If a person is praying and has a bag with money in it, and someone takes it and runs away, is it permissible for him to break his prayer and pursue him, or is it obligatory for him to complete the prayer even if the money is a small amount?

The questioner : One day I was praying and I had a bag with a sum of money in it. I placed it in front of me because my pocket was not large enough to hold it. During the prayer, one of the weak-minded approached it, snatched it, and ran away with it quickly. I was unable to break my prayer to pursue him. So, is my leaving him to take it and run away, in the hope of the reward of congregational prayer, a valid action, or was it obligatory for me to break the prayer and pursue him, even if the money was a small amount?

The Shaykh : The answer in this case is that if the prayer is voluntary, there is no doubt that it is permissible for you to break it to secure your money. And if it is an obligatory prayer, it is likewise permissible for you to break the prayer in order to protect your money and secure it from this unjust aggressor. If you break it in such a situation, you receive the reward of congregational prayer because you did not break it except for an excuse. If you had broken it, protected your money, and kept it for yourself, and then saved this man from this injustice and aggression, that would have been more appropriate for you, due to the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) , which clarified that helping the oppressor means preventing him from his oppression. The important point is that breaking the obligatory or voluntary prayer in such a situation is permissible, because you are securing your money and preventing others from injustice.

The questioner : Even if the money is a small amount?

The Shaykh : Yes, even if the money is a small amount, because leaving it would result in the loss of the money.

The questioner : Yes.

The Shaykh : It also encourages such an oppressor to commit aggression again against others.