Should voluntary prayer be interrupted to answer the adhān?
2026-10-14
T221 · Ibn Taymiyyah
Shaykh al-Islām Ibn Taymiyyah
شيخ الإسلام أحمد بن تيمية
Original Q&A · Complete source question and answer
Complete original question and answer, 22/72–73.
النص العربي
السؤال الأصلي
وسئل عمن أحرم ودخل في الصلاة وكانت نافلة، ثم سمع المؤذن فهل يقطع الصلاة ويقول مثل ما قال المؤذن؟ أو يتم صلاته ويقول مثل ما يقول المؤذن؟
الجواب
إذا سمع المؤذن يؤذن وهو في صلاة فإنه يتمها، ولا يقول مثل ما يقول عند جمهور العلماء، وأما إذا كان خارج الصلاة في قراءة أو ذكر أو دعاء، فإنه يقطع ذلك، ويقول مثل ما يقول المؤذن؛ لأن موافقة المؤذن عبادة مؤقتة يفوت وقتها، وهذه الأذكار لا تفوت.
وإذا قطع الموالاة فيها لسبب شرعي كان جائزا، مثل ما يقطع الموالاة فيها بكلام لما يحتاج إليه من خطاب آدمي، وأمر بمعروف، ونهي عن منكر، وكذلك لو قطع الموالاة بسجود تلاوة، ونحو ذلك، بخلاف الصلاة، فإنه لا يقطع موالاتها بسبب آخر، كما لو سمع غيره يقرأ سجدة التلاوة لم يسجد في الصلاة عند جمهور العلماء، ومع هذا، ففى هذا نزاع معروف. والله أعلم.
English translation
English translation prepared for SalafAlSalih.com from the cited Arabic source. It is not an official translation.
Original question
He was asked about someone who began a voluntary prayer with its opening takbīr and then heard the caller to prayer. Should he interrupt the prayer and repeat what the caller says, or finish his prayer and repeat what the caller says?
Answer
If he hears the caller giving the adhān while he is praying, he completes his prayer and does not repeat what the caller says, according to most scholars. If he is outside prayer, reciting, remembering Allah or supplicating, he pauses that and repeats what the caller says, because responding to the caller is worship tied to a particular time which will pass, whereas these remembrances can still be performed afterwards.
Interrupting continuity in those activities for a legitimate religious reason is permissible—for example, necessary speech addressed to another person, enjoining right or forbidding wrong. The same applies to interrupting them with a prostration of recitation or the like. Prayer is different: its continuity is not interrupted for another reason. Thus, if he hears someone else recite a verse of prostration, he does not prostrate within his prayer according to most scholars. There is, however, well-known disagreement about this. Allah knows best.
Source and editorial notes
Majmūʿ al-Fatāwā 22/72–73
مجموع الفتاوى
Majmūʿ al-Fatāwā
Arabic checked against the cited source and adjacent question boundaries. Diacritics and display marks omitted; honorific glyphs expanded. Titles and scope notes are editorial.