5 replies to this topic

[muslimsister]

                    Assalaam alaikum wa rahmatu Allah,
Sister, if you pray fajr before sunrise, you haven't missed it.  It is disliked to pray after fajr before the sunrises, but if you accidently wake up late, you should pray immediatetly.  
There are ranges of times for each prayer, and most would give you plenty of time to pray even if you have a class.  There is usually at an hour between the beginning of a prayer time and the end of its time.

Question :


When does the time for ‘Asr end and can you define it by the clock?

Answer :

Praise be to Allaah.  

Allaah has enjoined upon His slaves five prayers throughout the day and night at specific times decreed by the wisdom of Allaah so that the slave may be in contact with his Lord in these prayers throughout all of these times. They are for the heart like water for a tree, given to it time after time, not all in one go and then it stops.

Part of the wisdom behind doing the prayers at these times is so that people will not get bored or find it too difficult, which would happen if they all had to be done at once. Blessed be Allaah, the Wisest of judges.

(From the Introduction to Risaalat Ahkaam Mawaaqeet al-Salaah (Essay on the Rulings on the Times of the Prayers) by Shaykh Muhammad ibn ‘Uthaymeen, may Allaah have mercy on him).

The times of the prayers were mentioned by the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) in the hadeeth: “The time for Zuhr is from when the sun has passed its zenith and a man’s shadow is equal in length to his height, until the time for ‘Asr comes. The time for ‘Asr lasts until the sun turns yellow. The time for Maghrib lasts until the twilight has faded. The time for ‘Isha’ lasts until midnight. The time for Subh (Fajr) prayer lasts from the beginning of the pre-dawn so long as the sun has not yet started to rise. When the sun starts to rise then stop praying, for it rises between the two horns of the Shaytaan.” (Narrated by Muslim, 612).

This hadeeth explains the timings of the five daily prayers. As for defining them by the clock, that varies from one city or country to another. We will define each in more detail as follows:

1 – The time of Zuhr

The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “The time for Zuhr is from when the sun has passed its zenith and a man’s shadow is equal in length to his height, until the time for ‘Asr comes.” So the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) defined the start and the end of the time for Zuhr:

The start of the time for Zuhr is when the sun has passed its zenith i.e., has passed the highest part of the sky and started to descend towards the west.

Practical way of knowing when the zenith has been passed (and the time for Zuhr has begun):

Put a stick or pole in an open place. When the sun rises in the east, the shadow of this stick will fall towards the west. The higher the sun rises, the shorter the shadow will become. So long as it keeps growing shorter, the sun has not yet reached its zenith. The shadow will keep on growing shorter until it reaches a certain point, then it will start to increase, falling towards the east. When it increases by even a small amount, then the sun has passed its zenith. At that point the time for Zuhr has begun.

Knowing the time of the zenith by the clock: divide the time between sunrise and sunset in half, and that is the time of the zenith. If we assume that the sun rises at 6 a.m. and sets at 6 p.m., then the zenith is at 12 noon. If it rises at 7 a.m. and sets at 7 p.m., then the zenith is at 1 p.m., and so on.

See al-Sharh al-Mumti’, 2/96

The end of the time for Zuhr is when the shadow of everything is equal in length to the object itself, plus the length of the shadow of the object at the time of the zenith.  

Practical way of knowing when the time for Zuhr has ended: go back to the stick or pole which we described above. Let us assume that its length is one meter. We will notice that before the sun reached its zenith, the shadow decreased gradually until it reached a certain point (make a mark at this point), then it started to increase, at which point the time for Zuhr began. The shadow will continue to increase, falling towards the east until the length of the shadow is equal to the length of the object itself, i.e., it will be one meter long, starting from the point marked at the zenith). As for the shadow before the mark, that is not counted, and it is called fay’ al-zawaal (the shadow of the zenith). At this point the time for Zuhr ends and the time for ‘Asr begins straight away.

2 – The time of ‘Asr

The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “The time for ‘Asr lasts until the sun turns yellow.”

We know that the time for ‘Asr begins when the time for Zuhr ends, i.e., when the length of an object’s shadow becomes equal to the length of the object itself. There are two times for the end of ‘Asr.

(1)    The preferred time: this lasts from the beginning of the time for ‘Asr until the sun begins to turn yellow, because the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “The time for ‘Asr lasts until the sun turns yellow.” Defining this time by the clock varies according to the season.

(2)    The time of necessity. This lasts from the time the sun turns yellow until sunset, because the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “Whoever catches up with one rak’ah of ‘Asr before the sun sets has caught up with ‘Asr.” (Narrated by al-Bukhaari, 579; Muslim, 608)

Question: what is meant by the time of necessity?

Necessity here refers to when a person is distracted from praying ‘Asr by some essential and unavoidable work, such as dressing wounds, and he is able to pray before the sun turns yellow but it is difficult, then he prays just before sunset. In this case he has prayed on time and has not sinned, because this is the time of necessity. If a person is forced to delay the prayer, there is no sin so long as he prays before the sun sets.

3 – The time of Maghrib

The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “The time for Maghrib lasts until the twilight has faded.”

i.e., the time for Maghrib starts immediately after the time for ‘Asr ends, which is when the sun sets, until the twilight or red afterglow has faded. When the red afterglow has disappeared from the sky, the time for Maghrib ends and the time for ‘Isha’ begins. Defining this time by the clock varies according to the season. When you see that the red afterglow has disappeared from the horizon, this is a sign that the time for Maghrib has ended.

4 – The time of ‘Isha

The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “The time for ‘Isha’ lasts until midnight.”  

So the time for ‘Isha’ begins immediately after the time for Maghrib ends (i.e., when the red afterglow disappears from the sky) until midnight.

Question: how do we calculate when midnight is?

Answer: if you want to calculate when midnight is, then calculate the time between sunset and sunrise then divide it in half; that halfway point is the end of the time for praying ‘Isha’ (and that is midnight).

So if the sun sets at 5 p.m., and Fajr begins at 5 a.m., then midnight is 11 p.m. If the sun sets at 5 p.m. and Fajr begins at 6 p.m., then midnight is 11.30 p.m., and so on.

5 – The time of Fajr

The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “The time for Subh (Fajr) prayer lasts from the beginning of the pre-dawn so long as the sun has not yet started to rise. When the sun starts to rise then stop praying, for it rises between the two horns of the Shaytaan.”

The time for Fajr begins with the onset of the “second dawn” (al-fajr al-thaani) and ends when the sun starts to rise. The “second dawn” is the brightness that appears along the horizon in the east and extends north to south. The “first dawn” (al-fajr al-awwal) occurs approximately one hour before this, and there are differences between the two:

(1)   In the “first dawn” the brightness extends from east to west, and in the “second dawn” it extends from north to south.

(2)   The “first dawn” is followed by darkness, i.e., the brightness lasts for a short period then it becomes dark. The “second dawn” is not followed by darkness, rather the light increases.

(3)   The “second dawn” is connected to the horizon, with no darkness between it and the horizon, whereas the “first dawn” is separated from the horizon with darkness between it and the horizon.

See al-Sharh al-Mumti’, 2/107.



Islam Q&A
Sheikh Muhammed Salih Al-Munajjid (www.islam-qa.com)                    

[muslimsister]

                    Assalaam alaikum wa rahmatu Allah,
Insha' Allah this will give you more information  

Question :


If the calender table indicates 4:45 a.m. as Ishraq till what time can Fajr be prayed?
Thank you

Answer :

If what is published in the calendar conforms to what is actually observed in reality, then the answer to your question is what was narrated by Abu Huraira in the hadith of the Prophet  (peace be upon him): "Whoever catches a raka'a of the morning prayer before the sun rises has caught the prayer" (i.e. on time) (Bukhari).

It must be noted, however, that praying the five daily congregational prayers in the mosque is wajib (compulsory) for men.



Islam Q&A
Sheikh Muhammed Salih Al-Munajjid (www.islam-qa.com)                    

[muslimsister]

                    Assalaam alaikum wa rahmatu Allah,
Some more info:
Question :


The time for ‘Asr coincides with the time of a lecture at college. The professor is a Christian and does not allow us time to pray, so we pray when we come out of the lecture, when there is only one hour left until Maghrib.

Answer :

Praise be to Allaah.

Praying it at the beginning of its time is preferable, but praying it at the time you mention is OK and is still within the right time. It is not permissible to delay it until the sun becomes yellow, because of the saheeh hadeeth narrated by ‘Abd-Allaah ibn ‘Amr ibn al-‘Aas (may Allaah be pleased with him) who said: the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “When you pray Fajr, its time is until the first horn of the sun appears (i.e., until it begins to appear over the horizon). When you pray Zuhr, its time is until ‘Asr comes. When you pray ‘Asr, its time is until the sun becomes yellow. When you pray Maghrib, its time is until the reddish glow disappears. When you pray ‘Isha’, its time is until midnight.” (Saheeh Muslim, 5/109; Fatawa al-Lajnah al-Daa’imah, 6/121)
Al-‘Ala’ ibn ‘Abd al-Rahmaan said: we entered upon Anas ibn Maalik after Zuhr and he got up and prayed ‘Asr. When he had finished his prayer, we mentioned praying too fast, or he mentioned it. He said, “I heard the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) say, ‘That is the prayer of the hypocrites, that is the prayer of the hypocrites, that is the prayer of the hypocrites. One of them will sit until the sun turns yellow, and is between the horns of the Shaytaan, or on the horns of the Shaytaan, then he will get up and peck out four (rak’ahs), in which he does not remember Allaah except a little.’” (Reported by Abu Dawood, 350). And Allaah knows best.



Islam Q&A
Sheikh Muhammed Salih Al-Munajjid (www.islam-qa.com)                    

[muslimsister]

                    Assalaam alaikum wa rahmatu Allah,
That last fatwa with the bold print is the evidence, it is a hadeeth of the Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah upon him, from Saheeh Muslim.  

There is a minority opinion about 'Isha' lasting until fajr, but this hadeeth is saheeh and is the evidence we need.  

Question :


This question is in reference to the timings of Isha Salat. There are various opinions regarding, when the time for offering Isha prayer expires.  Some say that one can pray Isha till the Fajr Azaan is called, while others say that it expires at the time of "Tahajjud prayers".  And finally some believe, that we are supposed to take the number of hours between Isha Azaan and the Fajr Azaan, and divide them into half, in order to estimate the last time for Isha prayer.
I know that prayers should be offered promptly and on time. Delaying a prayer without reason is not encouraged, but still it would be very beneficial to know the exact opinion on this issue.

Answer :

Praise be to Allaah.

‘Isha prayer must be performed before midnight, and it is not permissible to delay it until midnight, because the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “The time of ‘Isha’ is until midnight” (narrated by Muslim, al-Masaajid wa Mawaadi’ al-Salaah, 964). So you have to pray it before midnight, based on the length of the night, because the night may be longer or shorter, so the guideline is how many hours the night lasts. If the night is ten hours long, then it is not permissible to delay it until the end of the fifth hour. The best way it to pray it in the first third of the night. If a person prays it at the beginning of the time for ‘Isha, that is OK, but if he delays it a little while, that is preferable, because the Messenger (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) used to recommend delaying ‘Isha’ prayer for a little while. But if someone prays it at the beginning of its time, after the twilight – the reddish afterglow along the horizon – has vanished, there is nothing wrong with that. And Allaah knows best.  



Majmoo’ah Fataawa al-Shaykh ‘Abd al-‘Azeez ibn Baaz, 10/386 (www.islam-qa.com)