Delaying slightly beyond the fixed time while waiting for someone

Question

In mosques a time is usually fixed for the congregation. But if at some point, for some reason and out of some need, the imam delays [the prayer] by five to seven minutes beyond the fixed time, is this permissible or not? Or, [for example,] on the occasion of the death of some respected religious scholar or pious elder, may there be a slight delay? Many people get upset at this and regard delaying beyond the fixed time as haram and a sin. Therefore, kindly shed light on this issue.

Answer

[Fixing] the prayer times by the clocks now in common use creates ease, so that the regular members of the congregation are not deprived of joining it. If some change occurs in this, but by the Shari‘a reckoning a disliked (makruh) time has not set in, then the prayer is still undoubtedly valid.

Source: Fatawa Mahmudiyya

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