DURING the recent Riyadh Book Fair, members of the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice (Haia) gave permission to a vendor not to leave his corner to perform prayer. They were implementing an Islamic Shariah license relieving those who fear the loss of their money or property when leaving their places for congregational prayer. This situation or this license was unique and unprecedented in its very nature. Can we apply this license to all markets and shopping centers, especially as they may incur unforeseen huge losses resulting from the loss of time and cessation of work? When shops close for prayer, the buyers, men and women, crowd the alleys in the marketplaces causing a lot of noise and havoc. Also, cases of sexual harassment are not unheard of during this time. The only beneficiaries in this case will be the non-Muslim employees working in the market. The closure for prayer also covers pharmacies and gas stations along the highways though the Shariah has allowed long-distance travelers to shorten and combine prayers. For the travelers, this is not only allowed but is favored. A Madinah resident recalls that when he was young, the shopowners and the salesmen used to perform prayer alternatively at the Prophet's Mosque. He said the owners would go to the mosque first and upon their return they would take over allowing the salesmen to go to the mosque. The resident said during this time all the shops would remain open as there was always somebody to look after them during the prayer time. As it is well known, prayer has certain times that Almighty Allah has decreed. For instance, the time of the Dhuhr (noon prayer) is around midday. The Asr payer time is after the end of the Dhuhr prayer until the sun rays become yellow, indicating that the sunset is imminent. The times of these two payers are intermingled. Therefore, we not only have enough opportunity to perform them each in their allotted times but we also can combine them together if we so wish. Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) had delayed the Dhuhr prayer until the time of Asr when the weather was very hot. He said: “Cool by prayer. The noon heat is a breath from Hell.” The Isha (late evening prayer) has a long time margin. It starts from the disappearance of twilight and extends till midnight. It is preferred that this prayer is always performed late. Scholars are unanimous in their fatwa to perform Isha prayer late. Renowned Saudi scholar Sheikh Abdulaziz Bin Baz has said it was preferable for men and women to delay performing Isha prayer until very late. He said it was proven beyond doubt that the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) had delayed performing Isha prayer until late in the night. The Prophet (pbuh), who one day delayed performing the Isha prayer until the end of first third of the night, was quoted as saying: “If it would not be difficult for my people, I would say this was the right time for the Isha prayer.” Therefore if one can delay the Isha prayer until late in the night, it will be better. For this reason I perform my Isha prayer late in the night just before I go to bed. I have not come up with anything new here. This humble opinion which I have expressed has been circulating for long in society but people shied away from publicly announcing it. Most of our writers want this but do not say this in public. They do not want to involve themselves in this headache. Would you believe that at this very moment I am writing this article I started to feel a pain in my head. I have fears that it may be migraine.
