I will be traveling and the airplane flight will be 17 hours long. I will be on the plane at zuhr time (i.e. I will be leaving at zuhr time) Since I will be crossing over different time zones and the flight is very long, I am confused about exactly when i am supposed to pray. Do I just go by the time of where I am leaving from? Or do I leave a certain amount of time between each combined/shortened prayer?
Question number: 644
Date posted: 2004-06-15
Answer:
In this case the most practical thing to do is to follow the timings of your point of departure until such time that you have arrived at your final destination if you are not stopping over in between. If, however, you are stopping over at a third point, then while you are there you should follow the local timings and continue to follow the same until you have arrived at your final destination.
Let me illustrate this as follows: Suppose you are flying to India or any point in the Middle East such as Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, etc, via London or Paris, you should follow the timings of Toronto until you have landed in London or Paris; from that point onwards until you have arrived at your destination, follow the timings of London or Paris. What I normally do in this case is I would pray both zuhr and asr at home combined (assuming I am starting at the time of zuhr); then pray both maghrib and isha in the flight; both of them as jam' and qasr; then finally I would pray my fajr in the flight before landing in London. While in London I would pray my zuhr and asr as jam' and qasr; I would do the same with Magrhib and Isha, etc., etc., until I have landed.
If, on the other hand, there is no stopping anywhere since it is a non-stop flight of seventeen hours then you should simply follow the timings of Toronto until you have landed in your final destination.
You need not confuse yourself or be overly concerned about some mix-up in timings due to divergent time zones. It is a source of great relief for us to know that Islam is a simple and natural religion; we are required only to do what we can do in a given situation according to our best means. The Prophet, peace be upon him, said, "Remain conscious of Allah, according to the best of your ability."
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