Question about Praying

[badrudeen]

I work as a Social care Worker and in my job I have to look afterand clean very sick and terminally ill people. In my job I do get their body fluids and fetal matter, amongst other things, on my clothes. I work day and night 24-7 on emergency call if needed. My question is this: Can I pray in this very unclean state or is it ok to pray at home and catch up after I have showered and put on clean clothes?

['Abd Al-Maajid]

I work as a Social care Worker and in my job I have to look afterand clean very sick and terminally ill people. In my job I do get their body fluids and fetal matter, amongst other things, on my clothes. I work day and night 24-7 on emergency call if needed. My question is this: Can I pray in this very unclean state or is it ok to pray at home and catch up after I have showered and put on clean clothes?

:sl:
Praise be to Allaah.

“Condition” in the terminology of usool al-fiqh (principles of jurisprudence) means that which is essential and without which a thing is not valid.

So the conditions of prayer being valid refer to that on which the validity of prayer depends, such that if one of these conditions is broken, then prayer is not valid as a result. These conditions are:

1.

That the time for prayer has begun. This is the most important condition. A prayer offered before its time has begun is not valid, according to scholarly consensus, because Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning):

“Verily, As‑Salaah (the prayer) is enjoined on the believers at fixed hours”

[al-Nisa’ 4:103]

Allaah has mentioned the times of prayer in brief terms in His Book. He says (interpretation of the meaning):

“Perform As‑Salaah (Iqaamat‑as‑Salaah) from mid‑day till the darkness of the night (i.e. the Zuhr, ‘Asr, Maghrib, and ‘‘Isha’ prayers), and recite the Qur’aan in the early dawn (i.e. the — Fajr morning prayer). Verily, the recitation of the Qur’aan in the early dawn (i.e. the morning — Fajr prayer) is ever witnessed (attended by the angels in charge of mankind of the day and the night)”

[al-Isra’ 17:78].

“mid-day’ means when the sun passes its zenith. “the darkness of the night” means in the middle of the night. This time, from halfway through the day until halfway through the night, includes the time of four prayers: Zuhr, ‘Asr, Maghrib and ‘Isha’.

The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) mentioned the times in details in his Sunnah. This has been explained in the answer to question no. 9940.

2.

Covering the ‘awrah. If a person prays with his ‘awrah uncovered, his prayer is not valid, because Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning):

“O Children of Adam! Take your adornment (by wearing your clean clothes) while praying”

[al-A’raaf 7:31]

Ibn ‘Abd al-Barr (may Allaah have mercy on him) said: They are unanimously agreed that the prayer of one who does not wear his clothes when he is able to cover himself with them, and prays naked, is invalid. End quote.

For more information please see the answer to question no. 81281.

‘Awrahs for people who are praying fall into several categories:

(i) Minimum ‘awrah. This is the ‘awrah of a male between the ages of seven and ten; his ‘awrah is the two private parts only, front and back.

(ii) Moderate ‘awrah. This is the ‘awrah of one who has reached the age of ten and above, between the navel and the knee.

(iii) Maximum ‘awrah. This is the ‘awrah of an adult, free woman. All of her body is ‘awrah when praying, except for her hands and face. The scholars differed with regard to showing the feet.

3. and 4.

Tahaarah (purity), which is of two types: purity from ritual impurity (hadath) and purity from tangible impurity (najas).

(i) Purity from major and minor ritual impurity (hadath). If a person prays when he is in a state of ritual impurity, then his prayer is invalid according to scholarly consensus, because of the report narrated by al-Bukhaari (6954) from Abu Hurayrah (may Allaah be pleased with him) from the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) who said: “Allaah does not accept the prayer of one of you if he becomes ritually impure, unless he does wudoo’.”

(ii) Purity from najaasah or tangible impurity. If a person prays with some impurity on him, and he is aware of that and remembers it is there, then his prayer is not valid.

The worshipper should avoid najaasah in three places:

(a) The body. There should not be any najaasah or impurity on his body. This is indicated by the report narrated by Muslim (292) from Ibn ‘Abbaas (may Allaah be pleased with him) who said: The Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) passed by two graves, and he said: “They are being punished, but they are not being punished for anything that was difficult to avoid. One of them used to walk around spreading malicious gossip, and the other did not protect himself from his urine.” …

(b) The clothing. This is indicated by the report narrated by al-Bukhaari (337) from Asma’ bint Abi Bakr (may Allaah be pleased with her) who said: A woman came to the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) and said: If one of us sees menstrual blood on her garment, what should she do? He said: “Scratch it, then rub it with your fingers whilst pouring water on it and continue to pour water on it (until it is clean), and then pray in it.”

(c) The place in which prayer is offered. This is indicated by the report narrated by al-Bukhaari from Anas ibn Maalik (may Allaah be pleased with him) who said: A Bedouin came and urinated in the mosque. The people rebuked him but the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) told them not to do that. When (the man) had finished urinating, the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) ordered that a bucket of water be poured over it.

5.

Facing towards the qiblah. If a person offers an obligatory prayer facing anywhere other than the qiblah, when he is able to face it, then his prayer is invalid according to scholarly consensus, because Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning):

“so turn your face in the direction of Al-Masjid Al-Haraam (at Makkah). And wheresoever you people are, turn your faces (in prayer) in that direction”

[al-Baqarah 2:144]

And because the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said, in the hadeeth about the one who prayed badly: “Then turn to face the qiblah and say takbeer.” Narrated by al-Bukhaari (6667).

For more information please see the answer to question no. 65853.

6.

Intention (niyyah). If a person prays without forming the proper intention then his prayer is invalid, because of the report narrated by al-Bukhaari (1) from ‘Umar ibn al-Khattaab (may Allaah be pleased with him) who said: I heard the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) say: “Actions are but by intentions and each person will have but that which he intended.” Allaah does not accept any deed unless it is accompanied by the right intention.

The six conditions mentioned above apply only to prayer. To them may be added the general conditions that apply to all acts of worship: one should be a Muslim, of sound mind, and of the age of discernment

Based on this, the conditions of prayer being valid are nine in all:

Being Muslim, being of sound mind, discernment, being free of ritual impurity, removal of tangible impurity, covering the ‘awrah, the time for that prayer should have begun, facing the qiblah and forming the right intention.

And Allaah knows best.
Source http://www.islamqa.com

[Hamza Asadullah]

I work as a Social care Worker and in my job I have to look afterand clean very sick and terminally ill people. In my job I do get their body fluids and fetal matter, amongst other things, on my clothes. I work day and night 24-7 on emergency call if needed. My question is this: Can I pray in this very unclean state or is it ok to pray at home and catch up after I have showered and put on clean clothes?

Asalaamu Alaikum Wr Wb,

Jazakallah khayr for your question. What we have to realise is that Shaythan is always wanting to divert our attention and focus away from our real purpose in life. We have to continuously remind ourselves as to why we are here on this earth. Have we been created to study, work, get married, have kids and then die? Well you could say that this this part of what we have to do in life but Allah tells us the sole purpose of our creation:

"I have created the jinn and humankind only for My worship" The Holy Qur'an, Chapter 51, Verse 56

Then what is the greatest form of worship to Allah? The answer: Salaah

Salaah is the second pillar of Islam and is the most important act after the decleration of faith. It is the first question we will be asked as Muslims in the hereafter as to whether or not we fulfilled our Salaah or not. Therefore it is the most important worship that has been ordained to mankind.

Therefore until our very last breath we should focus on fulfilling all of our Salaah as it is the very purpose of our creation.

Shaythan knows this and is forever trying to divert mans attention away from fulfilling his obligations to Allah. He tries and gives us every excuse possible. Many of us have become "Convenience Muslims" as in we only pray when it suits us best or when we have time. Rather than moulding our life around our Salaah we mould our Salaah around our life so whenever we are sitting around at home then we dcide to pray. We must remember that it is an act of kufr(disbelief) to neglect the Salaah beyond its correct time.

Therefore a major sin and leaving even one Salaah without a valid excuse is said to cause one to spend tens of thousands of years in Jahannam and on top of that every Salaah missed is VAST rewards missed out which we will never be able to gain back.

Therefore it is incumbant on us that we fulfil ALL of our Salaah and not make excuses as to why we cannot fulfill it because Islam has been made easy for us but it is us who makes it hard upon ourselves.

Allah does not burden anyone more than they can bare but Salaah takes a matter of minutes to pray. There are 1440 minutes in a day. If we were to calculate all of the Salaah together then on average it would add upto around 40 minutes per day for praying 5 Salaah.

That's 40 minutes of our time each day on Salaah which is just 3% of our day. Can we not even manage that for the one who feeds us, clothes us, given us wealth, families, sustains us, gives us evergy in our muscles to function and work, gave us our health and working limbs. The one who has given us EVERYTHING we can see, hear, feel and touch.

How unnappreciative is mankind for if man counted the favours of Allah then they would continue counting for ETERNITY! We will NEVER truly realise how much Allah has done for us and we can't even give 3% of our day for the one who created us?

We are truly pathetic and unnappreciative of what we have been given by Allah and we will truly regret it FOREVER in the hereafter. Therefore let us put our FULL focus into fulfilling ALL of our Salaah no matter what situation we are in for Slaah can be read anywhere as long as it is not in the toilet or where physical dirt can be seen.

Allah has made it so easy for us so let us not make it hard for ourselves and let us not listen to the lame excuses that shaythan and our desires gives us.

What you should do is that you should take a change of clothes with you. Ones that are easy to wear and put on. Then whenever it is time for Salaah you should go to the toilet cubical or changing room and change into the clean clothes and pray Salah.

You will feel peace, tranquility and all of the stress from your job seap out of you and you will feel happy at work and at peace. It is an amazing feeling especially if you have a stressful job.

I hope inshallah this helps and if you ever have any other questions then please feel free to ask. Please remember me in your dua's. Asalaamu Alaikum

[peaceandlove]

I work as a Social care Worker and in my job I have to look afterand clean very sick and terminally ill people. In my job I do get their body fluids and fetal matter, amongst other things, on my clothes. I work day and night 24-7 on emergency call if needed. My question is this: Can I pray in this very unclean state or is it ok to pray at home and catch up after I have showered and put on clean clothes?

:wa: brother,

just want to give few suggestion , plz donot mind ,

why donot you take seperate clothe with you , one clothe is for working and on prayer timing change you clothes , it will hardly take few minutes to change clothes or
one think i had seen people wearing specially in rainy season is plastic type cloth it cover almost every part of the body so no dirt apply to your cloth or any thing similar to this.