sinnott@iastate.edu (Sinnott Susan Buthaina) (05/17/91)
I am interested to know how those of you who work handle prayer. I am at work about 10 hours a day. In the winter, it is often dark when I leave home in the morning and dark when I get home at night. I share a large office with four other people. There is no privacy and little room to pray at the right time in the office. These are the options as I see them: 1. Go to a room somewhere in the workplace that is private and pray. 2. Stay where you are and take a few minutes to pray by "dua" since you cannot pray the usual way. 3. Leave work and go to a mosk or home, pray, and then return. 4. Wait until you get home and make up all the prayers you have missed at once. I would really like to hear from others on this matter. Susan Sinnott
zama@midway.uchicago.edu (iftikhar uz zaman) (05/21/91)
I believe that is very important to pray within the times prescribed for a prayer. I too run into problems when, say I am in a three hour seminar with asr or maghrib in the middle. On the other hand, I have yet to run into a situation where if I explain my need to pray ahead of time, the people haven't co-operated. Thus, often my colleagues and professors will agree to have their coffee break at a time convenient for me and I can slip out and say my prayers. When it has been appropriate I have simply asked my professor persmission to pray in their office. At other times I simply find any convenient place and pray there. I have found it useful to find a place where there is someone to whom I explain briefly "I need to pray here, would it be all right with you?" (eg to a guard) and start praying. This is simply to avoid the remote possibility of someone disturbing me in the midst of prayer--the guard can answer any questions with a simple "he's praying..." Briefly, I think America, at least, is a very open society. People do all sorts of wierd things! If I choose to do something people don't understand at first sight, it's usually not such a problem: with or without explanation. In the end, I also hope both for compassion from Allah and perhaps a little extra ajr (recompense) for following his commands despite somewhat adverse circumstances (eg fear of embarrassment). Iftikhar
mmdh@cbnewsf.cb.att.com (Mamdouh Maher) (05/22/91)
Assalamu 'alaykum, In article <1991May16.170858.27303@wpi.WPI.EDU> sinnott@iastate.edu (Sinnott Susan Buthaina) writes: > >I am interested to know how those of you who work handle prayer. I am at >work about 10 hours a day. In the winter, it is often dark when I leave >home in the morning and dark when I get home at night. I share a large >office with four other people. There is no privacy and little room to >pray at the right time in the office. These are the options as I see >them: >1. Go to a room somewhere in the workplace that is private and pray. >2. Stay where you are and take a few minutes to pray by "dua" since you > cannot pray the usual way. >3. Leave work and go to a mosk or home, pray, and then return. >4. Wait until you get home and make up all the prayers you have missed at once. > >I would really like to hear from others on this matter. > >Susan Sinnott I agree that this is a somewhat difficult situation. When I worked for IBM, there was a Muslim co-worker with an office by himself, we used to pray together, and when he was not there, I used to pray in his office, or in an empty meeting room. Now, I just started working for Bell Labs, and I have not yet found such a nice arrangement. I temporarily have an office by myself, and I am hoping to find someone with whom to pray soon. If I do not, I'll have to hunt for empty conference rooms or tell my office mate that I'll pray in the room. Most people are understanding, the prayer only takes a couple of minutes. While I understand your situation, I cannot recommend substitutiong du'a for salah, not can I recommend that you be late. Salah is an appointment with Allah (God) and the appointment must be kept. I would recommend finding an empty room or else going home. Praying in front of other people is not embarassing, it is da'wa. When your co-workers see you pray no matter what, they will compare that with their non-Muslim friends who talk about worship, and they'll notice a difference, God willing. If just one co-worker follows the straight path as a result, you will have earned a lifetime's worth of reward by a simple act. I remind myself and remind you that there will come a day when the mercy of Allah will be our only shade, and no co-workers, and no friend can affect us then. Assalamy 'alaykum, Mamdouh Maher.
ahmed@ecs.umass.edu (05/22/91)
In article <1991May16.170858.27303@wpi.WPI.EDU>, sinnott@iastate.edu (Sinnott Susan Buthaina) writes: > I am interested to know how those of you who work handle prayer. I am at > work about 10 hours a day. In the winter, it is often dark when I leave > home in the morning and dark when I get home at night. I share a large > office with four other people. There is no privacy and little room to > pray at the right time in the office. These are the options as I see > them: > 1. Go to a room somewhere in the workplace that is private and pray. > 2. Stay where you are and take a few minutes to pray by "dua" since you > cannot pray the usual way. > 3. Leave work and go to a mosk or home, pray, and then return. > 4. Wait until you get home and make up all the prayers you have missed at once. > > I would really like to hear from others on this matter. > > Susan Sinnott Under no circumstances can we miss a fard salaat. So,2. is not really an option. 4. is not advisable because one would be doing it everyday. In my opinion (for what it's worth), the best would be 3. if a mosque is located close enough. Otherwise, 1. would be good. Moreover, encouraging other muslims to do likewise would make 1. the best. The advise I have got from my elders about this is that consider salaat as important as going to the restroom. When it's time, nothing should stop us. May Allah help us all in being regular in our salaat. ... khaleel