What is the ruling on studying in schools where the student is unable to attend the congregation in the mosque?
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The questioner : There is a problem, O Shaykh. If the time comes, we have faculties and institutes in the university area, and there is a mosque at the edge of the university. When the mu'adhdhin calls the adhan, we are all in the fifth class, in the middle of the fifth class. A few of the students feel uncomfortable that they hear the mu'adhdhin and do not respond. Then the iqamah is called and we are in the fifth class. When we finish, we pray; each faculty prays separately and each institute prays separately. Some of the students, and they are few, feel uncomfortable about this and leave the class, not caring about the university regulations or the teacher who is teaching them, to respond to the call. What do you say about that?
The Shaykh : I say that the curriculum is wrong. It is not permissible for the curriculum of the Islamic university to be like the curricula of the Arab countries, because this phenomenon you are referring to is exactly what happens in schools, whether they are primary, secondary, or university, such that the students are unable to attend the prayer with the congregation. Why? Because the teaching time conflicts with the prayer time. The prayer time is fixed and regulated by the Shari'ah, so the school curricula should be arranged so that they do not clash with the divine methodology. Why is the class placed such that the mu'adhdhin is calling the adhan in the mosque, and then the teacher who is raising the students on the rulings of the Shari'ah does not respond to this mu'adhdhin, and the students do not respond either, except for a few of them? It is obligatory that the teaching curricula be arranged so that they do not conflict with the prayer times. It should be like this.
The questioner : We pray, O Shaykh, at the beginning of the time. We pray after the dismissal.
The Shaykh : Where do you pray?
The questioner : In a mosque specific to the institute or the faculty.
The Shaykh : And that mosque is for whom?
The questioner : This is a general mosque for the employees.
The Shaykh : And not for the students?
The Shaykh : No, it is a mosque for the students in the 'Asr, Maghrib, and 'Isha' prayers. As for the Zuhr prayer, the students have specific mosques.
The Shaykh : Who determined this determination, may Allah reward you?
The questioner : The university regulations.
The Shaykh : This regulation, in that case, is contrary to the Islamic system.
The questioner : Okay, what is the solution?
The Shaykh : The solution is that it is obligatory to remind the responsible parties that it should be arranged so that the teaching time does not conflict with the prayer time. Yes, otherwise, what is the difference between these Islamic curricula and the non-Islamic Arab curricula? What is the difference?
Another questioner : That means advancing the start of the workday. If the workday is at seven-thirty, let it be made seven o'clock.
The Shaykh : That is it.
Another questioner : So ifThe student : He finishesThe student : from the study and heads to the mosque for the prayer.
The Shaykh : Yes, exactly.
Another questioner : It may be a hardship for them to arrive early for the study. It may be that if they advanced it, and I am not responsible, but it may be that this exists...
The Shaykh : And it may not be.
Another questioner : Do the prayer times take precedence over others?
The Shaykh : Yes, welcome.
Another questioner : In Australia, we established an association for the people of the Sunnah and the community and obtained a license. We have a Salafi call there, and there is a Shaykh who is a graduate of the Islamic University, and we have students of knowledge, praise be to Allah. So we wrote a legal will based on the Book and the Sunnah regarding funerals, how to wash the body, how to shroud it, and so on. We derived it from your book, Rulings on Funerals. Now we have printed it, 15 pages or 14 pages, and we are presenting it to your eminence now so that you issue us a permit to print it. May Allah bless you.
The Shaykh : I will study it, if Allah wills.
Another questioner : If Allah wills, Lord of the worlds.
The Shaykh : No, leave it here. Bring me the glasses.
The Shaykh : I say that the curriculum is wrong. It is not permissible for the curriculum of the Islamic university to be like the curricula of the Arab countries, because this phenomenon you are referring to is exactly what happens in schools, whether they are primary, secondary, or university, such that the students are unable to attend the prayer with the congregation. Why? Because the teaching time conflicts with the prayer time. The prayer time is fixed and regulated by the Shari'ah, so the school curricula should be arranged so that they do not clash with the divine methodology. Why is the class placed such that the mu'adhdhin is calling the adhan in the mosque, and then the teacher who is raising the students on the rulings of the Shari'ah does not respond to this mu'adhdhin, and the students do not respond either, except for a few of them? It is obligatory that the teaching curricula be arranged so that they do not conflict with the prayer times. It should be like this.
The questioner : We pray, O Shaykh, at the beginning of the time. We pray after the dismissal.
The Shaykh : Where do you pray?
The questioner : In a mosque specific to the institute or the faculty.
The Shaykh : And that mosque is for whom?
The questioner : This is a general mosque for the employees.
The Shaykh : And not for the students?
The Shaykh : No, it is a mosque for the students in the 'Asr, Maghrib, and 'Isha' prayers. As for the Zuhr prayer, the students have specific mosques.
The Shaykh : Who determined this determination, may Allah reward you?
The questioner : The university regulations.
The Shaykh : This regulation, in that case, is contrary to the Islamic system.
The questioner : Okay, what is the solution?
The Shaykh : The solution is that it is obligatory to remind the responsible parties that it should be arranged so that the teaching time does not conflict with the prayer time. Yes, otherwise, what is the difference between these Islamic curricula and the non-Islamic Arab curricula? What is the difference?
Another questioner : That means advancing the start of the workday. If the workday is at seven-thirty, let it be made seven o'clock.
The Shaykh : That is it.
Another questioner : So ifThe student : He finishesThe student : from the study and heads to the mosque for the prayer.
The Shaykh : Yes, exactly.
Another questioner : It may be a hardship for them to arrive early for the study. It may be that if they advanced it, and I am not responsible, but it may be that this exists...
The Shaykh : And it may not be.
The Shaykh laughs (may Allah have mercy on him)
يضحك الشيخ رحمه اللهAnother questioner : Do the prayer times take precedence over others?
The Shaykh : Yes, welcome.
Another questioner : In Australia, we established an association for the people of the Sunnah and the community and obtained a license. We have a Salafi call there, and there is a Shaykh who is a graduate of the Islamic University, and we have students of knowledge, praise be to Allah. So we wrote a legal will based on the Book and the Sunnah regarding funerals, how to wash the body, how to shroud it, and so on. We derived it from your book, Rulings on Funerals. Now we have printed it, 15 pages or 14 pages, and we are presenting it to your eminence now so that you issue us a permit to print it. May Allah bless you.
The Shaykh : I will study it, if Allah wills.
Another questioner : If Allah wills, Lord of the worlds.
The Shaykh : No, leave it here. Bring me the glasses.
Source
www.al-albany.com
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.