Fatwa ID: 06834
Answered by: Alimah Jannatun Nessa
Question:
I am a follower of the Hanafi fiqh and I follow it strictly. In my school, our lunch break starts at 1:30 and by the time we start the salah, it’s at around 135 and usually the shafi fiqh salah ends earlier. Now the issue is many of the people who come to the salah room in my school don’t know what a madhab is or have very little knowledge about these topics. In winter times my school does the jumma prayer at 11 00 which is way before the start of jummah and the teacher claims that jummah is like an Eid. A lot of the people then go to jummah before the adhan and pray before the prescribed time as the teacher says jummah is like an Eid prayer. Is this correct and also what do I do to advise him to stop this practice and the people who pray jummah before the adhaan? Can I as the Hanafi then request that they follow the Hanafi madhab as they will have more time on jummah is this acceptable by the ulama consensus?
In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful
Answer:
Eid prayers and Friday prayers are two different prayers. Although there are similarities between the two, they are performed at different times.
Eid prayer starts after sunrise and can be prayed until a bit before Dhuhr prayer starts. Whereas Jummah prayer is performed after the time for Dhuhr salah has started and ends when asr salah time enters.
The duty to observe these prayers will not be fulfilled if they are not prayed at the appointed times and will be considered nafl prayers. Therefore, the teacher must be informed about this issue by a respected local imam or someone in a position of religious authority, such as a scholar or mufti, and modify the school’s current procedures.
Although, indeed, many people do not grow up learning about madhab, it does not necessarily mean that they do not follow one. Rather, many children follow the teachings of their parents or maktab teachers who adhere to a particular madhab. They subsequently discover the madhab they have been practising when they grow older and learn about the different schools of thought.
As a result, rather than requesting that they adopt the Hanafi madhab, it may be more appropriate to encourage them to learn about it, as doing so will also prevent talfiq. However, you are right to request that they permit the salah to be performed at an earlier time that works for all of the pupils, not just a few. The teacher needs to understand that they are responsible for ensuring that every student can practice his or her religion properly and that salah is prayed at the designated times.
Only Allah (عز و جل) knows best.
Written by Alimah Jannatun Nessa
Checked and approved by Mufti Mohammed Tosir Miah
Darul Ifta Birmingham
[Radd ul mukhtar, volume 3, page 53, Daar al kutub al ilmiyyah]
ووقتها من الارتفاع قدر رمح فلا تصح قبله بل تكون نفلا محرما الى الزوال بإسقاط الغاية فلو زالت الشمس وهو في أثنائها فسدت كما في الجمعة.
كما في الجمعة: أي إذا دخل وقت العصر فيها
[Radd ul mukhtar, volume 3, page 19, Daar al kutub al ilmiyyah]
والثالث : وقت الظهر فتبطل الجمعة بخروجه
