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Delaying the Prayer Until After One Reaches His Destination

Question

Asalamualaikum, I have a a question concerning prayer and travelling. Is it permissible to delay prayer until after your trip is over and when you’ve reached your destination? Jazakallah.

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  sallallaahu  `alayhi  wa  sallam ( may  Allaah exalt his mention ) is His slave and Messenger.

A traveler who is traveling for a distance for which he is allowed to shorten the Prayer, is permitted to delay the Thuhr Prayer until he combines it with ‘Asr at the time of ‘Asr, and he is permitted to delay the Maghrib and combine it with ‘Ishaa’ Prayer at the time of ‘Ishaa’. This is what is called combining the Prayers at the time of the second Prayer.

If this is what you meant, then there is no harm in this.

As regards delaying the Prayer until its time is over, such as delaying the ‘Asr Prayer until the night because one can only reach his destination at this time, then this is not permissible. Rather, the traveler has to perform the Prayer at its prescribed fixed time according to the manner he is able to perform it, and Allah does not charge a soul except for that which is within its capacity, and the Prophet  sallallaahu  `alayhi  wa  sallam ( may  Allaah exalt his mention ) said: “And if I command you to do something, then do it to the best of your ability and capacity.” [Al-Bukhari and Muslim]

For more benefit on the ruling on abandoning the Prayer or delaying it, please refer to Fataawa 384457, 377344, 88016, 84178, 83565, 87587, 90926, 88690 and 84403.

Allah knows best.

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