The Ruling on Praying in an Airplane and Determining the Qiblah
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The questioner:
He says: Honorable Shaykh, may Allah preserve you, what is the ruling on praying in an airplane where it is difficult to determine the qiblah, given that the travel duration is seven hours or more, and perhaps one or two prayer times may pass? And how is the prayer performed when there is no place to perform it?
The Shaykh:
As for the qiblah, he asks the pilots; he asks the pilots who have experience in directions; he asks them what the direction is, or for guidance? If they inform him, he prays toward the direction they guide him to.
The pilots have experience with directions: east, west, north, and south, which is the qiblah. As for how to pray, if he is able to pray in a place where he can stand, bow, and prostrate, that is obligatory for him. That is, he prays at the exits, he prays at the exits, outside the airplane; there are places where he can pray, where he can play and pray. If he is unable to stand in the airplane, he prays, even if he comes to pray, he sits and prays, facing the qiblah and prays. Yes.
The questioner:
And Honorable Shaykh, may Allah grant you success, in the present time, and after returning from work or study, if a man sleeps, he may miss the 'Asr prayer in
The Shaykh:
It is possible to combine the prayer whose time has entered upon him while he is in the airplane; it can be combined with what is after Dhuhr, with 'Asr, as a combination of delay. He delays until he lands and prays Dhuhr and 'Asr, even if it is at the end of the time, even before the sun sets. Likewise, if he is combining Maghrib with 'Isha' at the time of 'Isha', he delays Maghrib and prays it when he lands, even if it is before the dawn breaks. This is a spacious time, and it is not disliked. But if he is not landing from the airplane until the time of the two prayers has passed, and the time of the two prayers passes during a long journey, he prays in the airplane according to his condition. Yes.
The questioner:
He says: Honorable Shaykh, may Allah grant you success, in the present time, and after returning from work,
The Shaykh:
And likewise, among the solutions to the airplane issue: if the time of the first prayer enters upon him before the airplane takes off, he can advance the second and pray it with it. For example, if the time of Dhuhr enters and the airplane has not yet taken off, he prays Dhuhr and 'Asr at the beginning of the time of Dhuhr, at the beginning of the time of Dhuhr.
Likewise, if the time of Maghrib enters and the airplane has not yet taken off, he prays Maghrib and 'Isha'. There is no contradiction with the legal solutions, and praise be to Allah, they exist. Yes, yes. As for shortening, if he is outside the town, he shortens. But if he is inside the town from which he will travel, have you heard that shortening does not begin until he leaves the town? Yes.
He says: Honorable Shaykh, may Allah preserve you, what is the ruling on praying in an airplane where it is difficult to determine the qiblah, given that the travel duration is seven hours or more, and perhaps one or two prayer times may pass? And how is the prayer performed when there is no place to perform it?
The Shaykh:
As for the qiblah, he asks the pilots; he asks the pilots who have experience in directions; he asks them what the direction is, or for guidance? If they inform him, he prays toward the direction they guide him to.
The pilots have experience with directions: east, west, north, and south, which is the qiblah. As for how to pray, if he is able to pray in a place where he can stand, bow, and prostrate, that is obligatory for him. That is, he prays at the exits, he prays at the exits, outside the airplane; there are places where he can pray, where he can play and pray. If he is unable to stand in the airplane, he prays, even if he comes to pray, he sits and prays, facing the qiblah and prays. Yes.
The questioner:
And Honorable Shaykh, may Allah grant you success, in the present time, and after returning from work or study, if a man sleeps, he may miss the 'Asr prayer in
The Shaykh:
It is possible to combine the prayer whose time has entered upon him while he is in the airplane; it can be combined with what is after Dhuhr, with 'Asr, as a combination of delay. He delays until he lands and prays Dhuhr and 'Asr, even if it is at the end of the time, even before the sun sets. Likewise, if he is combining Maghrib with 'Isha' at the time of 'Isha', he delays Maghrib and prays it when he lands, even if it is before the dawn breaks. This is a spacious time, and it is not disliked. But if he is not landing from the airplane until the time of the two prayers has passed, and the time of the two prayers passes during a long journey, he prays in the airplane according to his condition. Yes.
The questioner:
He says: Honorable Shaykh, may Allah grant you success, in the present time, and after returning from work,
The Shaykh:
And likewise, among the solutions to the airplane issue: if the time of the first prayer enters upon him before the airplane takes off, he can advance the second and pray it with it. For example, if the time of Dhuhr enters and the airplane has not yet taken off, he prays Dhuhr and 'Asr at the beginning of the time of Dhuhr, at the beginning of the time of Dhuhr.
Likewise, if the time of Maghrib enters and the airplane has not yet taken off, he prays Maghrib and 'Isha'. There is no contradiction with the legal solutions, and praise be to Allah, they exist. Yes, yes. As for shortening, if he is outside the town, he shortens. But if he is inside the town from which he will travel, have you heard that shortening does not begin until he leaves the town? Yes.
Source
قناة «العلامة الدكتور صالح الفوزان»، 023 من 123 / شرح كتاب زاد المستقنع / الصلاة / صلاة الجماعة / صالح الفوزان / الفقه / كبار العلماء — youtube.com (1:04:32)
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.