Obligatory prayer while riding a horse

30-11-2005 | IslamWeb

Question:

How to pray on the horse whereby we enter the horse competition that start at night and finish on the morning?

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Answer:

All perfect praise be to Allaah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah, and that Muhammad is His slave and Messenger. We ask Allaah to exalt his mention as well as that of his family and all his companions.

 

The obligatory prayer on a horse, or other animals, or in a car is not valid neither when travelling nor when being a resident unless one fears to miss his company with whom he is travelling, or fears to be harmed like being stuck in the mud and the like, or fears for his life or wealth if he gets down to perform the prayer on the ground. In such cases, it is permissible for him to pray while on a horse or other means of transport. However, according to the Maaliki and Shaafi'ee schools, he has to make up the prayer, but according to the Hanbali school he does not have to do so. The evidence about this is that Ya'la Ibn Murrah narrated that the Prophet and the companions reached a narrow place, while he was riding a horse, the earth was muddy and when it was time for the prayer he ordered someone to call the Athaan and then he advanced with his horse and led the prayer while on his horse. He leant down with his head when bowing and prostrating, but he lent down more in prostration than when bowing.

For more details on horse racing, please refer to Fatwa 87600.

Allaah Knows best.