The Ruling on Staying Up Late for Obedience and Missing the Fajr Prayer
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There are some students of knowledge who sometimes stay up at night in prayer or in studying, and they miss the Fajr prayer.And if you advised them, they would give you arguments: They claim that the Messenger of Allah delayed the Fajr prayer once, and they bring evidence that I do not know where they get it from?
No, this is a mistake. It is a great error for a person to stay up at night in tahajjud or reviewing knowledge and then sleep through the Fajr prayer. As for the evidence they cited that the Messenger of Allah missed the Fajr prayer, that was during a journey.And they had settled down at the end of the night and said: [He asked], "Who will watch for the dawn for us?" So Bilal (may Allah be pleased with him) relied on that, but he slept and was overcome by what overcame him. This is not like a person who makes this a habit.
Meaning: We may excuse a person on one night who stayed up working or for other reasons, or who was sleepless and did not sleep, and then slept until the sun rose. Such a person is excused. But making this a habit is not excused, and it is not permissible for him.
Furthermore, it is obligatory for a person, when citing evidence from the Qur'an or the Sunnah, that the evidence matches the situation for which it is cited. If he does not do so, he is distorting the Qur'an and the Sunnah, and applying the Qur'an and the Sunnah to places other than where they belong.
No, this is a mistake. It is a great error for a person to stay up at night in tahajjud or reviewing knowledge and then sleep through the Fajr prayer. As for the evidence they cited that the Messenger of Allah missed the Fajr prayer, that was during a journey.And they had settled down at the end of the night and said: [He asked], "Who will watch for the dawn for us?" So Bilal (may Allah be pleased with him) relied on that, but he slept and was overcome by what overcame him. This is not like a person who makes this a habit.
Meaning: We may excuse a person on one night who stayed up working or for other reasons, or who was sleepless and did not sleep, and then slept until the sun rose. Such a person is excused. But making this a habit is not excused, and it is not permissible for him.
Furthermore, it is obligatory for a person, when citing evidence from the Qur'an or the Sunnah, that the evidence matches the situation for which it is cited. If he does not do so, he is distorting the Qur'an and the Sunnah, and applying the Qur'an and the Sunnah to places other than where they belong.