Interrupting the prayer to respond to the call of one’s parent Fatwa No: 93066
- Fatwa Date:26-2-2007
as salam alaikum, please advice me on the following question if i have started my farad namaz and during the prayer time if i hear my father or mother calling me and if they are not aware im praying ..can i beak the prayer and attend them as there command is next to the command of Allah. Or if its Sunnath or Nafil namaz i can break on hearing their call as they are not aware of me performing prayer. i have a feeling that we can break the sunnath and nafil namaz but not the farad...please help me. jazak allah 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, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, is His slave and Messenger.
If a person is performing the prayer and one of his parents calls him, there are two possibilities:
1- He is performing an obligatory prayer: According to the view of the majority of the scholars he is not permitted to interrupt his prayer unless the parent is in danger and is seeking help and the son is able to help him. This applies to parents and others.
2- If he is performing a supererogatory prayer: Some scholars are of the view that responding to the call of the father or the mother is better than continuing the supererogatory prayer. However, other scholars are of the view that if the son knows that his father or mother will be harmed if their son does not respond to them, then he is obliged to answer their call; otherwise, he is not obliged to respond. This is the view we adopt in Islamweb.
For more benefit, please refer to Fatwa 92284.
Allaah Knows best.