Islamic Fiqh > Prayer > Prayer: status, times and making up > The Times of Prayer
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Updated on 25 September 2026 at 3:23 PM
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Time (waqt) is a measure of duration fixed for a given matter; everything to which a moment is assigned has been given a timing. The times of prayer are the periods the Lawgiver fixed for performing the prayer: time is the cause of obligation, the prayer not being valid before its entry and becoming a make-up (qada) after its exit (Al-Misbah al-Munir; Lisan al-Arab; Taj al-'Arus; al-Tahtawi, 93).
The men of knowledge agreed that Allah the Most High fixed times for the 5 prayers upon the tongue of His Prophet, making each time the proper moment of one prayer: what precedes it is not a time for performing it, and it is never permissible to perform it before; what follows is not a time for performing it either, and it is not permissible to delay the prayer until its time exits, whereupon it becomes a make-up. Allah says: "Indeed, prayer has been decreed upon the believers at specified times" (Surah an-Nisa, 103). This is undisputed among the ummah (Al-Muhalla, 2/236; Al-Iqna' fi Masail al-Ijma', 1/307, no. 505).
The legal origin of these times is known from the Book:
"So glorify Allah when you reach the evening and when you rise at morning (17); to Him belongs praise in the heavens and the earth, and at the evening hour and when you are at the day's meridian (18)"
Surah ar-Rum, 17-18
Some exegetes said: what is meant by the glorification (tasbih) is the prayer, that is: pray when you enter the time of the evening, which means Maghrib and Isha; "when you rise at morning" means the dawn prayer; "at the evening hour" Asr; "when you are at the day's meridian" Zuhr. The glorification is mentioned in the sense of prayer: either because it is among the requisites of prayer, or because prayer, from beginning to end, is glorification of the Lord, for what it contains of expressing need toward Him, incapacity and weakness, and of describing His majesty, His greatness, His elevation and His transcendence over any need.
Shaykh Abu Mansur al-Maturidi said: they understood from this verse the obligation of the 5 prayers; had their understandings been like those of the people of our time, they would have understood nothing from it but the mentioned glorification (Bada'i' al-Sana'i', 1/302; Tafsir al-Qurtubi, 7/342; Ahkam al-Qur'an of al-Jassas, 3/249; Majmu' al-Fatawa, 22/84; Al-Umm, 1/68; Ma'ani al-Athar, 1/301; Al-Istidhkar, 1/23; Al-Awsat, 2/321).
Likewise His words:
"Establish prayer at the decline of the sun until the darkness of the night and the recitation of dawn; indeed, the recitation of dawn is ever witnessed"
Surah al-Isra, 78
The Sunnah also explained the times of prayer, as in the hadith of Ibn Abbas: the Prophet said:
Jibril led me in prayer twice at the House. The first time, he prayed Zuhr when the shadow was like the strap of a sandal, then Asr when everything was like its shadow, then Maghrib when the fasting person breaks his fast, then Isha when the twilight had disappeared, then Fajr when dawn brightened and food became forbidden to the fasting person. The second day, he prayed Zuhr when the shadow of everything was like that of the time of Asr the day before, then Asr when the shadow of everything was like its double, then Maghrib at its first time, then Isha when a third of the night had passed, then Fajr when the earth brightened. Then Jibril turned to me and said: O Muhammad, this is the time of the prophets before you, and the time is between these 2 timesAuthentic hadith: reported by al-Tirmidhi (149), Abu Dawud (393) and al-Hakim (1/306)
And from Abu Musa (may Allah be pleased with him): a questioner came to the Messenger of Allah asking him about the times of prayer, but he gave him no answer. He then led Fajr when dawn broke and the people could barely recognize one another, then he ordered the call and led Zuhr when the sun declined, the speaker saying: midday has passed, though he knew better than they. He then ordered him to lead Asr while the sun was still high, then Maghrib when the sun set, then Isha when the twilight disappeared. The next day he delayed Fajr until the speaker said: the sun has risen, or nearly; he delayed Zuhr until near the time of the previous day's Asr, then Asr until the speaker said: the sun has turned red; then Maghrib until near the sinking of the twilight, then Isha until the first third of the night. Then he called the questioner and said: the time is between these 2 (reported by Muslim (614)).
The scholars did not differ that Jibril came down to the Prophet and taught him the prayer, its times and its descriptions (Al-Iqna' fi Masail al-Ijma', 1/307, no. 506).
There is no disagreement among the jurists that the number of the times of the obligatory prayers is 5, according to the number of the prayers. Ibn Qudama said: the Muslims agreed that the 5 prayers are timed with known, delimited times, established in sound, recurring hadiths (Al-Ifsah, 1/113; Ma'ani al-Athar, 1/299; Al-Mughni, 1/464).
The beginning and end of the Subh time. I treated the Subh time first because the Prophet began with it for a questioner in Medina: Muslim reported from Burayda that a man came asking the Prophet about the times of prayer, and he said: "Attend prayer with us"; he ordered Bilal to call at the dark (ghalas) and prayed Subh when dawn rose, then ordered him Zuhr, and so on (reported by Muslim (613)).
Muslim also reported from Abdallah ibn Amr ibn al-As that the Messenger of Allah was asked about the times of the prayers and said: "The time of the Fajr prayer lasts as long as the first edge of the sun has not appeared; the time of Zuhr begins when the sun declines from the middle of the sky and lasts until Asr arrives," and the rest of the hadith (reported by Muslim (612)). Add to this the hadith of Abu Musa already cited (Muslim (614)).
And because it is the first of the prayers prescribed by agreement, having been the Subh of the night of the Night Journey, and the Prophet did not perform it then, for the obligation of performing it depended on knowing its manner (al-Tahtawi, 1/116; Al-Durr al-Mukhtar, 1/358).
There is then no disagreement among the jurists of the ummah: the beginning of the Subh time enters with the rise of the second dawn, that is, the whiteness that spreads sideways across the horizon, called the true dawn (al-fajr al-sadiq) because it truly announces the morning to you and makes it clear; Subh being what combines whiteness and redness, hence the man whose complexion combines white and red is called "asbah". As for the first dawn, it is a whiteness that rises vertically without spreading sideways: no ruling attaches to it, and it is called the false dawn (al-fajr al-kadhib).
The proof is the hadith of Jibril on the times: "He led the Prophet in prayer twice at the House, and prayed Fajr on the first day when dawn brightened and food became forbidden to the fasting person" (authentic hadith, cited earlier). Ibn Abd al-Barr said: as for the beginning of its time, there is no disagreement among the Muslim scholars that it is the rise of dawn as in this hadith and others, and it is a consensus, the matter being settled. Dawn is the first luminous whiteness of the day spreading across the horizon; the Arabs call it the white thread, as in "Eat and drink until the white thread of dawn becomes distinct to you from the black thread," that is, the whiteness of the day from the blackness of the night (Al-Tamhid, 4/335).
Ibn al-Qattan al-Fasi said: no one differed that prayer is not lawful in the first dawn, and that the second dawn, when it spreads sideways, makes the Subh prayer lawful (Al-Iqna', 1/307, no. 508).
As for the end of the Subh time, it is the rising of the sun, according to the hadith of Abu Hurayra: the Prophet said:
The first time of Fajr is at the rising of dawn, and its last time is at the rising of the sunAuthentic hadith: reported by al-Tirmidhi (285), al-Daraqutni (1/262), al-Bayhaqi in al-Kubra (1/375) and Ahmad (2/232)
This is the view of most of the scholars, except what Ibn al-Qasim reported from Malik, and the view of al-Astakhri among the Shafi'is: the end of the time is the brightening (isfar). Ibn Abd al-Barr said: this, with us, concerns the chosen time, for Malik did not differ that whoever catches a rak'a of this prayer before sunrise, among those with an excuse that keeps the prayer incumbent after the exit of the time, like the menstruating woman who becomes pure, is obliged for having caught the like of a rak'a of its time, even if she prays the second rak'a at or after sunrise (Al-Tamhid, 3/276).
Ibn al-Qattan said: the reports from the Prophet agreed: he prayed Subh the first day at the rise of dawn, and the second day when the sun was about to rise; and on this is the consensus of the Muslims: its time is at the rise of dawn and its end at sunrise (Al-Iqna', 1/307, no. 507). Al-Tahawi said: regarding what is reported from the Messenger of Allah in these reports about the Fajr prayer, they did not differ: he prayed it the first day at the rise of dawn, which is its first time, and the next day when the sun was about to rise; this is the agreement of the Muslims (Sharh Ma'ani al-Athar, 1/148). Ibn Rushd said: they agreed that the first time of Subh is the rise of the true dawn and its end the rising of the sun, except what is reported from Ibn al-Qasim and some of the companions of al-Shafi'i: its end is the brightening (Bidayat al-Mujtahid, 1/142).
Ibn Abidin said: there is no disagreement on its beginning, that is, the origin of the rise of the second dawn; the disagreement concerns what is meant by rise. As for the absence of disagreement on its end, al-Tahawi and Ibn al-Mundhir stated it explicitly as the agreement of the Muslims; in al-Hilya: no attention is paid to what al-Astakhri said among the Shafi'is, for when dawn brightens the time exits and the prayer becomes a make-up until sunrise (Hashiyat Ibn Abidin, 1/357).
Ibn Hazm said: they agreed that the rising of the spreading dawn until the rising of the sun's disc is a time for entering the Subh prayer for the one who is not making it up (Maratib al-Ijma', 26).
The jurists differed over the preferred time for Fajr: is the prayer in the dark (taghlis) or at the brightening (isfar) preferable? The Hanafis held that the brightening is preferable, beginning and ending with it, according to the hadith of Rafi' ibn Khadij: I heard the Messenger of Allah say: "Pray Fajr at the brightening, for it is greater in reward," reported by Abu Dawud and al-Tirmidhi, who graded it hasan sahih, this wording being al-Tirmidhi's; in Abu Dawud's version: "Pray Subh in the morning, for it is greater in reward."
From Abdallah ibn Mas'ud: "I never saw the Messenger of Allah pray a prayer outside its time, except 2: he combined Maghrib and Isha in combination, at Muzdalifa, and he prayed Fajr that day before its (usual) time," reported by al-Bukhari and Muslim. They said: it is well known he did not pray it before the rise of dawn, but after its rise, in the dark; this shows he prayed it at the brightening on all the other days. And they said: the brightening gives abundance to the congregation and continuity to the rows, and it widens the time of the voluntary prayer before it; and whatever increases the voluntary worship is preferable. The limit of the brightening: beginning the prayer after the whiteness has spread, with a prescribed recitation, such that if he needs to repeat his ablutions after the prayer, he can still wash or pray Fajr before sunrise (Ahkam al-Qur'an of al-Jassas, 3/251; Al-Tajrid of al-Quduri, 1/435, 440; Al-Hidaya, 1/39; Al-'Inaya, 1/365; Sharh Fath al-Qadir, 1/226; 'Umdat al-Qari, 5/73; Al-Bahr al-Ra'iq, 1/257; Sharh Ma'ani al-Athar, 1/148; al-Tahtawi, 1/117; Majma' al-Anhar, 1/107-108).
The majority of the jurists (Malikis, Shafi'is and Hanbalis) held that the prayer in the dark is preferable. They argue from "Guard the prayers" (Surah al-Baqarah, 238), which includes advancing to the beginning of the time, since delaying exposes one to missing it; from "Hasten to a forgiveness from your Lord" (Surah Aal Imran, 133), which the prayer realizes; from "Race toward the good deeds" (Surah al-Baqarah, 148); and from the hadith of Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her): "The believing women prayed Fajr with the Prophet wrapped in their wraps, then returned to their homes when the prayer finished, unrecognized because of the dark," reported by al-Bukhari and Muslim (the mutalaffi'at: the wrapped ones; the murut: the wraps).
Add the hadith of Abu Musa (Muslim (614)): he led Fajr when dawn broke and the people could barely recognize one another; and the hadith of Abu Barza: "The Messenger of Allah would finish the Subh prayer when a man recognized his neighbor, and he recited between 60 and one 100 verses," reported by al-Bukhari. From Jabir: "The Messenger of Allah prayed Zuhr when the sun declined, Asr while the sun was still brisk, Maghrib when it disappeared; Isha: if he saw few people he delayed it, if he saw many he hastened it; and Subh in the dark," reported by al-Bukhari and Muslim.
From Qatada, from Anas: "The Prophet and Zayd ibn Thabit took the suhur; when they finished, the Prophet rose to pray; I said to Anas: how long between the end of their suhur and their entering the prayer? He said: the time of reciting 50 verses," al-Bukhari in his wording and Muslim in meaning. From Sahl ibn Sa'd: "I would take the suhur with my family, then hasten to catch the Fajr prayer with the Messenger of Allah," reported by al-Bukhari. From Abu Mas'ud al-Badri: "The Messenger of Allah prayed Subh one day in the dark, then another time at the brightening; after that his prayer was in the dark until his death, and he never returned to the brightening," reported by Abu Dawud with a good chain; al-Khattabi said: it is of authentic chain. From Mughith ibn Sumayy: "I prayed Fajr with Ibn al-Zubayr; he prayed in the dark whereas he used to pray at the brightening; when he gave the salam, I said to Ibn Umar: what is this prayer? And he was beside me. He said: this is our prayer with the Messenger of Allah, Abu Bakr and Umar; when Umar was killed, Uthman prayed it at the brightening." Al-Tirmidhi said in Kitab al-'Ilal: al-Bukhari said: this is a hasan hadith.
Al-Nawawi said: the answer to the hadith of Rafi' ibn Khadij is twofold. First: what is meant by the brightening is the rise of dawn, that is, its appearance; one says "the woman brightened (isfarat)" when she unveiled her face. If it is objected that this interpretation does not hold, because of "for it is greater in reward," which shows the prayer is valid before the brightening but with a lesser reward, the answer is: when the entry of the time is probable without certainty, the prayer is lawful, but delaying until the brightening of dawn, its appearance by which the rise is certain, is preferable. It is also said that the command of the brightening may concern moonlit nights: dawn is only certain then by its spread.
Second, mentioned by al-Khattabi: when they were commanded to hasten, they prayed between the first and the second dawn seeking reward; they were then told: pray after the second dawn, in the morning, for it is greater in reward. If it is objected that praying before dawn earns no reward: they are rewarded for their intention even if their prayer is invalid, as in "When the judge strives and errs, he has a reward."
As for the hadith of Ibn Mas'ud, its meaning is that the Prophet prayed Fajr that day before his habit on the other days, at the very beginning of the rise of dawn, to widen the time for the rites of the pilgrimage; on the other days he delayed beyond the rise of dawn by the time it takes the one in minor impurity to perform wudu and the one in major impurity to bathe. His words "before its time" mean: before its usual time, by a little. And the answer to the argument "the brightening gives abundance to the congregation and widens the time of the voluntary prayer": this rule does not attach to the virtue of the beginning of the time, which is why the Messenger of Allah prayed Fajr in the dark (Al-Majmu', 3/54-56). He said in Sharh Muslim: the recommendation of earliness for Subh is the madhhab of Malik, al-Shafi'i, Ahmad and the majority; Abu Hanifa said the brightening is preferable (Sharh Sahih Muslim, 5/144; see Bidayat al-Mujtahid, 1/142; Al-Tamhid, 23/385; Al-Awsat, 2/377; Al-Thamar al-Dani, 1/88; Mawahib al-Jalil, 1/306; Al-Dhakhira, 2/29; Hashiyat al-'Adawi, 1/307; Al-Majmu', 3/45; Kifayat al-Akhyar, 125; Al-Mughni, 1/484; Al-Mubdi', 1/349; Al-Insaf, 1/438).
Ibn Hubayra said: they agreed that the first time of Fajr is the rise of the spreading second dawn, with no darkness after it; and the chosen time extends to the brightening. They differed: is advancing to the beginning of the time preferable? Abu Hanifa said: the brightening is preferable, except at Muzdalifa. Malik, al-Shafi'i and Ahmad said the dark is preferable; one transmission from Ahmad considers the state of the worshipers: if the dark is hard on them, the brightening is preferable. They agreed that the time of necessity extends to sunrise (Al-Ifsah, 1/86).
Ibn Rushd said: they differed over its preferred time: the Kufans, Abu Hanifa and his companions, al-Thawri and most of the Iraqis held that the brightening is preferable; Malik, al-Shafi'i and his companions, Ahmad ibn Hanbal, Abu Thawr and Dawud held that the dark is preferable. The cause of their disagreement is their different ways of reconciling the hadiths of differing apparent meanings: it is reported from Rafi' ibn Khadij: "Pray Subh at the brightening; whenever you brighten, it is greater in reward"; he was asked which deed is best and said: "The prayer at its first time"; and it is established that he prayed Subh and the women would leave wrapped in their wraps unrecognized in the dark: the apparent meaning is that this was his most frequent practice.
Whoever deems the hadith of Rafi' specific and "the prayer at its first time" general says the specific qualifies the general by excepting the Subh prayer, carries the hadith of Aisha as regarding permissibility, and holds that he only reported that this happened of him, not that it was his most frequent state: he says the brightening is preferable to the dark. Whoever prefers the general hadith, in agreement with the hadith of Aisha which is explicit, and interprets the hadith of Rafi' as aiming at the clarification of dawn and its confirmation, says the preferable time is its first. As for whoever says the last time is the brightening, he interpreted the hadith "Whoever catches a rak'a of Subh before the sun rises has caught Subh" as concerning those with excuses, in the manner of the majority for Asr; the wonder is that they abandoned this method here and agreed with the literalists, who may therefore demand of them the difference (Bidayat al-Mujtahid, 1/142-143).
Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyya was asked: is the dark or the brightening preferable? He answered: praise be to Allah, it is the dark that is preferable, unless there is a cause requiring delay. The authentic, widespread hadiths of the Prophet show that he prayed Fajr in the dark, as in the Two Sahihs from Aisha: "The Messenger of Allah prayed Fajr and believing women attended with him wrapped in their wraps, then returned to their homes unrecognized because of the dark"; and the Prophet had no lamps in his mosque, as in the Two Sahihs from Abu Barza al-Aslami: he recited between 60 and one 100 verses and finished when a man recognized his neighbor, this recitation amounting to about a half or a third of a juz'. Likewise, in the Sahih, his rightly guided caliphs followed him; after them came rulers who delayed the prayer from its time, and jurists formed in their state thought that delaying Fajr and Asr was preferable to advancing them: that is an error in the Sunnah.
They are opposed with the hadith reported by al-Tirmidhi: "Pray Fajr at the brightening, for it is greater in reward," which he authenticated; this hadith, even if it opposed them, would not withstand them: the hadiths of Aisha and Abu Barza are in the Two Sahihs, famous and widespread, and an isolated view contradicting the famous, widespread report is odd (shadh) and may be abrogated, for the dark was his practice until his death and the practice of the rightly guided caliphs after him. Al-Tahawi, of the companions of Abu Hanifa, and Abu Hafs al-Barmaki, of the companions of Ahmad, interpreted "pray at the brightening" as referring to the prayer's exit: prolong the Fajr prayer until you leave it at the brightening; or the brightening means clarification: pray it when dawn is clear and manifest; in the Two Sahihs, from Ibn Mas'ud: "I never saw the Messenger of Allah pray a prayer outside its time, except Fajr at Muzdalifa and Maghrib in combination," and Fajr that day he prayed after the rise of dawn; likewise in the Sahih of Muslim, from Jabir: "He prayed Fajr when dawn brightened." Ibn Mas'ud's meaning is that he delayed Fajr beyond its first rise until it clarified and manifested, and that day he hastened it before.
By this the meanings of the hadiths of the Prophet agree; and when he delayed a prayer for a cause requiring delay, like the one resorting to tayammum: he only delays to pray at the end of the time in a state of ablution; the solitary one delays to pray at the end of the time in congregation, or to be able to pray standing at the end of the time whereas at the beginning he can only sit; and whatever contains a virtue exceeding the prayer at the beginning of the time: the delay is then preferable, and Allah knows best (Majmu' al-Fatawa, 22/95-97).
The beginning of the Zuhr time. The men of knowledge agreed that the first time of Zuhr is the decline of the sun; stated by Ibn al-Mundhir, Ibn Abd al-Barr and many others. Ibn al-Mundhir said: the men of knowledge agreed that the first time of Zuhr is the decline of the sun (Al-Ishraf, 1/394; Al-Ijma', 47). Ibn Abd al-Barr said: the Muslim scholars of every era and every city, as far as their reports have reached us, agreed that the first time of Zuhr is the decline of the sun from the middle of the sky and the midst of the sphere, once this is ascertained on earth by checking and observation, that is, the beginning of the increase of the shadow after its utmost decrease, in winter and summer alike, even if the summer shadow differs from the winter one; this is a consensus of all the Muslim scholars on the first time of Zuhr. When the decline of the sun is ascertained by what we said or otherwise, the Zuhr time has entered, and this is undisputed; it is the interpretation of "Establish prayer at the decline (duluk)" (Surah al-Isra, 78), duluk being its inclination according to most of the scholars (Al-Tamhid, 8/70-71).
Abu Bakr al-Jassas said: the first time of Zuhr is when the sun declines, with no disagreement among the scholars; Allah says: "And at the evening hour and when you are at the day's meridian" (Surah ar-Rum, 18) and "Establish prayer at the decline" (Surah al-Isra, 78) (Ahkam al-Qur'an, 3/251).
The meaning of the sun's decline is its inclining from the middle of the sky; it is known by planting a straight stick in level ground while the sun is in the east: as long as the stick's shadow decreases, the sun is before the decline; when the stick has no shadow or the decrease is complete, the shadow being at its least, the sun is at the middle of the sky, and that is the time in which prayer is forbidden. When the shadow moves from west to east and begins to increase, the sun has declined from the middle of the sky and the Zuhr time has entered.
Al-Mawardi said: know that the shadow of decline varies in increase and decrease according to the countries, and changes with the passing of times. The shadow of decline is shorter in the land aligned with the qibla of the sphere than in any other, for the sun may there stand directly over a person, to the point it is said that in Mecca a person has no shadow at the time of decline on the longest day of the year, June 7. Then the shadow of decline in summer is less than in winter, for the sun in summer crosses the midst of the sphere and its decline is at the midst, so the shadow is shortest; in winter it crosses the side of the sphere, its decline is at the side and the sphere is longer; the sun, at its decline, has as it were a pause that slows its course at the midst of the sphere (Al-Hawi al-Kabir, 2/12).
The reports corroborated this, among them the hadith of Ibn Abbas cited earlier: "Jibril led me twice at the House: he prayed Zuhr when the sun declined, the shadow being like the strap... then the second day, Zuhr when the shadow of everything was like that of Asr the day before" (authentic hadith, cited earlier). And the hadith of Abu Musa: "He led Zuhr when the sun declined, the speaker saying: midday has passed" (reported by Muslim (614)).
The jurists differed over the end of the Zuhr time. The majority (Malikis, Shafi'is, Hanbalis, and the 2 companions Abu Yusuf and Muhammad among the Hanafis, which is a transmission from Abu Hanifa) held that the end of the Zuhr time is when the shadow of everything equals its own length after the shadow of decline, according to the hadith of Abdallah ibn Amr: "The time of Zuhr: when the sun declines and the man's shadow equals his height, as long as Asr has not arrived"; according to the hadith of Ibn Abbas on Jibril's imama: "He prayed the second day Zuhr when the shadow of everything was like that of Asr the day before"; and according to the hadith of Abu Musa: "He delayed Zuhr until near the time of Asr the day before" (Muslim (614)).
Abu Hanifa, in one transmission, held that the end of the Zuhr time is when the shadow of everything equals its own length (al-mithl), which is for him the beginning of the Asr time. It is also reported from him that the end of Zuhr is the equal (mithl) and the beginning of Asr the double (mithlayn), what lies between the 2 not being valid for Zuhr; and it is also reported from him the view of the majority (Ahkam al-Qur'an of al-Jassas, 3/251-252; Al-Ikhtiyar, 1/38; Sharh Ma'ani al-Athar, 1/148; Mukhtasar Ikhtilaf al-'Ulama of al-Tahawi, 1/193-194; Al-Awsat, 2/327; Al-Istidhkar, 1/24-25; Hashiyat al-Tahtawi, 1/118; Ma'ani al-Athar, 1/390; Bidayat al-Mujtahid, 1/136; Kifayat al-Akhyar, 123; Al-Majmu', 3/21; Al-Mughni, 1/469).
Al-Jassas said: 3 transmissions from Abu Hanifa: that the shadow become less than 2 spears; or, according to the transmission of al-Hasan ibn Ziyad, that the shadow of everything equal its own length; or that the shadow reach 2 spears, the transmission of the basis (al-asl). Abu Yusuf, Muhammad, Zufar, al-Hasan ibn Ziyad, al-Hasan ibn Salih, al-Thawri and al-Shafi'i said: that the shadow of everything equal its own length.
The view of the double (the end of Zuhr at the double of the shadow) is argued from the verse "And establish prayer at the 2 ends of the day" (Surah Hud, 114), which requires Asr after the double: whatever is closer to sunset is more worthy of the name "end" (taraf); the Asr time being at the double, what precedes it is the Zuhr time, according to the hadith of Abu Hurayra: the Messenger of Allah said: "The first time of Zuhr is at the decline of the sun, and its last when the time of Asr enters." It is also argued from "Establish prayer at the decline of the sun until the darkness of the night" (Surah al-Isra, 78): the decline possibly meaning the meridian, the time would extend to sunset; but it is established that what is after the double is not a time for Zuhr, so its time is fixed until the double by the apparent meaning.
It is also argued from the Sunnah, in the hadith of Ibn Umar from the Prophet:
Your term, compared to that of those who preceded you, is like that which separates the Asr prayer from the setting of the sun. Your example and that of the People of the Two Books before you is that of a man who hired workers and said: who will work for me from dawn to midday for a qirat? The Jews worked. Then he said: who will work for me from midday to Asr for a qirat? The Christians worked. Then he said: who will work for me from Asr to sunset for 2 qirats? And you worked. The Jews and the Christians grew angry and said: we worked more and received less. He said: have you been wronged of your right? They said: no. He said: it is My gift; I bestow it upon whom I will
The proof of this report is twofold. On the one hand his words: "Your term... is like that which separates the Asr prayer from the setting of the sun": he informs of the brevity of the time; and his words: "I was sent, together with the Hour, like these 2," joining the index and the middle finger; in another report: "like between this one and this one": what remains of the duration of the world is like the decrease of the index relative to the middle finger, estimated at half of a seventh. He therefore likened our term to that of our predecessors by the Asr time in its brevity: it cannot be from the equal (mithl), otherwise it would be longer; this proves the Asr time is after the double.
On the other hand, the parable of labor in the mentioned times: were the Asr time at the equal, the Christians would not have worked more than the Muslims; rather the Muslims would work more, for what lies between the equal and sunset is more than what lies between the decline and the equal: the Asr time is therefore shorter than the Zuhr time (Ahkam al-Qur'an, 3/252).
The beginning of the Asr time. The majority (Malikis, Shafi'is, Hanbalis, and Abu Yusuf and Muhammad among the Hanafis) held that the first time of Asr is exactly the last time of Zuhr, that is, when the shadow of everything equals its own length, except the shadow of decline, according to the hadiths cited earlier.
Malik, however, holds that the end of the Zuhr time and the beginning of the Asr time are one time shared by both prayers: if 2 men pray together, one Asr and the other Zuhr, when the shadow of everything equals its length except the shadow of decline, by about 4 rak'as, each of the 2 prays his prayer in its time, that is, as an on-time performance (ada). The Shafi'is and the Hanbalis, in the madhhab, said: there is no sharing between the Zuhr time and the Asr time; as soon as the Zuhr time exits, when the shadow of a thing equals its length except the shadow of decline, the Asr time enters, and nothing of the Zuhr time remains.
The cause of Malik's disagreement with al-Shafi'i and Ahmad is the opposition between the hadith of Jibril and the hadith of Abdallah ibn Umar: in the hadith of Jibril's imama, he prayed Zuhr with the Prophet the second day at the time at which he had prayed Asr the first day; and in the hadith of Ibn Umar: "The Zuhr time lasts as long as the Asr time has not arrived," an explicit text that when the Asr time arrives, the Zuhr time exits. Whoever prefers the hadith of Jibril makes the time shared; whoever prefers that of Abdallah puts no sharing between them.
Abu Hanifa held that the beginning of the Asr time is when the shadow of everything equals its own length, except the fay' (the shadow of decline). Ibn Abd al-Barr said of this view of Abu Hanifa: it contradicts the reports and the majority, and it is an abandoned view among the jurists of his companions and others (Al-Istidhkar, 1/26-27). Al-Jassas said: the first time of Asr is the exit of the Zuhr time according to their disagreement; the sound of their views is that there is no interval of another time between the Zuhr time and the Asr time. What is reported from Abu Hanifa (the end of Zuhr at a shadow less than 2 spears and the beginning of Asr at 2 spears) is an odd transmission, which also contradicts the reports establishing that the Zuhr time lasts as long as Asr has not arrived; in some wordings of the hadith of Abu Hurayra: "The last time of Zuhr is when the time of Asr enters"; in the hadith of Abu Qatada: "The negligence in prayer is to leave it until the time of the next one enters." The sound position of the madhhab of Abu Hanifa is one of 2 views: the double or the equal, with the Asr time entering at the exit of the Zuhr time (Ahkam al-Qur'an, 3/256).
Abu Bakr al-Jassas said: the jurists of the cities agreed that the end of the Asr time is the setting of the sun (Al-Istidhkar, 1/26-27). Ibn Qudama said: I know of no disagreement on this. Al-Nawawi said: the end of the Asr time is the setting of the sun; this is the sound position, stated explicitly by al-Shafi'i and settled by most of his companions. Abu Sa'id al-Astakhri said: its end is when the shadow of a thing equals its own length; whoever delays beyond that sins, and it is a make-up. Shaykh Abu Hamid (al-Ghazali) said: what al-Astakhri said he did not derive from the basis of al-Shafi'i, for al-Shafi'i stated explicitly, in the old and the new, that its time extends until the setting of the sun: it is but a personal choice, contrary to the text of al-Shafi'i and his companions.
The proof of the madhhab is the hadith of Jibril, in which he prayed Asr the second day when his shadow equaled its own length; and the hadith of Abu Qatada: "There is no negligence in sleep; negligence is only for the one who does not pray a prayer until the time of the next prayer comes" (reported by Muslim (681)); and the hadith of Abu Hurayra: the Prophet said: "Whoever catches a rak'a of Subh before the sun rises has caught Subh, and whoever catches a rak'a of Asr before the sun sets has caught Asr" (reported by al-Bukhari (554) and Muslim (608)); and the hadith of Abu Musa: the Prophet delayed Asr until he finished it while the speaker said: the sun has turned red (Muslim (614)); and the saying of the Prophet: "Whoever misses Asr, it is as if his family and his wealth had been ruined" (reported by al-Bukhari (527) and Muslim (608)).
Al-Nawawi said: as for the hadith of Jibril, the time mentioned in it is the chosen time, not the time of permissibility, according to the authentic hadiths I mentioned. These hadiths are later than the hadith of Jibril and are therefore to be followed; they are more authentic than it, with no disagreement among the hadith masters, even though it too is sahih. And because the menstruating woman and the others with excuses, when their excuse ends before sunset by a rak'a, Asr is obligatory upon them without disagreement; were the time out, this would not be obligatory for them: it is a solid argument, mentioned by Imam al-Haramayn and others. Al-Ghazali said in his lessons: al-Astakhri applies the hadith "Whoever catches a rak'a of Asr" to the people with excuses (Al-Majmu', 3/30-31; Sharh Muslim, 5/96, 163; Al-Mabsut, 1/144-145; Al-Bahr al-Ra'iq, 1/258; Ma'ani al-Athar, 1/393; Mukhtasar Ikhtilaf al-'Ulama, 1/194; Al-Istidhkar, 1/26-27; Bidayat al-Mujtahid, 1/138-139; Kifayat al-Akhyar, 124; Al-Mughni, 1/473).
The beginning of the Maghrib time: it is the setting of the sun, with no disagreement among the jurists, according to the hadiths on the times reported from Ibn Abbas, Jabir, Abu Sa'id and others: the Prophet prayed Maghrib both days when the sun disappeared. Salama ibn al-Akwa' said: "We prayed Maghrib with the Prophet when it disappeared behind the veil" (reported by al-Bukhari (536) and Muslim (636)). Ibn al-Mundhir said: the men of knowledge agreed that the Maghrib prayer becomes obligatory when the sun sets (Al-Ijma', 48; Al-Ishraf, 1/398).
The end of the Maghrib time. The jurists differed: does it have one time, or 2 times like the other prayers? The Malikis (well-known view) and the Shafi'is (the later view of the madhhab) held that Maghrib has only one time, at sunset. According to the Shafi'is, its time exits by the measure of performing ablutions, covering the awra, the adhan and the iqama, and 5 rak'as, the estimation being based on the average person. According to the Malikis, it is measured at the like of 3 rak'as, after fulfilling its conditions: purification from minor and major impurity and covering the awra.
Their proof is the hadith of Jibril: he prayed Maghrib with the Prophet both days at one time. Abu Abdallah Khuwayz Mandad al-Basri reported in his book Al-Khilaf that in all the cities the Muslims never ceased to hasten Maghrib and to rush to it from the setting of the sun, and that we know of no Muslim who delayed Maghrib in congregation in a mosque beyond the setting of the sun: this suffices as practical proof of the practice of Medina in hastening it.
Ibn Abd al-Barr said: were its time wide, the Muslims would have acted as with the last Isha and the other prayers, one adhan following another among the muezzins, and other liberties; all of this is clear proof that the Prophet never ceased to pray it at one time until his death, and had he widened it for them, they would have widened, for the habit of scholars is to take the latitude. But the shortness of the Maghrib time is not something indivisible: it is measured by the custom of people in completing their ablutions, dressing, the adhan, the iqama and walking to nearby mosques, and the like (Al-Tamhid, 8/84-85).
The Hanafis, Malik in one transmission, al-Shafi'i in the old school (reported by Abu Thawr from him, the choice of a group of verifying Shafi'is) and the Hanbalis held that the end of the Maghrib time is the disappearance of the twilight (shafaq). Al-Nawawi said: a group authenticated the old view, that is, al-Shafi'i's old position that it has 2 times, among them Abu Bakr ibn Khuzayma, Abu Sulayman al-Khattabi, Abu Bakr al-Bayhaqi, al-Ghazali in Ihya' 'Ulum al-Din and in his lessons, and al-Baghawi in al-Tahdhib; al-Ruyani reported it in al-Hilya from Abu Thawr; al-Muzani, Ibn al-Mundhir and Abu Abdallah al-Zubayri adopted it as their choice; al-'Ijli authenticated it, as did the shaykh Abu Amr Ibn al-Salah.
I say (al-Nawawi): this view is the sound one, by authentic hadiths, among them that of Abdallah ibn Amr ibn al-As: the Messenger of Allah said: "The time of the Maghrib prayer lasts as long as the twilight has not disappeared," and in a version: "The time of Maghrib as long as the swirl of the twilight has not fallen"; Muslim reported it with all these wordings, "the swirl of the twilight" meaning its revolving. And from Abu Musa al-Ash'ari, in the Prophet's explanation to the questioner about the times of prayer: "Then he delayed Maghrib until near the fall of the twilight," reported by Muslim. And from Burayda: "The Prophet prayed Maghrib the second day before the twilight disappeared," reported by Muslim; and the hadith of Abu Qatada cited earlier: "There is no negligence in sleep; negligence is only for the one who does not pray a prayer until the time of the next prayer comes," reported by Muslim.
When you know the authentic hadiths, the view becomes certain categorically: al-Shafi'i stated it in the old school, as Abu Thawr transmitted; he conditioned this view in al-Imla' upon the establishment of the hadith, and the hadith was established, indeed the hadiths; and al-Imla' is among the later books of al-Shafi'i: the view is thus stated explicitly in the old and the new. All this with the general rule al-Shafi'i enjoined: when a hadith is authentic against his view, his view is set aside and the hadith applied, his madhhab being what the hadith is authentic in, and he only abandons it when the hadith is not established with him; that is why he conditioned this view in al-Imla' upon the establishment of the hadith, and success is with Allah.
As for the hadith of Jibril, who prayed both days at one time, it has 3 answers, the best and soundest of which is that he only meant the time of choice, not the time of permissibility: so it is with most of the prayers, Asr, Isha and Subh, and likewise Maghrib. Second: the hadith of Jibril is earlier, at the beginning of Islam in Mecca, and these hadiths are later, in Medina: they must therefore be preferred in practice. Third: these hadiths are stronger than the hadith of Jibril, in 2 ways: their narrators are more numerous, and their chains more authentic; that is why Muslim reported them in his Sahih without the hadith of Jibril, which is beyond doubt. It follows that the sound choice is that Maghrib has 2 times extending to the disappearance of the twilight, and that it is lawful to begin the prayer at each of them (Al-Majmu', 3/33-34).
Ibn Qudama said: these are authentic texts that may not be opposed by anything interpretable; and because it is one of the prayers, it has a wide time like the others; and because it is one of the 2 prayers of combination, its time is continuous with that of the prayer it is combined with, like Zuhr and Asr; and because what precedes the disappearance of the twilight is a time for its continuation, it is a time for its beginning like its first time. Their hadiths are carried as recommendation, choice and dislike of delay; hence the words of al-Kharqi: "Its delay is not recommended"; the hadiths emphasize performing it at the beginning of its time, the least of their states being the emphasis on recommendation. And were the hadiths judged contradictory, the opposing hadiths must be carried as abrogated, for they were reported at the beginning of the prescription of prayer in Mecca, and our hadiths in Medina are later: they therefore abrogate what precedes and contradicts them, and Allah knows best (Al-Mughni, 1/479; Ahkam al-Qur'an of al-Jassas, 3/257; Ahkam al-Qur'an of Ibn al-Arabi, 3/212; Ma'ani al-Athar, 1/394; Al-Bahr al-Ra'iq, 1/258; Al-Mabsut, 1/144; Al-Tamhid, 8/78; Al-Sharh al-Saghir, 1/154; Hashiyat al-Dasuqi, 1/178; Al-Istidhkar, 1/28; Al-Awsat, 2/334-337; Kifayat al-Akhyar, 124; Tafsir al-Qurtubi, 10/304; Sharh Muslim, 5/68; Bidayat al-Mujtahid, 1/140).