Tuesday, 26 May 2026 (10 Dhuʻl-Hijjah 1447 AH)
Issues: There are several matters that we find reported from the Messenger (May Allah bless him and his family and grant them peace), yet they no longer have a visible practice. What is the reason for that? Examples include:
1. When a serious matter arose, he (May Allah bless him and his family and grant them peace) would call out: “As-ṣalātu jāmiʿah” “Prayer is to be gathered”.
2. When there was rain, the caller would announce: “Pray in your dwellings.”
3. Performing voluntary prayers while riding an animal: does this indicate leniency in voluntary prayers and that they are not invalidated by turning one’s face and the like? Or is this specific to prayer on a mount? What is the distinction? Especially since it is narrated in the Musnad of Imam Zayd (peace be upon him) that if a person’s ablution is invalidated during prayer, he leaves, performs ablution without speaking, and then resumes from where he left off.
4. Do the sacred months still retain their ruling?
Answer:
1. “As-ṣalātu jāmiʿah”: This phrase was used to summon Muslims to attend the mosque for consultation over an important matter or to inform them of something significant. Its meaning is: “Come, O Muslims, to the mosque, for the Prophet (May Allah bless him and his family and grant them peace), the leader, or the caliph wishes to address you regarding an important matter.”
This meaning can be fulfilled by other expressions that convey a call to gather at the mosque where the Prophet (May Allah bless him and his family and grant them peace), caliph, or leader is present. The Prophet (May Allah bless him and his family and grant them peace) used the mosque as a place to meet with the Muslims, and the caliphs after him did likewise.
We are not ritually bound to these exact words, nor were they legislated by the Prophet (May Allah bless him and his family and grant them peace) as an act of worship in themselves; rather, what is intended is the meaning we have mentioned.
2. And “Pray in your dwellings”: The Prophet (May Allah bless him and his family and grant them peace) instructed the caller to announce to the Muslims, “Pray in your dwellings,” when the call to prayer was made on a rainy day. He (May Allah bless him and his family and grant them peace) told the caller to say this so that the Muslims would understand that they were not obliged to attend congregational prayer with him due to the excuse of rain.
This was an explanation from him (May Allah bless him and his family and grant them peace) of a concession (rukhṣah), and the Prophet (May Allah bless him and his family and grant them peace) was commanded by Allah Almighty to clarify for the Muslims both the strict rulings and their concessions. Once the laws became established and the rulings well known, there was no longer a need for such an announcement.
3. Voluntary prayers performed on a mount: This indicates leniency in voluntary prayers, and it can be used as evidence that what is permissible in voluntary prayers is not necessarily permissible in obligatory prayers.
- As for the narrated report (the combined narration), it may be said that it occurred before speech was prohibited during prayer, and the same applies to the hadith of Dhū al-Yadayn.
4. The ruling of the sacred months remains in effect and has not, in all likelihood, been abrogated.
Source: Min Thimār al-ʿIlm wa al-Ḥikmah vol.3