Question:
Assalamualaikum SS Mufti, sometimes when I was late to the mosque, I would hasten my pace and even run to the mosque to avoid masbuq. Some rebuked my actions saying that my actions are wrong, is this true?
Answer:
Alhamdulillah, praise and thanks to Allah for the countless blessings He has blessed us all with. Blessings and salutations to the Prophet Muhammad PBUH, his wives, his family, companions and all those that follow his teachings to the day of judgement.
Generally, we are commanded to hasten in good deeds and worship. There are numerous pieces of evidence that state this encouragement. Among them is the statement of Allah SWT:
وَسَارِعُوا إِلَى مَغْفِرَةٍ مِنْ رَبِّكُمْ وَجَنَّةٍ عَرْضُهَا السَّمَاوَاتُ وَالْأَرْضُ أُعِدَّتْ لِلْمُتَّقِينَ
“And hasten to forgiveness from your Lord and a garden as wide as the heavens and earth, prepared for the righteous.”
Surah Ali Imran (133)
Imam al-Baghawi Rahimahullah commented on the above hadith states: “The meaning of hastening is to quickly perform worship or good deeds to attain forgiveness.” See Tafsir al-Baghawi (2/104).
The Ruling of Running to the Mosque
In this issue, there several pieces of evidence that are used as the source of the discussion of the ruling. One of it is a hadith from Abu Hurairah RA, where the Prophet PBUH said:
إِذَا أُقِيمَتِ الصَّلَاةُ فَلَا تَأْتُوهَا تَسْعَوْنَ، وَأْتُوهَا تَمْشُونَ وَعَلَيْكُمُ السَّكِينَةُ، فَمَا أَدْرَكْتُمْ فَصَلُّوا، وَمَا فَاتَكُمْ فَأَتِمُّوا
"When the Iqamah is called for the prayer, do not come running. Come walking with tranquillity. Whatever you catch up with, pray, and whatever you miss, complete it."
Sahih al-Bukhari (908)
This hadith clearly depicts the commandment and encouragement of attending the prayer in a calm and composed manner. At the same time, we are discouraged from being hasty and hurries to prayer.
Imam al-Nawawi Rahimahullah in his commentary of Sahih Muslim placed the above hadith under the chapter: “Chapter on The Encouragement of Attending Prayer Calmly and The Prohibition of Running towards Prayer.”
He commented on the above hadith stating: “Indeed when someone is approaching prayer, it is as if he is in the state of prayer. In it (the hadith) is a strong commandment of approaching prayer in a calm and serene state and the prohibition of running towards a prayer, whether it is the Friday prayer or any other prayer. (The same is applicable in the case of running) whether it is for the fear of not arriving in time for takbiratul ihram or not.”
Imam al-Nawawi also included the wisdoms of why it is commanded to come to prayer in a calm state and not hurriedly, saying: “The wisdom of coming to prayer calmly and the prohibition of not to approach it in a hurried manner or while running is because the purpose of it all is to receive rewards of coming for prayer. Thus, one must be mindful of the manners of prayer the best he could.” Refer Al-Minhaj Syarah Sahih Muslim, Al-Nawawi (5/99).
On another hand, some may argue and ask but what about the statement of Allah SWT where He said:
يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا إِذَا نُودِيَ لِلصَّلَاةِ مِنْ يَوْمِ الْجُمُعَةِ فَاسْعَوْا إِلَىٰ ذِكْرِ اللَّهِ
“O you who have believed, when [the adhan] is called for the prayer on the day of Jumu'ah [Friday], then proceed to the remembrance of Allah.”
Surah al-Jumuah (9)
The reason is, there is a commandment for believers to quickly proceed for Friday prayer while the previous hadith restricts it.
Here, we would like to explain that in truth this has been answered by Imam al-Nawawi himself when he said the meaning of the word ‘فَاسْعَوْا’ here means proceed. Which means to quickly make one’s way towards the mosque and arrive early. It does not mean to run or hurriedly set out to go to the mosque which may be understood by some people.
This is clear through the examples of the life of salafussoleh stated by Imam Abu Syaamah, where he said: In the early times, it can be seen that before fajar prayer, the streets are filled with people walking holding lamps towards the mosque. The same can be seen in the days of celebrations until slowly it was no longer practised. It is said that among the first bidaah is to leave the practise of going to the mosque early.
Conclusion
To close, we would like to state that running to the mosque for prayer is makruh (undesirable). The reason is, it could weaken one’s motivation for prayer, remove khusyuk and make one’s body turns weary. One should approach prayer calmly so that we can focus our attention in our prayer. May Allah SWT give us the correct understanding of religion. Ameen.