Prayer While on the Plane

23-11-2000 | IslamWeb

Question:

Insha allah, I am an Indian, going for vacation by middle of Ramadan. The flight will leave Doha at midnight and will reach destination by next morning. Time for Fajr prayer will pass during the journey. How do I perform Fajr while I am in Flight? It is known that there is no gathering and shortening for Fajr prayer. Kindly advise Islamic ruling at the earliest.

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Answer:

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

If you fear that the specified time of the Fajr prayer will be finished before reaching your destination, then you should perform the prayer in the flight itself. If it is possible to perform the prayer in any place on the plane fulfilling all its conditions such as Qiyam (standing), Rukoo’ (bowing), Sujood (making prostration) then you should do so. Turn towards the Qiblah when you start the prayer (i.e. when you pronounce the first Takbeer) and try your best to be towards the Qiblah during the whole prayer.

If you do not have any place for praying other than your seat, then perform the prayer while sitting in your place, making gestures for Rukoo’ and Sujood [i.e. bowing down with your head while sitting]. Your Sujood should be lower than Rukoo’ and turn toward Qiblah as much as possible.

Allah knows best.