Answered by Shaykh Amjad Rasheed
Translated by Shaykh Hamza Karamali, SunniPath Academy Teacher
Someone applied for about 60 jobs before finally getting a job. Among the reasons that caused this hardship was that he recently came out of prison and his academic qualifications are sparse. His job, however, does not presently permit him to pray fajr even though he has argued with the administration about it extensively. He now fears that if he breaches this subject with them another time, they will fire him. What should this brother do, given the fact that he needs the money from this job?
He has no excuse to not pray on time. Rather, he should select a suitable time and place and pray the prayer in its time by, for example, taking permission for a short time to buy something or go to the bathroom. If he is unable to do even this, then he has no option but to leave the job for the sake of Allah, and through the blessing (barakah) of his guarding his prayer, Allah will facilitate for him what is more beneficial than the provender [h: he is currently earning]. Whoever prefers Allah, Allah prefers him.
Amjad Rasheed
Amman, Jordan
(Translated by Hamza Karamali)