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Fatwa CenterPraying Naafilah prayers to avoid parents' anger
Question
What if someone: Normally prays just they Fard namaz but their parents shout at them when they see him/her not praying the extra namaz so when they are in the room he prays those extra namaz so he does not get shouted at. Does it count as minor shirk?
Answer
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 you mean that your parents get angry when they do not see you pray Naafila (supererogatory) prayers and therefore you pray it only in their presence, then we have previously quoted in Fatwa 23080 the statement of Al-Fudhayl ibn ‘Iyaadh 
that “abandoning work for the sake of people is showing off and working for their sake is Shirk.”
For more benefit, please refer to Fatwa 92308 as it explains the meaning of Riyaa’ (showing off) in detail.
But if you mean that your parents get angry when they see you performing Naafilah prayers and therefore you pray it secretly without them seeing you, then you should know that praying the Naafilah prayers in secret is not minor Shirk and has nothing to do with Shirk at all. One who does so will be rewarded, Allaah willing.
However, the parents have no right to prevent their children from observing voluntary acts of worship at all times. Scholars elaborated on the religious ruling on the parents preventing their children from performing voluntary acts of worship. As-Subki wrote in his treatise on dutifulness towards the parents:
“If they forbade him from performing a voluntary act of worship or a permissible act or commanded him to do a disliked act, he should do the following:
1. If they forbade him from observing a voluntary act of worship all the time, then he should not obey them because this constitutes a change in the religion and this is forbidden and they have no right to do so. They actually incur harm upon themselves by commanding this.
2. If they forbade him from performing a voluntary act of worship at certain times, if this voluntary act of worship is not Sunnah Raatibah (regular fixed Sunnah), then it is an obligation to obey them. If it is Sunnah Raatibah, and there is a benefit for them in him leaving it, then it is an obligation to obey them. But if they forbade him merely out of sympathy for him and they are not harmed if he performs it, then their command is merely a recommendation, not an obligation, so it is not obligatory to obey them…. In brief, it is an obligation to obey them as long as they do not command him to do a prohibited act…. It is impermissible to harm them unless this harm results from fulfilling the right of Allaah as the right of Allaah is worthier of fulfillment.” [
summarized]
For more benefit, please refer to Fataawa 84942 and 245677 about the virtues of dutifulness towards parents and the limits on obedience to parents.
Allaah Knows best.
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