Fatwa ID: 07812

Answered by: Moulana Ubaidur Rahman

Question:

Subject: Eat before praying or pray then eat

Message Body:
I have heard the hadith “If dinner is served, then begin with it before you pray the Maghrib prayer.” (Al-Bukhari no. 672 and Muslim no. 557)

There is also one that says “There is no prayer when food is served, and there is no prayer when one is fighting off the two impurities (i.e., when one has to urinate or defecate).” but I’m not sure how authentic this one is.

Could you clarify what one is supposed to do when they are at home, unable to go to a mosque and hungry but maghrib time has just come in? Should you pray first or eat first?

Similarly for non-Maghrib prayers, if you are hungry but Zuhr has just come in for example. Should you pray first or eat first?

Jazakallah Khair for your help and continuous efforts to get people’s questions answered. May Allah reward you humungously.

In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful

Answer:

The Prophet (SAW_ has said in  a hadeeth,

[٥ – الصلاة بحضرة الطعام، أو وهو يدافع الأخبثين]

عن عائشة – رضي الله عنها

 – قالت: سمعتُ رسول الله – صلى الله عليه وسلم – يقول: 

“لا صلاةَ بحضوة طعامٍ، ولا هو يُدَافِعُهُ الأخبثان”، 

 (٥).

“No prayer should be offered in the presence of food or when he is resisting the need to relieve himself of the two filths.”

The topic of whether to eat first or pray first is dependent on many factors. If the food is at risk of going off or becoming stale because of not eating it within a certain time period, then you may eat. If the food is at risk of being stolen or consumed by someone or something else like an animal or becoming contaminated by their presence, for example by the hairs of a cat, then you may eat it. If there is enough time left for you to eat and then pray, then you would be better off praying first. If your mind and stomach are occupied by the constant need and hunger for food, of a controllable measurable level – not just based on the desire to eat, then you may eat first.

It is best to enter prayer while your thoughts and mind are empty of anything else but Allah and your sole focus should be in prayer. While that may be difficult to achieve completely, having a humane need such as a need to eat enjoins priority in such situations as mentioned above, but then a lax attitude should not be adopted and a lazy attitude towards prayer and its compulsion should be avoided completely. 

If you are in a dire state of hunger and in urgent need of food then you may eat first before prayer. Observe the amount of time left for prayer and the time which would need to be taken to eat the food. 

Fiqhul Muyassar, 303-304, Volume 1, Maktabatus Shaamila. 

 [الصلاة بحضرة الطعام]

يكره للمصلي أن يصلي بحضرة طعام تتوق نفسه إليه، والكراهة هنا تكون بشروط:

* أن يكون الطعام حاضرًا.

* أن تتوق إليه نفسه.

* أن يكون قادرًا على تناوله حسًا وشرعًا.

المقصود بالقدرة الحسيّة أي يستطيع تناوله، فلو كان الطعام حارًا لا يستطيع أن يتناوله مثلًا، فهنا لا تكره الصلاة.

والمقصود بالقدرة الشرعية أي أن لا يكون ممنوعًا منه شرعًا، كالصائم إذا

حضر أمامه طعام فالصلاة لا تكره في حقه؛ لأنه ممنوع منه شرعًا

Only Allah knows best

Written by: Maulana Ubaidur Rahman.

Checked and approved by Mufti Mohammed Tosir Miah.

Darul Ifta Birmingham.