I am a female student, and when we enter the classroom, the call to the midday prayer has already begun, and we leave the classroom after two hours. During the lesson, I do not understand what the teacher is saying because I am only thinking about the prayer, and I blame myself for that.
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The questioner : I am a female student, and when we enter the classroom, the call to the midday prayer has already begun, and we leave the classroom after two hours. During the lesson, I do not understand what the teacher is saying because I am only thinking about the prayer, and I blame myself for that. My question is: Am I sinful for this delay?
The Shaykh : Praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds, and I send prayers and peace upon our Prophet Muhammad, and upon his family and all his Companions. As for what follows:
Before answering this question, I would like to point out the name of the questioner, as she said her name is: Iman. The name Iman carries a type of self-praise, and therefore it is not permissible to use it as a name. This is because the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) changed the name Barr because it indicated self-praise. The people addressed in that matter are the awliya (close friends of Allah) who name their children with such names that carry self-praise for the one who bears them. As for a name that is merely a label and does not imply self-praise, there is nothing wrong with it. For this reason, we are named Salih and Ali, and the like of them, which are simple names that do not carry the meaning of self-praise.
Then we return to the answer to her question. She says that she enters the classroom when the call to the midday prayer is made, and that the class or study session lasts for two hours, and that she remains occupied during the study session thinking about her prayer. We thank her for this awareness and for the life of her heart, and we ask Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He) for her steadfastness.
We say: The two hours do not cause the time for the midday prayer to pass, for the time for the midday prayer extends from the sun passing its zenith until the time for the afternoon prayer enters, and this is a period of more than two hours. So she is able to pray the midday prayer when the class ends, because there will still be time remaining for her. This is if it is not possible for her to pray during the class time. If it is possible, that is more cautious. And if it happens that the class does not end until the time for the afternoon prayer has entered, and it would cause her harm or difficulty to leave the lesson, then in this case it is permissible for her to combine the midday and afternoon prayers, delaying the midday prayer until the afternoon prayer, based on the hadith of Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both), who said:.
This statement from Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) indicates that whatever involves hardship and difficulty for a person, it is permissible for him to combine the two prayers that are combined with each other in the time of one of them. And this is within the facilitation of Allah (Mighty and Majestic) for this community in their religion.
The basis for this is the saying of Allah the Exalted:[Al-Baqarah 2:185] and the saying of Allah the Exalted: [Al-Ma'idah 5:6] and the saying of Allah the Exalted: [Al-Hajj 22:78] and the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him): and so on, from the many texts indicating the ease of this Shari'ah.
But this great principle is not according to the desires and moods of people, but rather it is according to what the Shari'ah has brought. Not everything that a person believes to be easy and simple is from the Shari'ah, because the negligent ones who do not care about their religion often find what is easy difficult, and they leave it for what their souls desire based on this principle. But this is a wrong understanding. The religion is easy in all its legislations, and it is not easy in the sense of the desires of people:[Al-Mu'minun 23:71].
The Shaykh : Praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds, and I send prayers and peace upon our Prophet Muhammad, and upon his family and all his Companions. As for what follows:
Before answering this question, I would like to point out the name of the questioner, as she said her name is: Iman. The name Iman carries a type of self-praise, and therefore it is not permissible to use it as a name. This is because the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) changed the name Barr because it indicated self-praise. The people addressed in that matter are the awliya (close friends of Allah) who name their children with such names that carry self-praise for the one who bears them. As for a name that is merely a label and does not imply self-praise, there is nothing wrong with it. For this reason, we are named Salih and Ali, and the like of them, which are simple names that do not carry the meaning of self-praise.
Then we return to the answer to her question. She says that she enters the classroom when the call to the midday prayer is made, and that the class or study session lasts for two hours, and that she remains occupied during the study session thinking about her prayer. We thank her for this awareness and for the life of her heart, and we ask Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He) for her steadfastness.
We say: The two hours do not cause the time for the midday prayer to pass, for the time for the midday prayer extends from the sun passing its zenith until the time for the afternoon prayer enters, and this is a period of more than two hours. So she is able to pray the midday prayer when the class ends, because there will still be time remaining for her. This is if it is not possible for her to pray during the class time. If it is possible, that is more cautious. And if it happens that the class does not end until the time for the afternoon prayer has entered, and it would cause her harm or difficulty to leave the lesson, then in this case it is permissible for her to combine the midday and afternoon prayers, delaying the midday prayer until the afternoon prayer, based on the hadith of Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both), who said:
The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) combined the midday and afternoon prayers, and the sunset and night prayers in Madinah, without fear or rain. So it was said to him about that, and he said (may Allah be pleased with him): The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) intended that he not cause hardship for his community.
جمع النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم في المدينة بين الظهر والعصر وبين المغرب والعشاء من غير خوف ولا مطر ، فقيل له في ذلك ، فقال رضي الله عنه : أراد يعني النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم أن لا يحرج أمتهThis statement from Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) indicates that whatever involves hardship and difficulty for a person, it is permissible for him to combine the two prayers that are combined with each other in the time of one of them. And this is within the facilitation of Allah (Mighty and Majestic) for this community in their religion.
The basis for this is the saying of Allah the Exalted:
Allah intends for you ease and does not intend for you hardship
يريد الله بكم اليسر ولا يريد بكم العسرAllah does not intend to make difficulty for you
ما يريد الله ليجعل عليكم من حرجand has not placed upon you in the religion any difficulty
وما جعل عليكم في الدين من حرجIndeed, the religion is ease
إن الدين يسرBut this great principle is not according to the desires and moods of people, but rather it is according to what the Shari'ah has brought. Not everything that a person believes to be easy and simple is from the Shari'ah, because the negligent ones who do not care about their religion often find what is easy difficult, and they leave it for what their souls desire based on this principle. But this is a wrong understanding. The religion is easy in all its legislations, and it is not easy in the sense of the desires of people: