How to Deal with a Crying Child in the Mosque?

Answered by Ustadh Sufyan Qufi 

Question

My daughter started crying during prayer at the mosque, but I did not break my prayer. The Imam later reminded us to break the prayer in such situations. Was I wrong?

Answer

I pray this finds you in the best of states.

It is very kind of you to take your child to the mosque!

Having said that, generally a child merely crying would not allow us to break the prayer. [Shurunbulali, Nur al-Idah]

Please see: In What Circumstances Is One Permitted to Break Their Prayer?

Nonetheless, you are right; when the Imam hears a child crying, he should hasten to finish the prayer out of mercy for this child and his parents. [Ibn Abidin, Radd al-Muhtar]

The Messenger of Allah (Blessings and Peace be upon him) has said: “I start the prayer willing to lengthen it. But if I hear a child crying, I shorten it because I know how sad and distressed his mother is.” [Bukhari]

If the child is in pain or distress, or there is fear of harm, one will be allowed to break the prayer or even be obligated to break it in order to attend to the child. [Shurunbulali, Nur al-Idah]

Advice

Reliable Scholars, such as Shaykh Faraz Rabbani (May Allah protect him), mention
that it is recommended to take care of the child’s needs and secure them before praying to prevent this type of situation to the extent possible.

The Messenger of Allah (Blessings and Peace be upon him) said, “Verily, Allah has prescribed excellence in everything.” [Muslim]

And Allah knows best.

[Ustadh] Sufyan Qufi

Ustadh Sufyan Qufi is an advanced seeker of knowledge, originally from Algeria, who grew up in France. He began searching for ways to learn Islam reliably and was disappointed at the answers he found locally.

Then he connected with various traditional teachers and gradually connected with SeekersGuidance. He embarked on his journey of learning through the various teachers at SeekersGuidance, including his mentor Shaykh Faraz Rabbani.

He studied numerous texts in Islamic Law, Theology, Hadith, and other areas with Shaykh Faraz Rabbani and other teachers, including Shaykh Abdurrahman al-Sha‘ar, Shaykh Ali Hani, and others.

He is an active instructor at SeekersGuidance and answers questions through the SeekersGuidance Answers Service.