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Fatwa CenterNew Muslims can not perform prayer publicly
Question
Assalamu alaikum.If a Mushrik reverts does he have to start praying immediately?Here in India there is persecution of reverts .Though not all but some cannot pray immediately in their house.Some pray secretly in others houses.But not all of them has this opportunity.They cannot go to Mosque as they will be watched.So can they delay prayer say for few weeks till they learn more about Islam or is it necessary that immediately they should be taught to pray?.Experience showed that this forcing has even lead them to abondon Islam.Here in India reverts have a danger to their life.Here in India I feel like it is like Meccan situation,though exactly not same but similair, where majority are Mushriks and rulers also has fascist mentality.So how did similair situations were solved in earlier times like as in Mecca?We are a small group involved in Dawah to Mushriks and Alhamdulillah we are getting results,but we are now facing such problems.Hope you could help us how Sahabah(Allah be pleased with them)solved these kinds of problems as level of Imaan will be different in different people.Was Salaam. alaikum.
Answer
All perfect praise be to Allaah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah, and that Muhammad is His slave and Messenger. We ask Allaah to exalt his mention as well as that of his family and all his companions.
First of all, you should know that the first thing a person should be called to is to testify that None has the right to be worshipped but Allaah and that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allaah 
. So whoever accepts this and embraces Islam, he is obliged to perform the prayer and then the other pillars of Islam. The evidence about this is that the Prophet clarified this order when he sent Mu'aath Ibn Jabal, may Allah be pleased with him, to Yemen and told him: "Indeed you will come across the people of the Book, so the first thing to call them to, is to believe in the Oneness of Allaah, if they acknowledge this fact inform them that Allaah ordained them to perform five daily prayers. If they perform the prayers, then inform them that Allaah commanded them to pay Zakat (obligatory charity), which should be taken from the rich and given to the poor, if they acknowledge that, take the Zakat from them, but do not choose from the best of their wealth." [Al-Bukhari and Muslim]. So whoever embraces Islam is obliged to perform the prayer which is the greatest obligation after the two testimonies of faith. As regards whoever is persecuted and is not able to show his religious rites like the prayer, then he should perform the prayer secretly as the companions 
used to do when they were persecuted in Makkah. It is reported that when 'Asr prayer was due, they would scatter in the land and perform the prayer individually. [Al-Haakim]. It is also confirmed that they used to go out while it was still dark [in the morning] and they would perform ablution and [Fajr] prayer. [Al-Haakim]. Besides, there are other narrations which prove that they used to hide their Islam and prayed secretly. The Prophet did not give them permission to abandon the prayer. Nonetheless, whoever is not able to show his religious rites is obliged to migrate. Allaah Says (what means): {O My servants who have believed, indeed My earth is spacious, so worship only Me.}[Quran 29:56]. Al-Qurtubi
said: ''This verse was revealed to incite the believers in Makkah to migrate. So Allaah informed them that His Earth is vast and that staying in one place while being harmed by the non-Muslims is not acceptable.'' However, it is not permissible to abandon the prayers because of being persecuted. Had anyone deserved to be exempted from performing the prayers, the Mujahidoon [the fighters in the battle field for Allaah's Cause] would have been exempted, on the contrary Allaah ordered them to perform the prayer as in chapter 4, verse 102-103. The companions who were the first to embrace Islam used to perform the prayer secretly and when they were persecuted they were ordered to migrate but they were not allowed to abandon the prayer.
The questioner and others who invite to Islam should clarify to the people that Allaah tests His Slaves so that the truthful will become distinct from the liars. Allaah Says (what means): {Do the people think that they will be left to say: ''We believe'', and they will not be tried? But We have certainly tried those before them, and Allaah will surely make evident those who are truthful, and He will surely make evident the liars.}[Quran 29:2-3]. So the people who invite to Islam should prepare the new Muslims to this effect and remind them to be patient and that the blessed end would be for the pious.
Allaah Knows best.
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