Ruling on interrupting a voluntary prayer when the call to prayer is made
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His Eminence the Shaykh: This is a man who cited evidence that interrupting a voluntary prayer when the call to prayer is made is better than continuing it, whether he is in the first or second unit. His evidence is as follows: First: The hadith of the chapter: (When the call to prayer is made, there is no prayer except the obligatory one),Second: The hadith: (The imam is appointed to be followed, so when he says the takbir, say the takbir, and when he bows, bow,And when he said: Allah hears the one who praises Him,Say: Our Lord, to You belongs all praise).
Third: The hadith of Abu Sa'id al-Ma'la, who said: (I was praying when the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) called me, but I did not respond,So I said: O Messenger of Allah! I was praying. He said: Did not Allah the Exalted say: [Al-Anfal: 24] ),And in the hadith of Abu, he said: (Do not do it again).
Fourth: The hadith: (Nothing brings My servant closer to Me than what I have made obligatory upon him). The questioner says: The sum of these pieces of evidence constitutes a single proof for what he stated. O honorable Shaykh! What do you say about these proofs of his, and are they suitable for citation? Please answer us, may Allah reward you.
I say: The scholars have different opinions on this issue: -Some of them said: It is not permissible to interrupt the voluntary prayer until one completes it, except if one fears that the imam will finish the prayer before one completes it. This is the prescribed position in the Hanbali school, may Allah have mercy on them,And they cited as evidence for this the saying of Allah, Blessed and Exalted is He: [Muhammad: 33],And they said: Interrupting the prayer invalidates it, and Allah has forbidden it,And they also said: If a person begins an act of worship, it is disliked for him to interrupt it because of the turning away from the worship of Allah the Exalted after having engaged in it.
-And some of the scholars said: When the call to prayer is made, it is obligatory to interrupt the voluntary prayer immediately, whether one has prayed one unit or two,And they cited as evidence the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him): (When the call to prayer is made, there is no prayer except the obligatory one).
And the first group responded to this by saying: His statement: (There is no prayer except the obligatory one) means: There is no prayer to be started, because the iqamah is the announcement of the entry into prayer. So now you have a voluntary prayer and an obligatory prayer; do not start the voluntary prayer, and there is nothing in the hadith indicating that there is no prayer, meaning: there is no prayer to be started and no prayer to be completed; it is ambiguous.
As for the evidence mentioned by the questioner: (The imam is appointed to be followed), so there is no proof in it, because the imam was not his imam and he did not enter the prayer with him. He does not become an imam unless he enters the prayer with him, and he has not entered yet.
As for the hadith of Abu Sa'id al-Ma'la, there is no proof in it either; rather, it contains proof that if the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) calls a person while he is praying a voluntary prayer, he must respond to him. It does not address this issue,And as for the fourth: (Nothing brings a servant closer to Me than what I have made obligatory upon him). Yes, there is no doubt that the obligatory prayer is better than the voluntary one, but this man will not miss the obligatory prayer because of the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him): (Whoever catches one unit of the prayer has caught the prayer). So if he is occupied with this voluntary prayer, the obligatory prayer will not be lost on him; he will perform it.
As for what I see in this issue, what I see is: If he is in the second unit, he completes it briefly, and if he is in the first, he interrupts it,And the reason for this is: If he is in the second unit, he has caught one unit of the prayer before it is forbidden for him to start the prayer, and the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: (Whoever catches one unit of the prayer has caught the prayer). This opinion, as you see, is a middle position,Between the one who says: He completes it unless he fears that the imam will finish before he completes it. And the one who says to interrupt it immediately, this opinion is a middle position between the two, and it is the one we choose, and success is from Allah.
Third: The hadith of Abu Sa'id al-Ma'la, who said: (I was praying when the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) called me, but I did not respond,So I said: O Messenger of Allah! I was praying. He said: Did not Allah the Exalted say:
O you who have believed, respond to Allah and to the Messenger when he calls you to that which gives you life
يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا اسْتَجِيبُوا لِلَّهِ وَلِلرَّسُولِ إِذَا دَعَاكُمْ لِمَا يُحْيِيكُمْFourth: The hadith: (Nothing brings My servant closer to Me than what I have made obligatory upon him). The questioner says: The sum of these pieces of evidence constitutes a single proof for what he stated. O honorable Shaykh! What do you say about these proofs of his, and are they suitable for citation? Please answer us, may Allah reward you.
I say: The scholars have different opinions on this issue: -Some of them said: It is not permissible to interrupt the voluntary prayer until one completes it, except if one fears that the imam will finish the prayer before one completes it. This is the prescribed position in the Hanbali school, may Allah have mercy on them,And they cited as evidence for this the saying of Allah, Blessed and Exalted is He:
and do not invalidate your deeds.
وَلا تُبْطِلُوا أَعْمَالَكُمْ-And some of the scholars said: When the call to prayer is made, it is obligatory to interrupt the voluntary prayer immediately, whether one has prayed one unit or two,And they cited as evidence the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him): (When the call to prayer is made, there is no prayer except the obligatory one).
And the first group responded to this by saying: His statement: (There is no prayer except the obligatory one) means: There is no prayer to be started, because the iqamah is the announcement of the entry into prayer. So now you have a voluntary prayer and an obligatory prayer; do not start the voluntary prayer, and there is nothing in the hadith indicating that there is no prayer, meaning: there is no prayer to be started and no prayer to be completed; it is ambiguous.
As for the evidence mentioned by the questioner: (The imam is appointed to be followed), so there is no proof in it, because the imam was not his imam and he did not enter the prayer with him. He does not become an imam unless he enters the prayer with him, and he has not entered yet.
As for the hadith of Abu Sa'id al-Ma'la, there is no proof in it either; rather, it contains proof that if the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) calls a person while he is praying a voluntary prayer, he must respond to him. It does not address this issue,And as for the fourth: (Nothing brings a servant closer to Me than what I have made obligatory upon him). Yes, there is no doubt that the obligatory prayer is better than the voluntary one, but this man will not miss the obligatory prayer because of the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him): (Whoever catches one unit of the prayer has caught the prayer). So if he is occupied with this voluntary prayer, the obligatory prayer will not be lost on him; he will perform it.
As for what I see in this issue, what I see is: If he is in the second unit, he completes it briefly, and if he is in the first, he interrupts it,And the reason for this is: If he is in the second unit, he has caught one unit of the prayer before it is forbidden for him to start the prayer, and the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: (Whoever catches one unit of the prayer has caught the prayer). This opinion, as you see, is a middle position,Between the one who says: He completes it unless he fears that the imam will finish before he completes it. And the one who says to interrupt it immediately, this opinion is a middle position between the two, and it is the one we choose, and success is from Allah.