Title: Offering Prayers while Performing Official Duties Question: is it okay for a Muslim police officer to stop his duties for prayer time? There was an officer who stopped during a search for a 5-year old boy for prayer and stated that he was required to do this. Walter Ferris USA Answer: It is true that Muslims, under normal circumstances are required to offer their prayers at the times prescribed for these prayers. However, two factors need to be kept in mind in this regard. Firstly, the 'prescribed time' for each of the five daily prayers is not limited to a point in time, but, on the contrary, it covers a period of time. Thus, it is not that the time of the Zuhr (the noon) prayers, for instance. is 1:00 PM (1300 hours) and after 1:00 PM, the time for the Zuhr prayers would be deemed to have expired. In contrast, the 'prescribed time' for Zuhr prayers starts immediately after noon and then extends for anytime between 3 to 5 hours (depending upon one's geographical location and time of the year) [1] . If a Muslim offers his prayers at any time within the range or period of time, which is prescribed for that particular prayer, he would then be considered to have offered his prayers at its prescribed time. Secondly, it is a standing allowance given by the Qur'an that when a person is in a state of some kind of journey, then he may 1) Shorten his prayers; and 2) Combine the Zuhr and `Asr prayers and the Maghrib and the `Ishaa prayers. The same allowance will also extend to situations in which a person is facing any other emergency. Keeping the foregoing two points in perspective, I am of the opinion that, under normal circumstances, Muslims should try to adjust their prayers during their midday luncheon breaks and to request their management to grant them a break for ten minutes for their `Asr prayers, if the time of `Asr prayers expire by the time that they get off from their jobs. If, however, due to some abnormal circumstances, they cannot offer their prayers at their prescribed time, then they may benefit from the allowance of shortening or even combining their prayers. Nevertheless, as I have stated earlier, under normal circumstances, all Muslims are required to offer their prayers at the time prescribed for these prayers. The foregoing explanation would hold true for all kinds of jobs. I hope this helps. Regards, Moiz Amjad June 5, 2002 [1] For more details regarding the prescribed timings of the five daily prayers, please refer to one of my earlier responses to a related question titled: " Regarding the Muslim Prayers ".