Should One Leave Prayer if His Parents Call While He is Performing Prayer?

Should one leave prayer if his parents call while he is performing prayer?

If a person’s mother or father calls when he is establishing a fardh prayer, he is not supposed to leave prayer unfinished. However, if his parents or another person asks help from him due to a danger or need, then he leaves the prayer unfinished (Ibn Abidin, Radd al-Muhtar, II, 504-505).

While establishing a nafl prayer, one leaves prayer unfinished and obeys them if his parents call him although it is not a serious need. However, if one’s parents call their children for invalidating their prayer as they object to their child’s performing prayer, obedience to them is not required. In the events other than this exception, obeying parents comes before completing a nafl prayer. The evidence for this ruling is the parable of Juraij (Ibn Abidin, Radd al-Muhtar, II, 504). It was informed by the Prophet Muhammad that Juraij, who lived in the time of previous ummahs, had not answered his mother who called him while performing a nafl prayer, and he then experienced some difficult situations because her mother cursed him (Muslim, Birr, 7, 8).

Source: Presidency Of Religious Affairs The Turkey, High Board of Religious Affairs FATWAS