How are prayers performed in a vehicle while traveling?

Dear Brother / Sister,

The first precaution in travelling is to get on a vehicle that you think will not stop at prayer times by having wudu because if one has wudu, he can immediately perform a prayer when necessary. If he does not have wudu, he will not be able to perform a prayer even if there is an opportunity.

After that short introduction, some important issues that should be known during travelling can be listed as follows:

1- If it is hoped that the vehicle in which one is travelling will stop at a place before the prayer time expires, one should wait for the prayer. He should prefer to get off the vehicle at the place where it stops in time and perform the prayer normally. The prayer performed on the ground is complete. The prayer performed on the seat in the vehicle is incomplete. Its standing (qiyam) and prostration (sajdah) are half. When it is possible to perform the prayer fully, it definitely will not be appropriate to prefer it incompletely. Therefore, it is necessary to ask the people in charge of the vehicle to stop at a suitable place for prayer and to try to perform the prayers on the ground even if it is at the end of the time period for that prayer.

2- If it becomes certain that the vehicle will not stop and the end of the time period for the prayer approaches, there is no reason to wait any longer. Rather than missing the prayer, it is necessary to perform it immediately in the seat that one sits in the way that is possible. Sitting on an armchair is regarded as qiyam in prayer, bowing down a little is regarded as ruku’, and bowing down a little more is regarded as prostration. The head does not have to touch on the seat in front. It is sufficient for the head to prostrate by facing the tip of the feet.

3- When starting the prayer on a seat of the vehicle, it will be a good start to say the first takbir by facing the qiblah. However, if it is not possible, the obligation to face the qiblah is removed. Thus, a person with wudu’ on the bus can easily perform a prayer on his seat when the time period for that prayer is about to end.

4- Despite all these conveniences, if a person misses the opportunity to perform a prayer in the vehicle, what he needs to do is perform that prayer as qada as soon as possible.

5- The prayers that cannot be performed while travelling are performed as qada later as the prayers of a traveler. In other words, people who are travelers in terms of the religion of Islam shorten certain prayers when they perform them as qada later. The prayers missed while traveling are performed later as the prayers of a traveler.

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