that they miss the Magrib prayer( after eatingdates comes the soup and
juice and so on).
What is your advice with regard to such behavior?
If the meal is put in front of a person without his own intention
being to miss the congregational prayer, then he can eat and drink,
even if he misses the congregational prayer, based on the statement of
the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), "If the meal
is served and the prayer starts, begin with the meal." (Bukhari
narrated it, #631.)
As for putting a large portion of food out purposely to miss the
congregational prayer, thisis the wrong approach andincorrect
behavior. The correct thing is for a Muslim to take a lot of food
unsuspectedly, thereby making him miss the congregational prayer, but
he still gets the bigger reward. Then what is the sunnah? The sunnah
is what is reported on the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be
upon him) "that he used to break the fast before he prayed with fresh
dates, if there were no fresh dates then with dry dates, and if there
were no dry dates, then he sipped from water." (At-Tirmidhi narrated
it and others. He stated it was hasan, gharibhadith. Also Al Albanni
declared it hasan in Sahih Al Jama #4995.)
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