay the prayer beyond its prescribed time, nor to miss praying it in congregation. It is obligatory to hasten to perform it at its due time. As for delaying the prayer to eat food, it is permissible if the food has been set out and one's soul longs for it, based on the Prophet's (peace be upon him) saying: "If the food is served and the prayer time is due, start with the food," and his saying: "There is no prayer in the presence of food, nor when one is being pressed by the two excretions," unless this becomes a habit. A Muslim must reconcile between prayer time and eating. However, if the prayer time becomes so short that there is only enough time to perform it, then it is not permissible to engage in anything else, for "Indeed, prayer has been decreed upon the believers at specified times." (Quran 4:103). Safeguarding prayer at the beginning of its time is among the most beloved deeds to Allah.
Summary from Ftawy's records · added here
Reviewed by El Fatwa's sharia committee.
Read the full answer on Ftawyhttps://ftawy.com/en/questions/30998
Where this answer came from
- Source platform
- Ftawy
- Original fatwa ID
- 30998
- Added here
- . This is when the answer was added to El Fatwa, not the fatwa's date.
- Text
- Summary from Ftawy's records, reviewed by El Fatwa's sharia committee.
- Read the full ruling
- Read the full answer on Ftawy