'Allahu Akbar'.....'Knock, Knock!'

[Sawdah]

:sl:

What do you do when your praying and suddenly someone knocks on your door?
Should you get out your salah and answer it,
Or should you still stay in prayer?

Jazakallah Khair

:salamext:

[Innocent Soul]

Assalamualaikum
We should continue our salat as it is not possible to break the prayer.Even if we get afraid we have to pray it completely.:phew

[Insaanah]

:sl:

Stopping one’s prayer in cases of necessity

Question: Is it permissible to stop one’s prayer if the warning siren goes off in the case of an accident?

Answer: Praise be to Allaah.

If the accident is major and serious, then it is OK to stop one’s prayer; if it is a minor incident that can be dealt with after completing the prayer, then it is not permissible. The scholars said: it is obligatory to stop one's prayer in order to save a negligent person from a fatal accident. For example, if you are praying and you see a snake approaching a man who is sitting down and has not noticed it. If it is heading for him, you have to stop your prayer and tell him so that he will not be bitten, possibly fatally. Or if you see a blind man walking in front of you whilst you are praying, and he is heading towards a well, and you are afraid that he may fall into it, then you have to stop your prayer and save him from that fatal accident, even if this means stopping your prayer. The same applies in cases of fire, etc.

But if the siren goes off for a minor matter which can be dealt with after completing the prayer and it will not be too late if you complete the prayer first, then it is not permissible to stop your prayer before you have completed it, because this accident can be dealt with after completing the prayer, without anyone coming to further harm. And Allaah knows best.

From Fataawa Samaahat al-Shaykh ‘Abd-Allaah ibn Humayd, p. 136

From: http://www.islam-qa.com/en/ref/3878/stop%20prayer

Ruling on stopping one’s prayer if something serious happens

Question: If I am praying and someone knocks at the door, and there is no one else in the house, what should I do? If I stop praying, am I sinning?

Praise be to Allaah.
If a prayer is naafil (supererogatory), there is more room for manoeuvre, and it is o.k. to stop praying in order to find out who is at the door. But in the case of a fard (obligatory) prayer, it is not permissible to stop it unless there is something important which one is afraid of missing. If it is possible to alert someone else, by saying “Subhan-Allaah” out loud in the case of men and clapping in the case of women, so that the person at the door will realize that the person in the house is busy praying, that will do away with any need to stop praying. The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “Whoever is alarmed by anything whilst praying, let men say ‘Subhan-Allaah’ and let women clap.” (Agreed upon. Al-Bukhaari, 1234; Muslim, 421).

If it is possible to let the person who is at the door realize that the person inside the house is praying, by clapping in the case of women and saying ‘Subhan-Allaah’ in the case of men, whilst still praying, this will save you from having to stop the prayer. If that will not work, because one is too far away from the door or the person outside will not be able to hear, then it is o.k. to stop the prayer if necessary, especially if it is a naafil prayer. But in the case of an obligatory prayer, if it is something important or necessary, and there is the fear of missing it, it is also o.k. to stop the prayer, and to repeat it from the beginning. Praise be to Allaah.

From Majmmo’ Fataawa wa Maqaalaat Muntawwi’ah li Samaahat al-Shaykh Ibn Baaz (may Allaah have mercy on him), 11/108.

From: http://www.islam-qa.com/en/ref/26230/stop%20prayer

:sl:

[Sawdah]

Jazkallah Khair for the beneficial answers. InshaAllah, I'll apply this next time it happens to me.