or should he devote his heart to the prayer? Furthermore, suppressing the urge to urinate or defecate harms the body, for Allah—exalted is He—has assigned a place for these wastes, and once that place is full they must be expelled. To keep them in is self-injury.

If someone objects, saying, “Should I go relieve myself when that will cause me to miss the congregational prayer?” we answer, “There is no problem—go and take care of your need even if you miss the congregation.”

Another question may be posed: “When the time for the obligatory prayer is about to end and I am constrained by urine or stool, do I relieve myself first and then pray, even if the prescribed time passes, or do I pray within the time while my mind is distracted?” The scholars have disagreed on this. Shaykh al-Islām Ibn Taymiyyah (may Allah have mercy on him) held that one should relieve himself even if the time elapses, because the situation is one of necessity and retaining the waste harms the body. Most other scholars, however, maintain that the time must not be allowed to expire on that account; rather, he should perform the prayer and keep it brief, and, God willing, he will not be harmed.