Praying Salat In US

As Salaam,

Because of the fast paced life of Americans I am wondering how some of you deal with praying Salat when you work, go to school, go to football and basketball games, etc. How do you fit Salat into your life?

Wa Alaikum Salam wa Rahmatullah,

You must get your priorities in order. �Allah must be first all the time.

spend your time seeking knowledge and purifying yourself instead of going/playing games, etc.

Peace Kay,
When I lived in the States (and before I ran my own studio) I always told
my employeers, clients, etc. when my prayer times were. I made sure that
the environment was not just accepting, but also encouraging to observe
prayer times; i.e, working with other Muslims, open-minded people,
progressives, etc.

If this sounds a bit tough, maybe it is. However Kay, it's so worth it.
There is an expression in Africa that it takes a two people to make a
child, but a community to keep those two people together. In this case,
your newborn is your Islamic practice, your groom is the Divine, and the
community will ideally be an active Muslim community keeping you on
the Straight Path.

Blessings,
Jamal Morelli

Assalamualikum senekerk. Well sometimes it is a problem, like when you have class or especially exam spanning the whole duration of Asr and Maghrib prayers. I would like to share with you my experiences.

A few years ago I had to sit for several exams starting from 4.30 pm to 7.30pm. During that time here, Asr started at around about 4.45pm and Maghrib started at around 6.50pm. So it was a big headache for me as to how I would say my prayers because I, for a single instance, never thought of missing prayers. Especially, duirng that period, I was having this reawakening about Islam. Of course in the exam hall, they won't allow you to go outside for saying prayers. So what I did was that I excused myself for going to the toilet, and I had this sort of free space just infront of the exam hall, and I prayed there, then went to the toilet(I needed to!) and came back.

Again, a few months ago, i had an exam of 2 hrs in the afternoon. This time the invigilator, who happened to be my relative and I had known him to be a devoted muslim, did not allow me to go even to the toilet(I seriously needed to go there!). I was prepared for this, so I said my exam was over anyways and I must leave.  He asked me whether I wanted to go outside for Asr prayers. I answered in the affirmative, and he directed me to an empty bit of space right at the end of the hall. I went there, said my prayers, again took my seat and finished the exam. One of my friends also performed prayers in the exam hall.

So, you see senekerk, if there is a will there is a way.  Allah has made every bit of land in this planet eligible for praying salat. So wherever you are, in a conference, in an exam hall, in a basketball court, when it's time to perform salat, just do it. Don't think of what other people will think of you. Ya, at first, almost everyone will be looking at you in astonishment, but then everyone has their own business. You don't need to care what others will think. Just shrug it off.

Allah is with you everywhere.