Leaving for Trade Before the Congregation

Question

Praise be to Allah, I pray zuhr, ‘asr, maghrib and ‘isha’ in congregation. But I am a hawker (I sell door to door), and my routine is this: the place where I do my rounds is five miles outside Poona City; I reach it before true dawn, and after the adhan, before the congregation, I pray the sunna and the fard and go off on my rounds, because if I wait for the congregation, my regular customers who go to work leave, and the other hawkers start business before me. Do I fall under the threat (wa‘id)

Answer

There is no harm in reaching the place of your trade before true dawn. Beyond that, the highest degree is that you pray fajr in congregation in the mosque. The One whose right you fulfil in the mosque will not let your trade fail because of it. The reward of praying in congregation is far greater than whatever income you obtain from this trade.

Source: Fatawa Mahmudiyya

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