Those whose work requires them to remain at their posts during prayer time: how do they pray in congregation?
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Q: We are employees working at the directory information center of Saudi Telecom Company. The nature of our work is a shift system operating around the clock, where people of all ages call us requesting various numbers, such as government departments, companies, hospitals, residences, and so on. We have a mosque in the building where the adhan and iqamah are called via a loudspeaker for all prayer times. However, we have been asked to perform the prayer in groups. As you can see, our work is not of the type that cannot be postponed, unlike other departments in the same building with similar work, such as the telephone center and the mobile phone center, which perform the prayer as one group at one time. The question is: Is it permissible to delay the prayer in our situation and perform it in groups, especially since there are times, such as Maghrib, when the time is short?
A: You know, may Allah guide you, that congregational prayer is among the apparent rituals of Islam, and that performing it in the mosque is obligatory for adult men. Since there are people in the building with you who perform work similar to yours and they perform the prayer in congregation, it is incumbent upon you to pray with them and to organize the time for performing the prayer
so that those who play around do not use it as a means to abandon work and waste time. However, if there is a pressing need to continue your work while you are a group, it is permissible for you to pray in groups as requested of you. The Muslim must fear Allah in his deeds and strive to clear his conscience of the rights of Allah and the rights of His servants.
A: You know, may Allah guide you, that congregational prayer is among the apparent rituals of Islam, and that performing it in the mosque is obligatory for adult men. Since there are people in the building with you who perform work similar to yours and they perform the prayer in congregation, it is incumbent upon you to pray with them and to organize the time for performing the prayer
so that those who play around do not use it as a means to abandon work and waste time. However, if there is a pressing need to continue your work while you are a group, it is permissible for you to pray in groups as requested of you. The Muslim must fear Allah in his deeds and strive to clear his conscience of the rights of Allah and the rights of His servants.
Source
www.alifta.gov.sa
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.