How Can I Manage My Worldly Obligations with The Prayer?
Answered by Ustadha Shazia Ahmad
Question
How can I effectively manage my religious obligations and worldly responsibilities in maintaining a prayer schedule due to conflicting work timings and sleep patterns? I live in Canada, where Maghrib is around 10 PM, Isha is around 12 AM, and Fajr is around 3:30 AM. I need to leave for work around 7-8 AM, and if I sleep early to ensure sufficient rest, I end up missing my prayers. On the other hand, if I stay up late, I often miss Fajr.
What strategies can I employ to strike a balance and fulfill my spiritual and worldly obligations effectively?
Answer
Thank you for your question. May Allah reward you for wanting to be consistent with your prayers, and may Allah accept each one of them from you.
Schedule
The best schedule that I can think of for you is going to sleep after maghrib and then praying Isha before Fajr time comes in. This will ensure that you are praying both prayers in their own times, but it will feel like you are combining them. This way, you get four hours of sleep after maghrib and a few more after fajr.
I urge you to remember these hadiths:
The Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said, “The most burdensome prayers for the hypocrites are the ‘Isha prayer and the Fajr prayer. If only they knew what (reward) there is in them, they would come to them even if they had to crawl. ” [Ibn Majah]
And he said (Allah bless him and give him peace), “Whoever prays the dawn prayer, then He is under Allah’s protection. So beware, O son of Adam, that Allah doesn’t call you to account for being absent from His protection for any reason.” [Muslim]
Dua from the Quran
I recommend this dua for you and myself:
”رَبِّ ٱجْعَلْنِى مُقِيمَ ٱلصَّلَوٰةِ وَمِن ذُرِّيَّتِى ۚ رَبَّنَا وَتَقَبَّلْ دُعَآءِ“
“My Lord! Make me and those (believers) of my descendants keep up prayer. Our Lord! Accept my prayers.” [Quran, 14:40]
You will find much more detail in these links:
- Living Simple: Practicing Zuhd in Complex Times. [Highly Recommended Course]
- Is It Permissible To Delay ‘Isha Prayer to the Last Part of the Night?
- The Importance of Fajr Prayer and How to Pray It on Time
- How Early Can We Pray Isha?
- When Does ‘Isha Time End? Is it Disliked to Pray It After Midnight?
May Allah give you the best of this world and the next.
[Ustadha] Shazia Ahmad
Checked and Approved by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani
Ustadha Shazia Ahmad lived in Damascus, Syria, for two years, where she studied aqidah, fiqh, tajweed, tafsir, and Arabic. She then attended the University of Texas at Austin and completed her Master’s in Arabic. Afterward, she moved to Amman, Jordan, where she studied fiqh, Arabic, and other sciences. She later moved back to Mississauga, Canada, where she lives with her family.
