Chapter on the Prayer in the Ship

Muhammad ibn Ali ibn Mahbub from Ali ibn al-Sindi from Ibn Abi ‘Umayr from Jamil ibn Darraj who said: I asked Abu Abdillah عليه السلام, peace be upon him, about prayer on a ship. Imam عليه السلام said: “A man came to my father (Imam al-Baqir عليه السلام) and asked him, saying: 'I am on a ship and the shore (al-jadd) is near to me, so I go out and pray on it.'” Abu Ja’far عليه السلام, peace be upon him, said to him: “Are you not content to pray with the prayer of Nuh عليه السلام, peace be upon him?”

Al-Husayn from Fadalah from Mu‘awiyah ibn Ammar who said: I asked Abu Abdillah عليه السلام, peace be upon him, about prayer on a ship. Imam عليه السلام said: “You face the qiblah with your face, then you pray however it (ship) turns. You pray standing, and if you are not able, then pray sitting. He may combine the prayers in it if he wishes, and he may pray on felt (al-qir) and coarse cloth (al-qufr), and prostrate on it.”

Muhammad ibn Ali ibn Mahbub from Muhammad ibn Isa from al-Hasan ibn Ali ibn Yaqtin from his brother al-Husayn from their father Ali ibn Yaqtin who said: I asked Abu al-Hasan al-Madi (Imam al-Kadhim عليه السلام), peace be upon him, about a man who is on a ship. May he place mats upon luggage, or cotton, or straw, or wheat, or barley, and the like, then pray upon it? Imam عليه السلام said: “There is no harm.”

From him, from Muhammad ibn al-Husayn from Ja’far ibn Bashir from Salih ibn al-Hakam who said: I asked Abu Abdillah عليه السلام, peace be upon him, about prayer on a ship. Imam عليه السلام said: “A man asked my father (Imam al-Baqir عليه السلام) about prayer on a ship, and Imam عليه السلام said to him: ‘Do you turn away from the prayer of Nuh عليه السلام, peace be upon him?’” So I asked the Imam عليه السلام: “Shall I take with me a clod of earth to prostrate on?” Imam عليه السلام said: “Yes.”

From him, from Muhammad ibn Ahmad al-Alawi from al-Amraki al-Bufaki from Ali ibn Ja’far from his brother Imam Musa ibn Ja’far عليه السلام, peace be upon them both, from Abu Abdillah عليه السلام, peace be upon him, who said: Imam al-Sadiq عليه السلام said: “The people of the ships perform the prayer in full in their ships.”

From him, from al-Abbas from Abdullah ibn al-Mughira from Ya‘qub ibn Shu‘ayb from Abu Abdillah عليه السلام, peace be upon him, who said: Imam al-Sadiq عليه السلام said: “There is no harm in praying in congregation on a ship.”

From him, from Muhammad ibn Ahmad al-Alawi from al-‘Amraki al-Bufaki from Ali ibn Ja’far from Imam Musa ibn Ja’far عليه السلام, peace be upon them both, who said: I asked Imam al-Kadhim عليه السلام about a group of people, who prayed in congregation on a ship, where does the imam (of prayer) stand? And if there are women with them, how should they proceed? Should they pray standing or sitting? Imam عليه السلام said: “They pray standing, and if they are unable to stand, they pray sitting (all of them). The imam (of prayer) stands in front of them, and the women are behind them. And if the ship is narrow, the women sit and the men pray, and there is no harm if the women are beside them.” And I asked Imam عليه السلام about a man whose belongings were taken or drowned, and he remained naked, and the time for prayer arrived. How should he pray? Imam عليه السلام said: “If he finds grass (or vegetation) with which he can cover his private parts, he should then complete his prayer with bowing and prostration. And if he does not find anything to cover his private parts, he should gesture while standing.”

As for what was narrated by Sahl ibn Ziyad from Abu Hashim al-Ja’fari, who said: I was with Abu al-Hasan عليه السلام, peace be upon him, on a ship in the ‘Tigris River’, and the time for prayer arrived. So I asked: “May I be your ransom, shall we pray in congregation?” Imam عليه السلام said: “Do not pray in congregation in the bottom of a valley.”

Ahmad ibn Muhammad from his father from Abdullah ibn al-Mughira, and Ayyub ibn Nuh from Abdullah ibn al-Mughira, who said: Uyaynah narrated to me from Ibrahim ibn Maymun: (Ibn Maymun) asked Abu Abdillah عليه السلام, peace be upon him, about prayer in congregation, on a ship. Imam عليه السلام said: “There is no harm.”

Ali from his father from Ibn Abi ‘Umayr from Hammad ibn Uthman from Abu Abdillah عليه السلام, who said: Imam al-Sadiq عليه السلام was asked about prayer on a ship. Imam عليه السلام said: “He should face the qiblah, and when it (ship) turns, if he is able to reorient himself toward the qiblah, then let him do so; otherwise, let him pray in the direction the ship is facing.” Imam عليه السلام said: “If he is able to stand, then let him pray standing; otherwise, let him sit and then pray.”

Ahmad ibn Muhammad from al-Hasan ibn Ali ibn Faddal from Yunus ibn Ya‘qub who said: I asked Abu Abdillah عليه السلام, peace be upon him, about the obligatory prayer on a ship while it is moving east and west. Imam عليه السلام said: “Face the qiblah, then say the takbir, then follow the ship and turn with it wherever it turns with you.”

Ahmad from al-Hasan ibn Ali ibn Faddal from al-Mufaddal ibn Salih who said: I asked Abu Abdillah عليه السلام, peace be upon him, about prayer in the Euphrates and in rivers weaker than it, while on a ship. Imam عليه السلام said: “If you pray (on the ship), it is good, and if you go out (to pray on land), it is good also.”

Ahmad ibn Muhammad from al-Hasan ibn Ali ibn Yaqtin from his brother al-Husayn from their father Ali ibn Yaqtin from Abu al-Hasan عليه السلام, peace be upon him, who said: I asked Imam al-Kadhim عليه السلام about the ship, if its rider is not able to stand, should he pray while sitting, gesturing, or prostrating? Imam عليه السلام said: “He should stand, even if he bends his back.”

Ahmad ibn Muhammad from Ibn Abi ‘Umayr from more than one of our companions from Abu Abdillah عليه السلام, peace be upon him, who said: Imam al-Sadiq عليه السلام said: “Prayer on a ship is by gesturing (ima’).”

From him, from Uyaynah the seller of reeds, from Ibrahim ibn Maymun who said: I said to Abu Abdillah عليه السلام, peace be upon him: “We travel to Ahwaz on ships, and we combine the prayers in them.” Imam عليه السلام said: “Yes, there is no harm in it.” I asked: “And we prostrate on what is in them, and on pitch (al-qir)?” Imam عليه السلام said: “There is no harm.”

From him, from al-Hasan ibn Mahbub from Abu Walad who said: I said to Abu Abdillah عليه السلام: “I had gone out from Kufah on a ship to Qasr Ibn Hubayrah, and it is about twenty farsakhs from Kufah by water. So I travelled that day, shortening the prayer. Then in the night, I decided to return to Kufah, and I did not know whether I should pray on my return with shortening or with full (prayer)? What should I do? Imam عليه السلام said: “If you had travelled on the day you departed, a distance of one ‘barid’, then it was upon you, when you returned, to pray with shortening (the prayer), because you remained a traveller until you reached your home.” Imam عليه السلام said: “And if you did not travel a distance of one ‘barid’ on the day you departed, then it is incumbent upon you to make up every prayer you performed that day with shortening (the prayer), with full prayers, before you move from that place. This is because you did not reach the location in which shortening is permissible before you returned. So it is obligatory upon you to make up what you shortened. And when you return, you must perform the prayer in full until you reach your home.”