#180: Ruling on Terminating Salāt for Someone`s Call
QUESTION
CAN I TERMINATE MY SALĀT IF MY MOTHER CALLS ON ME?
“As-Salaam Alaykum Waramatullah Wabarakatuh. Is there is an hadith that backs this question up? Can I break my Salāt when mother calls for my attention”
ANSWER
Wa alaykum Salām Warahmatullāh Wabarakātuh
Alhamdulillāh.
If the Salāt you are observing is of the Obligatory Salāt, then it is not permissible for you to terminate your Salāt for anybody’s call, not even that of your mother. Rather, if you feel she would be disturbed, you can either raise your voice with the Takbīr or recitation so that she may realise that you are actually on Salāt. It is also permissible for you in that case to make the Salāt brief so that her heart may be at rest.
The evidence for this is the Hadīth of Abū Qatādah – radiyallāhu ‘anhu – that was recorded by Imām Al-Bukhāri in the Sahih that the Rasūl – salallāhu alayhi wasallam – said:
( إِنِّي لَأَقُومُ فِي الصَّلَاةِ أُرِيدُ أَنْ أُطَوِّلَ فِيهَا فَأَسْمَعُ بُكَاءَ الصَّبِيِّ فَأَتَجَوَّزُ فِي صَلَاتِي كَرَاهِيَةَ أَنْ أَشُقَّ عَلَى أُمِّهِ )
“I used to intend to prolong at the onset of Salāt but when I hear the weeping of a child, I make my Salāt brief out of dislike that I would make difficulty for his mother”
In the Hadīth is proof not to terminate the Salāt for other than dire necessity, and proof r making the Salāt brief if their is difficulty.
It was mentioned in _Ad-Durru Al-Mukhtār_:
” ولو دعاه أحد أبويه في الفرض لا يجيبه ، إلا أن يستغيث به ”
“And if any of his parents called upon him while he was in an obligatory Salāt, he must not answer that call unless if they were in the dire necessity of need from which they needed his help.”
But if the Salāt was a Nāfilah, it is permissible for him to answer their call and terminate his Salāt if he feels that they will not be happy in the end even if they know he was in Salāt.
Imām An-Nawawī – rahimahullāh – said in the Majmū’:
” قَالَ الْعُلَمَاء : كَانَ الصَّوَاب فِي حَقّه إِجَابَتهَا لِأَنَّهُ كَانَ فِي صَلَاة نَفْل , وَالِاسْتِمْرَار فِيهَا تَطَوُّع لَا وَاجِب , وَإِجَابَة الْأُمّ وَبِرّهَا وَاجِب , وَعُقُوقهَا حَرَام , وَكَانَ يُمْكِنهُ أَنْ يُخَفِّف الصَّلَاة وَيُجِيبهَا ثُمَّ يَعُود لِصَلَاتِهِ …”
_”The Ulamā said: what is right in his regards is to respond to her (call) because he was observing a Nafl Salāt and to continue in it is recommended and not obligatory. But to respond to the mother and to be kind to her is Wājib, to disobey her is Harām. So, it is possible for him to less the length of his Salāt and respond to her. Then he can return to his Salāt”_
As for the Hadīth of Jurayj, then it refers only to Nāfilah Salāt as we have explained.
Bārakallāhu fīkum
Jazākumullāhu Khayran
7th Rabi-u-l-thani 1438
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