Is Prize Money Haram If I Delay Prayers for a Tournament?

Answered by Shaykh Yusuf Weltch

Question

If I delay prayers during golf tournaments due to unfavorable start times, would prize money earned from such events be haram?

Answer

In the Name of Allah, the Most Merciful and Compassionate.

The delaying of the prayers and the permissibility of your winnings from the Golf tournament are two issues that are seen separately from the other.

Your delaying the prayers to a disliked time without a recognized excuse is prohibitively disliked. Delaying them outside of their time window is strictly prohibited and a major sin necessitating repentance.

Despite this, the ruling of the winnings from the tournament is unaffected under the principle: “The subsidiary issue is not given its own ruling.” [Ibn Nujaym, al-Ashbah wa al-Naza’ir]

Hope this helps
Allah knows best
[Shaykh] Yusuf Weltch
Checked and Approved by Shaykh Abdul-Rahim Reasat

Shaykh Yusuf Weltch is a teacher of Arabic, Islamic law, and spirituality. After accepting Islam in 2008, he went on to study at Darul Uloom Seminary in New York and completed his studies at Darul Mustafa in Tarim, Yemen.

There, he completed the memorization of the Quran and his study of Islamic Sciences. Throughout his years of study, he was blessed to learn from many great scholars: Habib Umar bin Hafiz, Habib Kazhim al-Saqqaf, Shaykh ‘Umar bin Husayn al-Khatib, and others.

Upon returning, he joined the SeekersGuidance faculty in the summer of 2019.