Does this rule apply to pictures that may be kept undercover(eg. in a cupboard) yet be in the same room where the parayer is been offered. Secondly could you tell me where should we offer our sunnah, nafil and witr prayers. I mean is it better to offer them in the mosque or our houses. The muazzin of our mosque said that one should offer sunnah and nafil prayers in our house so that our houses are not deprived of it. Is this correct. By the nafil prayers i mean the ones that form the set of say magrib or isha salaat and not the nafil a person desires to offer for other purposes.
1. Rasulullah (Sallallaahu Alayhi Wasallam) said, ?The angels (of mercy) do not enter a house wherein there are pictures of animate objects.? (Bukhari). The Fuqahaa have ruled that it is Makrooh (reprehensible) to perform Salaat in a room wherein pictures of animate objects are displayed. If the pictures are in a cupboard, then Salaat in such an area will not be Makrooh. However, one should not keep pictures of animate objects in one’s house without necessity.
2. The information given by the Muazzin is correct. Rasulullah (Sallallaahu Alayhi Wasallam) advised to perform some Salaat in one’s home and not make one’s home like a graveyard. The Fuqahaa have ruled that if one fears that he will not be able to perform his Sunnat Salaats at home due to the environment at home, then he should perform them in the Musjid.
and Allah Ta’ala Knows Best
Mufti Ebrahim Desai