Lets say a guy just started his very first job out of college after having a really hard time getting one because he was a finance major and didn’t want to get a job that involved interest/insurance and get into dealing with interest.
Now he is going through a training period of 4 weeks where he is required to adhere to a specific time schedule because its a group training and the timesheet has already been set by the company. During these 4 weeks, he absolutely doesn’t want to miss the Friday prayer khutbah in the masjid because it’s obligatory upon a Muslim man.
He also doesn’t have the flexibility to change his schedule within these 4 weeks ( 4 friday prayers in total) and the prayer time isn’t coinciding with the lunch time already set by the company, therefore he has decided to take an additional hour for prayer anyway and make it up by working an extra hour.
Now this could be risky because he will be missing out on precious training time and the manager might not like it. He decides to take the risk anyway and if they say anything then Eff them and they can fire him. This may or may not happen and he will take the risk anyway..
Now we know that the prayer is obligatory unless there are situations when you really have to miss it. If he goes to these prayers and gets fired (worst case scenario), he is financially sound enough to go on without a job and look for another one in the short term. However, this being his first job (with the job market being tough as is and the interest factor involved), he might have a really really time finding another job especially if he has been fired from his very first job and nothing else to build his resume on.
Now this guy comes to his wife/fiance and let her know what he’s about to do. Knowing that your words of encouragement/advice really weighs in heavily on this guys decisions, what would you advise him to do? tell him to go for what you both know is right and go for his prayers where he might potentially lose his job and this could affect both of your futures or tell him to miss out on the prayers because afterall Allah swt said there are conditions where you can miss out even though you both know he is able to support himself in the short run financially and you might both be getting tested from Allah swt. You might even go with this job and get fired for some other reason.
So what do you tell this guy to do?
My “friend” is in a dilemma here . Somehow it’s more comforting/less embarrassing when one talks in 3rd person here.
P.S: this situation only applies to the 4 training weeks only, after that he will have the flexibility to take time off whenever he pleases for prayers.
if the flexibility is provided then might as well use it ... there is a reason why it is there. Why do you have to make things harder for yourself thant hey already are. Its like insisting on walking a long distance when you have a car.
Idk.If one puts his belief in Allah talah then Allah talah definitly helps one out.Thats what tawakul is all about and plus just in case he loses his job, he might land in a better place? we never know.Let him take his risk or well his choice completely.
Ask him to let his boss know ahead of time, BEFORE it becomes an issue. The EFF them attitude is unprofessional and unIslamic. Ask the boss for suggestions on how to make it work best. Then rake it from there.
How far removed in your daily job activities do you have to be to not be "dealing with interest." The world economy heavily relies on interest, if you work for a bank, your paycheck draws from interest revenue. If you work for a mid to large business, they take loans, which again entail interest.
the way i see prayers is remembering ALLAH SWT even in your busy time schedule. so two rakat faraz of Zuhur shouldn't take than 15 min. I know its obligatory for men to pray ba-jamat but if he believes he is in a tough situation then ask him to relax himself, ALLAH SWT will walk him through this dilemma without him knowing it. just be positive.
may be he will find like-minded Muslims friend at his work, which then can do the ba-jamat friday prayers.
as for the interest, he should have thought about it before choosing this career. ALLAH SWT is Raheem-o-Kareem. he must ask forgiveness from ALLAH SWT, and mean while look for better alternative career paths. (do CA, or CMA or watever)
Ask him to let his boss know ahead of time, BEFORE it becomes an issue. The EFF them attitude is unprofessional and unIslamic. Ask the boss for suggestions on how to make it work best. Then rake it from there.
Agree with that. Islam isn't that rigid and in the west sometimes it can be difficult to earn a halal income while fulfilling your religious duties. If it's only for four weeks, there is nothing wrong with just praying regular four rakh Zuhr prayer during the lunchtime, that stuff they say about 'teen jummay na parhay tu kafir' is all myth anyway. Think about it, Allah has given us flexibility to the the extent where we can shorten or merge two prayers when travelling which we do even though these days we travel in complete comfort. Therefore missing Jummah in that situation is not a problem for me.
Even if your 'friend' feels obligated to pray bajamaat, as mentioned here earlier the prayer itself takes all but 10 minutes. He does not have to listen to the whole khutbah or pray all the sunnah, I used to be in that situation and that is exactly what I did (masjid was close by). I'm sure any boss would allow that.
Talk to the boss about possible solutions to the problem. Like zobia mentioned, he CAN do with the 2 rakat farz for those four Fridays.
Also, just because the person has some money saved up that will last him a short period of time, doesn't mean he wont have any problems after that. The economy IS bad and the situation can get really, really difficult. This is a good time to look into just how merciful God can be/is. If you don't, you'd be being very unjust to God by rejecting the love.
its only once a week......and he can try to make it quick...like only the 2 rakaats of jumah.......i think it will work out.......and just explain to the manager that its someting important and would take only little bit of time......
as its a religious accomodation most institutions give a little bit of flexibility. May be you can ask to take your lunch break during tht hour! Talk to the team lead and let him know that you HAVE to leave during this time and would prefer to have a lunch hour during this time to make sure you have ample time to go back and forth!
Yes brother, all prayers are Farz and Jumaah holds special significance.
As to the OP, as mentioned, talk to the manager and see how they respond. I'm sure they'll appreciate the fact that the person has chosen to discuss this personal issue with them and is dedicated enough to want a resolution that protects his career. Have faith in Allah!
Ask him to let his boss know ahead of time, BEFORE it becomes an issue. The EFF them attitude is unprofessional and unIslamic. Ask the boss for suggestions on how to make it work best. Then rake it from there.
You're right Sahar. That is unacceptable and unprofessional. But he's not planning on bailing out for an hour without even letting anyone know. He has spoken to the manager beforehand but it's just one of those things that depends on the guy who trains him. Since it's training information it might be stuff he can't make up on his own by working the extra hour. The guy training him might have to go over it again with him later on to make sure he's on the same page. But his point was, this is 4 weeks and if they say no to it at some point he would rather quit the job than compromise on the prayers (going back and forth to masjid takes about an hour).
Zobia suggested that he find other Muslims in the workplace. Thing is , he is new there and doesn't know other people except the new hires. There are 2 muslims in the new hire group and he asked them what masjid they go for prayers, one of the guys responded saying "oh so you're the 'strict' kind of muslim". So he doesn't want to put them on the spot again or make it seem like he's trying to preach them or judge them by suggesting an arrangement of prayers with them.
But from what limited knowledge my friend has, she always thought Friday khutbah was farz as well. Not just the two rakat part.
Amoureux, yeah I know what you mean but how can one be so sure this argument will hold up if Allah asks you on the day of judgement "so buddy, what was up with those khubahs you missed when you started that new job, no trust in me? I see how that goes"
the person who missed the prayers: "Allah swt, I just wanted to see how much you love me and would be willing to forgive me. Now would you pretty please forgive me?"
(I'm sure we all have our own twisted variations of how that conversation is going to go , that's mine lol).
Sandals, I'm not going to touch on the interest part because I really dont have the right knowledge for it. But when I'm at crossroads like that, I think whether what I'm about to do is for a necessity or luxury. Say, if I have to pay insurance on my car because its required by law, then it's a necessity even though it could be argued that insurance is haram. On the other hand, getting a job in a bank because you want a higher income or paying interest on a house you own are luxuries. If you can do okay without that extra income and by renting a house instead of owning one than that's where you have to pick between between what's right in Islam and what you want out of this dunyaa. I might not have control over the law, the payroll system or the economic system this country relies on but I can control whether I personally want to pay interest on something or not or work for a company that relies solely on interest. That's just a good rule of thumb that works for me. It can't apply to other people who are in different situations.
Khair, let's just hope this guy doesn't lose his job because deep down my friend is more scared for him for losing the job than missing the khutbah and she shamelessly admits it.
Im sorry, but this is his 1st job and apparently a good position. Tell him to tough it out for 4 weeks- its just a month. I understand its important to him, but the guy needs to work right?
Im sorry, but this is his 1st job and apparently a good position. Tell him to tough it out for 4 weeks- its just a month. I understand its important to him, but the guy needs to work right?
Yes and no. He could afford to go without one for a while. But getting fired is not going to reflect well on his work ethic.
Furthermore, he had to move out to a different state for this job where he doesn't know anyone and signed a 6 month contract on his apartment lease.
sigh lets just hope things work out smoothly the next few weeks.