The prayer during times of fear or danger (Salatul Khauf)
The scholars are all in agreement about the legality of
"fear prayer" (salatul Khauf). The Qur'an says:
"When You (O Prophet) are with them, and stand to lead
them in prayer, let one party of them stand up (in prayer)
with you, taking their arms with them. When they finish
prostrations, let them take their position in the rear. And
let the other party come up which has not yet prayed - and let
them pray with you, taking all precautions, and bearing arms:
the unbelievers wish if you were negligent of your arms and
your baggage, to assault you in a single rush. But there is no
blame on you if you put away your arms because of the
inconvenience of rain or because you are ill; but take (every)
precaution for yourselves. For the unbelievers Allah has
prepared humiliating punishment."
On this subject Imam Ahmad says: "There are six or
seven confirmed hadith about 'salatul khauf,' and whichever
way one performs it, it will be valid."
Ibn al-Qayyim says: "Basically, there are six ways to
pray salatal khauf, although some say there are more than (six
ways of praying it). Whenever they notice any difference in
the narration of an incident, they describe it as a difference
[in the manner of prayer] thus coming to seventeen ways. This
might be due to different acts of the Prophet or simply to
differences in the narrations." Al-Hafiz says: "This
is the true position and its explanation is given below.
-1- If the enemy is not in the direction of the qiblah,
then the imam should lead a group in the performance of one
rak'ah after which he should wait until they complete the
second rak'ah by themselves, and then, they should go and face
the enemy. And the second group should come and the imam would
lead them in salah while he is performing his second rak'ah.
He should again wait for them to complete another rak'ah by
themselves before leading them in the salutations.
Saleh ibn Khawat relates from Saleh ibn Abu Khaithimah that
a group lined up with the Prophet sallallahu alehi wasallam
while another group faced the enemy. He prayed one rak'ah with
the group that was with him and remained standing while they
finished the salah and left and faced the enemy. The second
group came and prayed the remaining rak'ah with him, then he
stayed sitting until they had completed their prayers
individually, after which he led them in making the taslim.
This is related by the group, except for Ibn Majah.
-2- If the enemy is not in the direction of the qiblah,
then, the imam prays one rak'ah with one group of the army
while the other group faces the enemy, after which the two
groups exchange places, and the imam prays one rak'ah with the
second group. The members of each group will complete one
rak'ah of their prayers on their own.
Ibn 'Umar says: "The Messenger of Allah prayed one
rak'ah with one group while the other group faced the enemy,
[At that point, those who had prayed] took the place of their
companions facing the enemy and the second group came and
prayed one rak'ah with the Prophet and then he made the taslim.
Then each group made (the remaining) one rak'ah." This is
related by al-Bukhari, Muslim, and Ahmad. It is apparent that
the second group completed their salah after the imam made the
taslim without discontinuing their salah (i.e., for them, it
was two continuous rak'at), and the first group did not
complete their salah until the second group had completed
their salah and went back to face the enemy. Ibn Mas'ud says:
"Then, he made the taslim and they stood up to finish the
second rak'ah individually and, then they made their taslim."
-3- The imam prays two rak'at with each group, the first
two rak'at being his fard salah and the latter two being nafl.
It is allowed for one who is making a nafl to lead others in
salah who are praying fard. Jabir reports that the Prophet
prayed two rak'at with one group of his companions and then
another two rak'at with another group and then he made the
taslim. This is related by ash-Shaf'i and an-Nasa'i.
Abu Dawud, Ahmad, and an-Nasa'i record that he said:
"The Prophet prayed the salatul Khauf with us, and he
prayed two rak'at with some of his companions, and then the
others came and took their places and he prayed two rak'at
with them, and he made the taslim. So, the Prophet prayed four
rak'at and the people prayed two rak'at each."
Ahmad, al-Bukhari, and Muslim record that he said: "We
were with the Prophet during the campaign of Zhat al-Riqa and
the salah was made, and he prayed two rak'at with one group
and then they withdrew, and he led the other group in two
rak'at. The Prophet prayed four rak'at and the people prayed
two rak'at."
-4- If the enemy is in the direction of the qiblah, then
the imam leads both of the groups in salah at the same time
and they share in guarding against the enemy, and they follow
the imam in every one of his actions until he performs sajdah,
in which case one group will make the sajdah with him and the
other will wait until they are finished and then perform their
own sujjud. After the first rak'ah is finished, the people in
front will move to the back and those in the back will move to
the front.
Jabir said: "I prayed salatul khauf (fear prayer) with
the Prophet. He arranged us in two rows behind him. The enemy
was between us and the qiblah. The Prophet sallallahu alehi
wasallam made the takbir and we all made the takbir. He
performed the ruku' and we all made the ruku'. Then, he raised
his head from the ruku' and we all raised our heads from the
ruku'. Next he went down for sajdah as well as the row closest
to him, while the back row stood facing the enemy until the
Prophet and the first row had completed their prostrations,
after which the back row made sajdah and then stood [after
completing their sajjud]. Following this, those in the back
row moved to the front while those in the front row moved to
the back. The Prophet performed the ruku' and we all made ruku'.
Then, he raised his head and we raised our heads from ruku.
Afterward, he made the sajdah and the row that was previously
in the back during the first rak'ah prostrated with him while
the [new] back row stood facing the enemy. When the Prophet
and the [new] front row had completed their sujjud, the [new]
back row made the sujjud. Finally, the Prophet made the taslim
and we all made the taslim. This is related by Ahmad, Muslim,
an-Nasa'i, Ibn Majah, and al-Baihaqi.
-5- Both of the groups begin the prayer with the imam, and
then one group would guard against the enemy while the other
group would pray one rak'ah with the imam, after which they
would face the enemy while the other group would come and pray
one rak'ah by themselves (individually) while the imam is
standing. Then, they would join him in what is the imam's and
their second rak'ah. At that point, the group which had gone
to face the enemy would come and pray one rak'ah (their
second) individually while the others would be sitting (in
salah waiting for them to sit in their second rak'ah), after
which the imam would make the taslim and both groups would
make the taslim together [behind the imam].
Abu Huraira reports: "I prayed salatul khauf with the
Messenger of Allah during the year of the Battle of Najd. He
stood to pray 'asr and one group stood with him while the
other group was faced the enemy with their backs toward the
qiblah. When he made the takbir, all the people made the
takbir- that is, those with him and those facing the enemy.
Then, he performed one rak'ah and the group with him also
performed their ruku' and sujjud with him while the others
were still facing the enemy. Next, the group which was with
the Prophet went to face the enemy while the other group came
and prayed one rak'ah and the Prophet kept standing [in
prayer] as he was. Then, he performed the ruku' and the new
group performed the ruku' with him and he performed the sajdah
and they performed the sajdah with him. After this, the group
which had gone to face the enemy came and prayed one rak'ah
while the Prophet and those with him were sitting [in prayer].
Finally, the Prophet made taslim and both groups made the
taslim with him. The Prophet prayed two rak'at and both groups
prayed two rak'at." This is related by Ahmad, Abu Dawud,
and an-Nasa' i .
-6- Each group prays only one rak'ah with the imam and the
imam prays a total of two rak'at whereas each group prays one.
Ibn 'Abbas reports that the Prophet prayed at Zhi-qard, and he
arranged the people into two rows, one row behind him and one
row guarding against the enemy. The group behind him prayed
one rak'ah (with him) and then left the place to the other
group. The other group then came and prayed one rak'ah (with
the Prophet), and [neither group] made up a rak'ah. This is
related by anNasa'i and Ibn Hibban. Ibn 'Abbas also says:
"Allah made the prayer obligatory on your Prophet [in the
following manner]: four rak'at while resident, two while
traveling, and only one during times of fear." This is
related by Ahmad, Muslim, Abu Dawud, and an-Nasa'i.
The sunset prayer is not to be shortened and there is no
hadith which states how it is to be prayed during times of
fear. Therefore, the scholars differ over how it is to be
performed. The Hanafi and Maliki schools say that the imam is
to pray two rak'at with the first group and then one rak'ah
with the second group. Ash-Shaf'i and Ahmad say it is
permissible for the imam to pray one rak'ah with the first
group and then two rak'at with the second group as it has been
related that 'Ali performed it in that manner.
If the fear [of the enemy] is great or fighting is taking
place, each person is to pray individually to the best of his
ability - that is, standing or riding, facing the qiblah or
not facing the qiblah, making gestures for the ruku' and
sajjud- whatever he can do. He should make the gesture for his
sajjud lower than that for his ruku'. He is excused from any
of the acts of salah which he is unable to perform.
Ibn 'Umar relates: "The Prophet described salatul
khauf and said: 'If the danger is greater than that, then
[pray] standing or riding."'
In Sahih al-Bukhari, the wording is: "If the danger is
greater than that, then pray while standing on your feet or
riding, facing the qiblah or not facing the qiblah." In
Muslim's version, Ibn 'Umar is reported to have said: "If
the danger is greater than that, then pray standing or riding
and by making gestures."
If one is attacking the enemy and fears that he will miss
the time of salah, he may pray by making gestures even if he
is moving in a direction other than that of the qiblah. The
case of the one who is being attacked is the same as the one
who is attacking. The same is the case for anyone whose enemy
prevents him from making the ruku' or the sajdah or a person
who fears for himself or his family or his wealth from an
enemy or a thief or a wild animal; in all such cases, the
person may [if necessary] pray by making gestures and facing
any direction. Al-'Iraqi writes: "The same applies to
anyone who is fleeing from a flood or fire and has no other
option open to him. The same is true for one who is in
straitened conditions and is in debt and cannot pay it and he
fears that his debtor might catch him and imprison him while
not believing his claim. This applies also to one who fears a
punishment of qisas and hopes that by his absence the
prosecuting party's anger will abate and they will forgive
him."
'Abdullah ibn Unais reports: "The Messenger of Allah
sent me to Khalid ibn Sufyan al-Hazhili, who was close to
'Arafat, and said: 'Go and kill him.' I saw him and the time
of the afternoon prayer came and I said [to myself]: 'I fear
that something between him and me will cause me to delay the
salah, so I left walking and offered the salah by making
gestures. When I came close to him, he said to me: 'Who are
you?' I said: 'A man from among the Arabs. It has reached me
that you are gathering the people against this man [i.e, the
Prophet] so I came to you for that reason.' He said: 'I am
doing that.' I walked with him for a while until I could
strike him dead with my sword." This is related by Ahmad
and Abu Dawud. AlHafiz says its chain is hasan.
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