switching mobile off during salat

[muzaffar]

Assalamu 'Alaykum wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuhu

During jamaat if some one's mobile phone goes off, is that muqtadi allowed to switch it off with one hand during salat so he doesnt disturb everyone elses salat ?

Also what if someone else who is sat close by and not praying puts his hand over the phone in the persons loose clothing ie salwar chemise and manages to switch it off ,,what then ?

[Imam]

Bismillahir Rahmanir Raheem,

Wa'alaykum 'Assalam wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuhu



Praise be to Allah who is the Lord of the Worlds, and may Endless Blessings be showered upon His Last and Final Messenger of Islam, the Most Beloved Prophet Muhammad (Salla Allahu ta'ala 'alayhi wa Sallam)


Jazak'Allah for your valued question. First of all you should not even carry a mobile phone into a Masjid. The Masjid, is a place of unification of yourself, with Allah the Almighty, and there should be nothing, in the whole wide world, that should come between you, and your creator, not even a mobile phone.


Most Masjids have notices either inside or outside, which specify, that all mobile phones should be switched off, but sometimes, as the case may be, they are forgetfully left switched on, and later cause trouble in salah.


When a mobile phone goes off in a Masjid, first of all you have disturbed everyones salah, as everyone's ears hear the ringtone of the mobile, and the person carrying the mobile feels deeply ashamed, and wishes he had switched it off. If only he had the same amount of shame, or greater shame in front of Allah the Almighty, had he not had the mobile phone.


In such a case, if he knows which pocket its in, and knows that if he touches a certain part of it, and he knows that if he does switch it off, it will ease the disturbance that it it creating from everyone else, then he should, without making a great deal of fidget, shut it off. As there should be no noise in the house of Allah, especially that of a mobile phone, and there should also be no diversion of attention, that is being paid in front of the creator.


As for the second part of the question, then first of all you are disturbed because of the mobile ringtone, secondly, everyone else is disturbed because of it, now there is no need for a third person to come along, and try to switch off the mobile phone for you, as your salah will now be endangered by becoming even more disturbed (fasid).


It is best, that you take precaution as a primary measure in the first place, and switch your mobile off, before you enter the Masjid, so that everything that you have prayed for, does not go to waist, and that you dont become the centre of attention, when everyone else is praying, and that your salah becomes free of becoming fasid (disturbed).


May Allah the Almighty help us to keep His house free from all kinds of worldly posession, and may He help us to treat His House, in the proper manner.



Wallahu A'lamu Biththawaab


M. Waseem Ashrafi