Salaamualikum respected scholar, I would be very grateful by your noble response to my questions. My father occasionally offers obligatory prayers before it's correct time eg: he often prays fajr 15-30 minutes early at home and then immediately sleeps saying that he saw an arab man doing so and eventually they know Islam better than others. One morning my father was reading Qur'an and simultaneously drinking tea, seeing that my mother rebuked him but he said that it is normal. Could you please tell us the correct rule concerning these matters? Jazaak ALLAHu Khair.

All perfect praise be to Allaah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah, and that Muhammad is His slave and Messenger.

We have already issued Fatwa 92229 clarifying the starting time of the Fajr prayer, and stated that whoever prays Fajr or any other prayer before its prescribed time which is defined by the Sharee’ah, then his prayer is void according to the agreement of the scholars .

The Fiqh Encyclopedia reads: “There is no difference of opinion among the jurists that whoever prays before the starting time of the prayer, then his prayer is not valid, and he is obligated to pray when its time starts.”

The statement of your father that he saw one Arab man praying before the time of the prayer starts, and that the Arabs know Islam better, then we say that if one Arab did so, his prayer is void, and many Arabs do not know Islam like many other non-Arab Muslims, and the acts of the people – Arabs or non-Arabs – are not evidence but the evidence is the Book of Allaah and the Sunnah of the Prophet . Moreover, we are Arabs and we are specialized in the Sharee’ah, and we tell him that his prayer is void and he is obliged to make it up.

As regards drinking tea while reciting the Quran, then we have not come across any statements of the scholars about drinking while reciting the Quran. In any case, what we can say is that the person who recites the Quran should ponder its meanings while being attentive, and he should avoid anything that may distract him from that. However, if one stops the recitation and drinks, and then continues the recitation, then there is no doubt that he is not sinful.

Allaah Knows best.