QUESTION:
I work as an accountant and when the time for prayer comes I cannot pray in congregation sometimes, until my colleague comes and replaces me. Please note that outside of work I offer all the prayers regularly in the mosque.
ANSWER:
Praise be to Allaah. Prayer in congregation is obligatory for men who are able to do it, according to the more correct of the two scholarly opinions, based on a great deal of evidence that has been explained in our previous answers. An exception from that is made for the one whose work cannot be left because obvious harm would result from that, such as those who guard important places or doctors doing surgery and the like; they may stay away from prayer in congregation.
As for working as an accountant, there does not seem to be any reason for not praying in congregation because of it, because you tan close the books, computers and offices in order to go and pray. The boss has no right to stop employees from praying in congregation.
We advise you to try to pray in congregation and to do things that will help you to do that, and to advise your bosses at work, because prayer is the most important pillar of Islaam after the Shahaadatayn, and it is the cause of success and prosperity in this world and in the Hereafter. And Allaah knows best.
(All the questions above were answered by Shaykh Muhammad Saalih aI-Munajjid;www.islam-qa.com)
This article was culled from the publications of Deen Communication Limited