Salah for naval officers while being in their posts

Fatwa no. 14616 All praise be to Allah alone, and may peace and blessings be upon the one after whom there will be no Prophet!The Permanent Committee for Scholarly Research and Ifta’ read the letter that was sent to His Eminence the General President by the Religious Administrative Affairs Manager (Part No. 6; Page No. 402) of the Navy, which was referred to the committee by the General Secretariat of the Council of Senior Scholars, no. 4194, dated 17/10/1418 A.H. His Eminence asked a question that was mentioned in the letter of the Religious Administrative Affairs Manager from the King Faysal Naval Base, which stated the following:Many questions have been submitted to us concerning the ruling on performing the Jumu‘ah (Friday) prayer and Tarawih (special supererogatory night prayer in Ramadan) on board ship or when in dock, as there is a lot of discussion about this. They have asked me to send a request for a Fatwa (legal opinion issued by a qualified Muslim scholar) to the Council of Senior Scholars with a clarification to the position of the ships’ crews, so everyone can abide by the Fatwa and the disputes will be settled.We would like to describe the ships and their crews before asking the questions:First: There are different sizes of naval ships; some of them are small which makes it difficult to offer the congregational Salah (Prayer) on them, some are medium sized, and others are large ships with crews of more than 150. The last two types of ships have large decks, where the crew can offer the Jumu‘ah and the congregational Salah without any problems or experiencing any shaking, because those big ships are not affected by the waves.Second: These ships have different situations; usually they are docked in the port and sometimes they are (Part No. 6; Page No. 403) out at sea, far from the port at a distance that allows the shortening of Salah or more. They are then not stationary in one place, but are on patrol. Sometimes they are in the middle of the sea at a distance less than that which permits the shortening of Salah. Sometimes the anchor is lowered and a ship remains in one place and other times it is taken to the mainland and into dry dock for repairs, which might take a month or more. In this case, it is more like a multi-storey building, not a ship.Third: The ship’s crew do not live inside the ship; they live at the naval base and only come on board during their working hours, for a whole day for the shift workers, more than that when the ship is out at sea, or even more if they are guarding the borders. However, the first case is the most common.Having clarified the situation of the ships, we would like to ask some questions:First: What is the ruling on offering Jumu‘ah Prayer on board medium and large ships, where there is a place to offer congregational Salah in the following situations:a. If the ship is in port and not moving at all.B. If the ship is out at sea and far from the naval base, (Part No. 6; Page No. 404) at a distance that permits the shortening of Salah or more, but it is not stationary in one place, it is on patrol.C. If the ship is out at sea and far from the naval base, at a distance that does not permit the shortening of Salah, and it is not stationary, it is on patrol.D. In the situations described in b. And c., but stationary with the anchor dropped.E. If the ship is out of the sea in dry dock, supported on iron bases, to be repaired.Second: What is the ruling on offering Tarawih in the situations mentioned in the first question?Third: What is the ruling on offering congregational Salah on board small ships, where there is not enough room for a congregation or if there is, the congregation cannot stand in rows? Please advise on what should be done if the ship is out at sea or tied to the quay.Fourth: Please clarify, if, in the situations mentioned in the first question it is not obligatory on the crew to offer the Jumu‘ah Prayer, but they have done so, will it suffice them or do they also have to repeat it again as Zhuhr (Noon) Prayer?Fifth: If the ship tied to the quay, should (Part No. 6; Page No. 405) the crew offer Jumu‘ah Prayer on the quay or are they exempted from it? Although they are not traveling, and there is a nearby Masjid (mosque) where the Jumu‘ah Prayer is offered, the crew cannot all leave the ship and go to the Masjid together. If they offer the Salah on the quay, they can all offer it together.Sixth: If the ship is out at open sea at a distance that permits the shortening of Salah, and the crew shortens and combines Zhuhr and ‘Asr (Afternoon) Prayers at the time of the earlier, is it permissible for some of them to perform a supererogatory Salah after it if they want to, since the time for the ‘Asr Prayer has not arrived or is it not permissible because they have already performed the ‘Asr Prayer? The same applies to the Maghrib (Sunset) and ‘Isha’ (Night) Prayers. If the crew combines and shortens them during the time of the earlier one, can they offer Witr (Prayer with an odd number of units) or Tarawih immediately after it, or should they wait until the red twilight disappears and the time for ‘Isha’ arrives?Seventh: If the ship is out at open sea at a distance that permits the shortening of Salah or more and the crew combines and shortens the Zhuhr and ‘Asr Prayers during the time of the earlier one, and then the ship enters the port and drops anchor before the time for the ‘Asr Prayer or during its time, do they have to repeat the ‘Asr Prayer because they have reached land in time or is their first performance of it suffice? The same applies to Maghrib and ‘Isha’ Prayers. (Part No. 6; Page No. 406) We hope that you will send this Fatwa request to the Council of Senior Scholars for us to have the required Fatwa that we can generally apply in the naval force ships as soon as possible. As-salamu ‘alaykum warahmatullah wabarakatuh (May Allah’s Peace, Mercy, and Blessings be upon you!)