What is the ruling on staying up late that leads to missing the time of the Fajr prayer or missing the congregational prayer?
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The questioner:
Perhaps one of the causes of this, Honorable Shaykh, is the inability to perform the two rak'ahs of Fajr, or even the obligatory prayer itself. Many people overindulge in staying up late every night. Is there any guidance?
The Shaykh:
This is a calamity that has now appeared among people: staying up late at night. They consider this a continuous habit. Allah, Mighty and Majestic, made the night for rest and sleep so that one can be strong enough to stand in the last part of the night for the voluntary prayer of tahajjud, and so that one can be energetic for the Fajr prayer and active during the day for one's work. However, if one stays up all night or most of it, great harms result, the greatest and most dangerous of which is missing the Fajr prayer, either missing it in congregation or missing it in its time, due to staying up late. This is forbidden, and it is not permissible to persist in it, along with the resulting exhaustion of the body and weariness of the senses, and the person becomes lazy and does not carry out his tasks. He may be an employee required to perform his job duties, but he does not perform them as required.
Due to staying up late, the result is that Muslims must take their rest with sufficient sleep at night in order to be energetic for their religious and worldly affairs. Yes.
The presenter:
Perhaps no one realizes the meaning of the prohibition in this, meaning that staying up late, if it leads to missing the obligatory prayer, becomes forbidden.
The Shaykh:
There is no doubt that what leads to the forbidden is itself forbidden, and the means have the ruling of the ends. If this staying up late leads to abandoning the obligatory duties, then it is forbidden. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) disliked sleeping before 'Isha' and disliked talking after it.
The presenter:
(peace and blessings be upon him).
The Shaykh:
He disliked talking after it; rather, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) would hasten to sleep, so that he could rise for tahajjud, rise for the Fajr prayer, and rise in the last part of the night, which is the time of the Divine Descent. How can a Muslim deprive himself of these great nightly seasons, which are the head of his wealth, his gain from this world, and the opportunity of a lifetime? The Muslim must not waste his time in these late nights, these states of heedlessness, and these bad habits. The Muslim must be distinguished by his religion, his treatment of his time, and his preservation of his time in what benefits him and yields good in the near and distant future.
Perhaps one of the causes of this, Honorable Shaykh, is the inability to perform the two rak'ahs of Fajr, or even the obligatory prayer itself. Many people overindulge in staying up late every night. Is there any guidance?
The Shaykh:
This is a calamity that has now appeared among people: staying up late at night. They consider this a continuous habit. Allah, Mighty and Majestic, made the night for rest and sleep so that one can be strong enough to stand in the last part of the night for the voluntary prayer of tahajjud, and so that one can be energetic for the Fajr prayer and active during the day for one's work. However, if one stays up all night or most of it, great harms result, the greatest and most dangerous of which is missing the Fajr prayer, either missing it in congregation or missing it in its time, due to staying up late. This is forbidden, and it is not permissible to persist in it, along with the resulting exhaustion of the body and weariness of the senses, and the person becomes lazy and does not carry out his tasks. He may be an employee required to perform his job duties, but he does not perform them as required.
Due to staying up late, the result is that Muslims must take their rest with sufficient sleep at night in order to be energetic for their religious and worldly affairs. Yes.
The presenter:
Perhaps no one realizes the meaning of the prohibition in this, meaning that staying up late, if it leads to missing the obligatory prayer, becomes forbidden.
The Shaykh:
There is no doubt that what leads to the forbidden is itself forbidden, and the means have the ruling of the ends. If this staying up late leads to abandoning the obligatory duties, then it is forbidden. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) disliked sleeping before 'Isha' and disliked talking after it.
The presenter:
(peace and blessings be upon him).
The Shaykh:
He disliked talking after it; rather, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) would hasten to sleep, so that he could rise for tahajjud, rise for the Fajr prayer, and rise in the last part of the night, which is the time of the Divine Descent. How can a Muslim deprive himself of these great nightly seasons, which are the head of his wealth, his gain from this world, and the opportunity of a lifetime? The Muslim must not waste his time in these late nights, these states of heedlessness, and these bad habits. The Muslim must be distinguished by his religion, his treatment of his time, and his preservation of his time in what benefits him and yields good in the near and distant future.
Source
قناة «العلامة الدكتور صالح الفوزان»، ما حكم السهر الذي يفضي إلى فوات وقت صلاة الفجر أو فوات صلاة الجماعة؟ الشيخ صالح الفوزان — youtube.com
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.