Missing Congregational Prayer for catching train
Question #300:
I commute to my job everyday by train which is 50 kms from home. The time for ṣalāh has arrived but one is praying individually before the jamāʿah starts in order to not miss the train etc.? My train leaves, after maghrib time adhān. If I stick to the jamāʿah, I may miss the train. Also the train reaches the destination after ʿishāʾ adhān.
- So can I pray, in the masjid after adhān, before the jamāʿah and leave to catch the train?
- Is it possible that I can then combine maghrib with ʿishāʾ, to remove the difficulty? This will happen (the scenario of maghrib time coinciding with my train time) for many days or a few weeks continuously
Answer :
Shaykh Abū Bilāl told that if there is no other mode of transportation with which he can reach his home or if it costs him too much to reach his home if he misses the train then it is permissible for him to pray alone after entering the time of Maghrib.
If the adhān of Maghrib happens while he is traveling in the train and he cannot reach the destination except after entering the time of ʿishāʾ then he can pray Maghrib in the train.
And it is upon him to look for another job or he should try to buy a vehicle which removes him from this condition of missing the congregational prayer.
Answered by: Shaykh Abū Bilāl Khālid bin ʿAbūd al-Ḥaḍramī حفظه الله
Translated and Summarized by: ʿAbdun-Nūr al-Hindī