Mu' meneen Brothers and Sisters,

As Salaam Aleikum wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuh. (May Allah's Peace, Mercy and Blessings be upon all of you)

One of our brothers/sisters has asked this question:

Asalaam walikum wa Rahamtullah

I got married in June of this year. Alhamdulillah it's a good marriage so far. I just have one problem. My husband is not finding a job since May when he graduated college. Because of this I now have 2 jobs in order to make ends meet and I only started to wear hijab a year ago so I need a lot of Islamic or modest clothes.

The problem is that with the 2 jobs I've been missing a lot of my salat. I make up when ever I can and what ever I can but getting home at 12am I am tired. I feel guilty that I've been missing some of my salat but I don't know what else to do. I repent and ask for forgiveness when I do get to pray but I don't know if it's good enough.

Please give me some advice on this. It is stressful enough that my husband is not working. I don't know his intentions. All I can do is take all the financial responsibility and Pray that he get a job soon to help me.

I await your response

Allah Hafiz

(There may be some grammatical and spelling errors in the above statement. The forum does not change anything from questions, comments and statements received from our readers for circulation in confidentiality.)

Answer:

Miss prayers

In the name of Allah, We praise Him, seek His help and ask for His forgiveness. Whoever Allah guides none can misguide, and whoever He allows to fall astray, none can guide them aright. We bear witness that there is none worthy of worship but Allah Alone, and we bear witness that Muhammad (saws) is His slave-servant and the seal of His Messengers.

Allah says in the Holy Quran Chapter 4 Surah Nisaa verse 103:

Indeed the Salaat is a prescribed duty that should be performed by the believers at (their) appointed times.

Allah Says in the Holy Quran Chapter 2 Surah Baqarah verses 45-46:

45 Nay seek (Allah's) help with patient perseverance and ‘salaah’: it is indeed hard except to those who bring a lowly spirit.

46 Who bear in mind the certainty that they are to meet their Lord and that they are to return to Him.

The Prophet (saws) said, "The head of the matter is Islam, its pillar is the prayer, and the top of its hump is Jihad in the Way of Allah."

Jabir reports that the Prophet (saws) said, "Between a person and disbelief is discarding prayer."

Related by Ahmad, Muslim, Abu Dawud, at-Tirmidhi and Ibn Majah.

Abdullah ibn 'Amr ibn al-'Aas reported that the Prophet (saws) one day mentioned the prayer and said, "Whoever guards and observes his prayer, they (his prayers) will be a light and a proof and a savior for him on the Day of Resurrection. Whoever does not guard and obvserve them, they will not be a light or a proof or a savior for him. On the Day of Resurrection, he will be with Qarun, Fir'aun, Haman and Ubayy ibn Khalf."

Related by Ahmad, at-Tabarani and Ibn Hibban.

A man came to the Prophet (saws) and said “ O Prophet of Allah (saws), what is the act or deed most loved by Allah?”

The Prophet (saws) replied: “To pray ones prayers on time.”

The man asked further: “What (deed or act most loved by Allah) next?”

The Prophet (saws) replied: “Obedience to ones parents.”

The man asked further: “What (deed or act most loved by Allah) next?”

The Prophet (saws) replied: “Jihaad in the Way of Allah.”

Related by Bukhari.

Intentionally missing an obligatory prayer is not even given as an option in the deen of Islam! If one accidentally or unintentionally misses one’s prayer through sleep or forgetfulness, one should pray it as soon as one wakes up or remembers it.

One should strive as hard as one can to make intention to offer one’s obligatory prayers on their appointed times, and if Allah forbid, one misses a prayer, then the absolute least one can do is expiate and atone for that lapse by praying it ‘qada’ in the sincere fear and hope that the Lord Most High will accept it.

Whoever sleeps through or has forgotten to pray a certain prayer should pray it when he wakes up or remembers the prayer. Abu Qatadah related that sleeping through the prayer time was mentioned to the Prophet (saws) and he said, "There is no negligence in sleep, but negligence occurs while one is awake. If one of you forgets a prayer or sleeps through its time, then he should pray it when he remembers it."

Related by an-Nasa'i and at-Tirmidhi.

Anas related that the Prophet (saws) said, "Whoever forgets a prayer should pray it when he remembers it, and there is no expiation for it save that."

Related by al-Bukhari and Muslim.

Your Question: The problem is that with the 2 jobs I've been missing a lot of my salat

Respected sister in Islam, regardless of the pressures that the trials of this short and transitory world might happen to burden the believer, unless one is a child, or insane, or unconscious…..there is just absolutely no room or option for a believer who has professed belief in Allah and the Last Day to intentionally miss the offering of one’s obligatory prayers!

Your Question: I feel guilty that I've been missing some of my salat but I don't know what else to do.

The pain and the guilt your heart experiences when you miss your prayers is a clear sign and a manifest extension of your faith and your belief in Allah and the Last Day…..it is only those who feel no pain and no guilt at the commission of a sin whose hearts have been sealed by their Lord!

Your Question: …..but I don't know what else to do.

Respected sister, the first thing you can and should immediately do, if indeed you sincerely fear Allah and the Last Day, is turn unto your Lord in ‘taubah’ and seek sincere repentance for the negligence of intentionally missing your obligatory prayers….if you are indeed sincere in seeking repentance, and strive your absolute utmost to amend your conduct, it is expected that you will find your Lord Forgiving and Merciful.

Whatever deeds one might have done, if one turns to Allah Subhanah in sincere Taubah and seeks forgiveness, Allah Subhanah has promised in the Holy Quran that He will forgive all the sins of such a believer, even if one has committed the gravest sin of all: ‘Shirk’! Not only that, our Lord is so Merciful and Generous, that He not only will forgive the sins of the believer, He will change his evil deeds done into good deeds!

The conditions or ways to seek sincere Taubah or Repentance from the Merciful Lord are:

• One is aware that he has sinned, and feels sorry and ashamed at his sin.
• Makes a solemn covenant and promise with Allah that he will not repeat his sin again.
• Turns to Allah and seeks forgiveness, before he has met with his appointment of death.
• Is a believer and does righteous good deeds thereafter.

Allah says in the Holy Quran Chapter 39 Surah Zumur verses 53-54:

(O Prophet) say: “O My servants who have wronged their own souls….Do not despair of Allah’s Mercy! Surely, Allah forgives all sins. He indeed is the All Forgiving, All Merciful. Return to your Lord and submit to Him before the scourge overtakes you; for then you may get no help from anywhere.”

Allah says in the Holy Quran Chapter 3 Surah Ale Imraan verse 135-136:

Allah likes such good people very much, who, if ever they commit a base deed or wrong their own soul by the commission of a sin, remember Allah instantly, and ask for forgiveness from Him for their shortcomings. For who, but Allah, can forgive sins? (And Allah loves those) who do not knowingly persist in the wrongs they did. These will be rewarded with forgiveness from Allah, and with Gardens beneath which canals flow, and they will reside therein forever! How excellent is the reward of those who do good deeds!

Allah says in the Holy Quran Chapter 25 Surah Furqaan verses 63-71:

The (true) servants of the Merciful are those who walk humbly on the earth. When the ignorant people behave insolently towards them, they say, “Peace to you”; (And those) who pass their nights in prostrating themselves and standing before their Lord and pray, “O our Lord, save us from the torment of Hell, for its torment is killing! It is an evil abode, and an evil resting place”. (And those) who, when they spend are neither extravagant, nor miserly, but keep the golden mean between the two extremes. (And those) who do not invoke any god but Allah Alone, nor kill a soul unjustly, which Allah has forbidden, nor commit adultery… He who does this shall be punished for his sin, and his torment shall be doubled on the Day of Resurrection, and he shall abide in a state of ignominy; EXCEPT THE ONE WHO MAY HAVE REPENTED (AFTER THOSE SINS), AND HAVE BELIEVED AND DONE RIGHTEOUS DEEDS. For then, Allah will change his evil deeds into good deeds, and He is very Forgiving and Merciful. In fact, one who repents and does righteous deeds, returns to Allah as one rightly should!

Allah says in the Holy Quran Chapter 6 Surah Anaam verse 54:

When those come to you who believe in Our Signs, say: "Peace be on you! Your Lord had inscribed for Himself (the rule of) Mercy. Verily if any of you did evil in ignorance, and thereafter repented and amended (his conduct), Lo! He is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful."

Al-Tirmidhi Hadith 2357 Narrated by Abdullah ibn Mas'ud

Allah's Messenger (saws) said, "He who repents of a sin is like him who has committed no sin."

Al-Tirmidhi Hadith 2338 Narrated by Abdullah ibn Umar

Allah's Messenger (saws) said, "Allah accepts a servant's repentance (taubah) till he gives up his spirit in death."

And secondly my beloved sister in Islam, no matter what happens, you must, and as your brothers and sincere well-wishers in faith remind you as we remind ourselves, you must make an absolutely solemn intention that from this day forward you will not miss the offering of even one obligatory prayer beyond its appointed and valid time.

My dear and beloved sister in Islam, regardless if the trials your Lord has chosen for you and your family compel you to hold two or twenty jobs, absolutely regardless of whether the striving to financially upkeep yourself and your family forces you to work from early dawn to last dusk…..it is your absolutely obligatory duty unto your Lord Creator that you take out a few minutes from your time and make yourself available to stand in the audience of your Lord Most Majestic for the five appointed times of the day and the night….if indeed you sincerely fear Allah and the Last Day.

Sahih Al-Bukhari Hadith 4.636 Narrated by Abu Dhaar

The Prophet (saws) said: "Wherever the time for the prayer comes upon you, perform the prayer, for (Allah has made) all the earth as a place of worship (masjid) for you (the believers)."

Our Lord Most Gracious Most Merciful has declared the whole earth as a ‘masjid’ for the believers, thus my beloved sister, wherever you might be and however busy your work might keep you….if the time of prayer comes upon you, take out the few minutes and offer at least your obligatory prayers, and fulfill your duty unto your Lord Creator, Most Majestic, Most Supreme.

We reiterate again sister that intentionally missing an obligatory prayer is not even given as an option to the believers who sincerely fear their Lord and the Last Day.

Amongst the best dua or supplication one may and should make when afflicted by a trial of a financial nature is the one which the Prophet (saws) taught the believers to make; it is expected that their Lord will respond to their supplications and make their trial easy for them.

Fiqh-us-Sunnah Fiqh 4.131b

Ali related that a slave, who had agreed on terms of his freedom with his master, came to him and said, "I cannot pay my master as I agreed in the terms of freedom, so help me." Ali said to him, "Let me teach you the supplication that the Prophet (saws) taught me. If you say it, Allah will cause your debt to be paid even if it be as great as a mountain! Say, 'O Allah, make Your lawful bounties sufficient for me so as to save me from what is unlawful, and from Your Grace grant me sufficient abundance to make me free from the need of all, except You'."

Related by Tirmidhi.

Whatever written of Truth and benefit is only due to Allah’s Assistance and Guidance, and whatever of error is of me alone. Allah Alone Knows Best and He is the Only Source of Strength.

Your brother and well wisher in Islam,

Burhan