What is the Allamah Khorasani’s opinion about saying prayer on the plane?
Saying prayer while moving is permissible only for someone who is afraid of a danger or harm or loss of prayer time; as God has said: ﴿فَإِنْ خِفْتُمْ فَرِجَالًا أَوْ رُكْبَانًا﴾[1]; “And if you fear, on foot or riding (say prayer)”, and in this case, he says any amount of prayer, that he can, toward the Qibla and in the normal state, and any amount of that, which he cannot, says toward any direction and in any state that he can; as God has said: ﴿لَا يُكَلِّفُ اللَّهُ نَفْسًا إِلَّا وُسْعَهَا﴾[2]; “God does not task any soul beyond its capacity”, and Has said: ﴿وَمَا جَعَلَ عَلَيْكُمْ فِي الدِّينِ مِنْ حَرَجٍ﴾[3]; “He has not placed for you any hardship in the religion”; except that anyway, it is obligatory that he says Takbirat ul-Ihram toward the Qibla; as one of our companions informed us, said:
«سَأَلْتُهُ عَنِ الصَّلاةِ فِي الطَّيّارَةِ، فَقَالَ: اسْتَقْبِلِ الْقِبْلَةَ وكَبِّرْ ثُمَّ اسْتَقْبِلْ حَيْثُ تَسْتَقْبِلُ الطَّيّارَةُ ولا تُصَلِّ فِيها مَكْتُوبَةً إِلّا وأَنْتَ خائِفٌ! قُلْتُ: أُصَلِّي فِيها جالِسًا؟ قالَ: تُصَلِّي قائِمًا أَبَدًا، فَإِنْ لَمْ تَسْتَطِعْ فَقاعِدًا، فَإِنْ لَمْ تَسْتَطِعْ فَعَلى جَنْبِكَ، فَإِنْ لَمْ تَسْتَطِعْ فَبِالْإِيماءِ، فَإِنْ لَمْ تَسْتَطِعْ فَبِالنِّيَّةِ وهَذَا كَقَولِ الْحَدّادِ لِفَتاهُ: مُتْ وأَنْتَ نافِخٌ»; “I asked his Honor about saying prayer on the plane, so he said: Turn toward the Qibla and say Takbir, then turn to any direction where the plane is going, and do not perform any obligatory prayer on that, unless while you are in fear! I said: Do I pray while sitting there? He said: You always pray standing, so if you could not, while sitting, so if you could not on your flank, so if you could not with beck, then if you could not by intention, and this is similar to the words of the blacksmith (in the famous proverb) who said to his apprentice: die and blow”!