Bus delayed for driver’s prayers

  • Thread starter Thread starter S<Chowdhury
  • Start date Start date
  • Replies Replies 36
  • Views Views 5K
Life_Is_Short said:
Really, how did she know that?
Click to expand...

Apparently she heard or read somewhere that before a suicide bomber detonates his bombs theu recite verses hence the reason she was a bit uneasy, or maybe she watched a documentary, who knows but she obviously apprehended some sort of fear, maybe if the bus driver told the commuters that he needed to pray there wouldn't of been such commotion or maybe there would be. It was all a bit sudden according to the report.
 
Last edited:
:sl:
May Allah reward him greatly :) It was pretty hard for me to start praying at school (now I love praying here, Al-hamdulilLah... May Allah bless the members who encouraged me :statisfie) I wonder how many of us would be courageous enough to pray in that situation if the prayertime would be ending...
 
There is no need to plame or critise cuz he did cuz he want to do it. I remember one day i was in the bus and the driver stop the bus get out and start smoking,he took his time and after 5 minute he start to drive.
 
Muslim bus driver hits the brakes for prayer session

Source

Muslim bus driver hits the brakes for prayer session

By David Menzies

For those who commute by public transit, it’s well known that a bus driver doesn’t merely halt his vessel to pick up passengers. Rather, drivers pulling over to go to the loo, make an ATM withdrawal or grab a Tim Bit or 10 are all part of the de rigueur delays one puts up with when enduring the indignities of mass transit.

While unscheduled coffee breaks can be irksome, consider the bizarre case of a Muslim bus driver in London, England who stunned his passengers by pulling over midway through his route so that he could pray in the aisle of his bus.

According to the U.K.’s Daily Mail, the driver stopped his bus without warning, removed his shoes and placed his fluorescent jacket upon the floor to use as a makeshift prayer mat. To further ratchet up the fear factor, the driver then began chanting in Arabic.

Faster than you could say “Sharia law”, tensions on the No. 24 bus were running high. The passengers – with memories of London’s 2005 public transit terrorist attacks still fresh in their craniums – feared the driver was preparing to rendezvous with 72 voluptuous black-eyed virgins in the afterlife.

Compounding the situation: nobody was allowed to get on or off the bus during the driver’s five-minute confab with Allah.

Passenger Gayle Griffiths complained to Transport for London about the incident, saying she feared the driver was a fanatic who was planning to blow up the bus. (???)

“[When] he took off his shoes and began praying. I was gobsmacked and quite bewildered,” said Griffiths. “He hadn’t addressed the passengers at all, I didn’t say anything and nor did anyone else. It even went through my mind that this might be some sort of terrorist attack … because I had heard that suicide bombers prayed before attacks.”

What further added to the tension was the fact that the Mecca-facing driver was blocking the bus’s exit. “If something had happened, we would not have been able to get off,” said Griffiths.

TfL has apologized to all the passengers for the delay and has noted that all Muslim drivers are being reminded they should pray during statutory rest periods as opposed to holding up services.
However, Griffiths remains justifiably rattled by the incident.

“We are delayed often enough as it is in London,” she said. “We live in a multicultural society, but there is a time and a place for prayer and the middle of a journey with a busload of passengers is not it.”
 
Lynx said:
That 5 minutes to pray might make the difference to someone being late for work and getting fired!
Click to expand...

That was certainly my thought.. no problem at all if the bus would have been stationary anyway (they often are, if arriving early at particular stops), not so clever if somebody misses a train connection or some-such as a consequence of the bus being late.
 
If the bus was ahead of schedule or something, then I don't think anybody should have any problem with it.

Ideally, this Brother shouldn't allow himself to be in a position where his working hours conflict with the time of the Salah but only Allah knows his circumstances and so we shouldn't judge him for that. It may be that the Sharee'ah does provide leeway if a situation like this arises but that is something for the 'Ulema to decide and not laymen like us.

One thing I do know is that the importance of praying Salah upon it's proper time cannot be emphasised enough and it's extremely saddening to see much of the Ummah today taking their Salah so lightly, as though the timing is flexible. That isn't the case my dear Brothers and Sisters, so much so that the companions would pray to the best of their ability even in the midst of a Battle. I kid you not. 'Umar (May Allah be pleased with him) even cursed the opponents in the Battle of the Trenches for making him miss his 'Asr prayer. Know that to deliberately miss a prayer is haraam from the Kabaa'ir (major sins).

And as the Qur'an mentions in Surah al-Nisa, verse 103:
Verily, the prayer is enjoined on the believers at fixed hours.​
 
Last edited:
S<Chowdhury said:
From the news report he stopped the bus suddenly, if a bus driver is ahead of schedule then he usually stops at a bus stop and give out a notice saying "to regulate the service the bus has been temporarily stationed here".
Click to expand...

Are you serious? Does any british bus driver give this much courtesy? They'll get p'd off even if you ask them why they stopped, they'll expect you to know yourself.

I can understand people being upset that he didn't inform them of what was going on, but even then on all the buses I've been on not once has a driver said "to regulate the service the bus has been temporarily stationed here" and then begin reading his newspaper or eating his lunch. Other than this he did nothing wrong, you should protect the honour of other muslims not do the opposite.
 
Last edited:
To be honest i would have the done the same thing but i would have not repeated because i would learn (if i was a good muslim) that
this affects other people. Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) has taught us to be considerate therefore provided this bus driver is a good muslim, i am sure he won't repeat this again.
 
Last edited:
Re: Bus delayed for driver’s prayers

I would like to know within what kind of time did this bus driver have to perform his prayer?

  • Did he have hours to choose the best time and place? In that case I would say that it may have been better to wait for his next break.
  • Did he have only 30 minutes? Then perhaps he didn't have much choice.
  • Did he have several hours, but chose to leave it to the last minute? Then perhaps he should have planned his prayer life better.
 
People could miss work and get into a lot of trouble. Maybe he could've prayed when the bus was empty or something.
 
This is hardly important news with all the more, rather important things going on in the planet.
 
I want to know this story from the bus driver himself! Why was he not asked for his response so that it could be published as well???

There's too many if's, but ofcourse salaah has to be performed at the correct time and salaah should never be missed without a valid Shar'ee excuse!
 
aadil77 said:
Are you serious? Does any british bus driver give this much courtesy? They'll get p'd off even if you ask them why they stopped, they'll expect you to know yourself.

I can understand people being upset that he didn't inform them of what was going on, but even then on all the buses I've been on not once has a driver said "to regulate the service the bus has been temporarily stationed here" and then begin reading his newspaper or eating his lunch.
Click to expand...

Actually in London its all automated, so the bus driver doesn't have to say anything, all he has to do is push a button.
 
Get off his case will ya! So he puts his faith before his job? And we don't even know the full story, his side or if they even HAVE it correct. Stop judging. People are making such a fuss over his prayer. If it was something huge, I wonder how most of us would react? And why don't other people make headline news when they stop for a stupid smoke or something.

Seriously.

May Allah reward him, ameen.
 

Similar Threads

Back
Top