May I perform my Salaat alone before the Athaan in a mosque because of time constraint?

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 ask Allaah to exalt his mention as well as that of his family and all his companions.

Allaah, the Glorified and the Exalted, has fixed times for every prayer due to His divine wisdom. Allaah says (which means): {Indeed, prayer has been decreed upon the believers a decree of specified times.}[Quran 4:103] So, we are not allowed to perform the prayers later or earlier than their prescribed times. Nevertheless, some concession is granted to a traveler or a sick person as we have mentioned in our Fataawa: 88402 and 85660.

Performing the prayers must be within the specific times of the prayers. If a person calling Athaan (call for prayer) in an area observes the accurate times of the prayer and he calls for prayer at the beginning of its time then one should not perform the obligatory prayers before the Athaan. If the matter is not so and the caller delays proclaiming Athaan then one may offer the prayers immediately after the prayer time begins.

However, one should not miss the prayers in congregation as we mentioned in our Fatwa: 82264.

Allaah knows best.