The Times of the Five Prayers
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Fatwa No. ( 1668 )
All praise is due to Allah alone, and peace and blessings be upon His Messenger, his family, and his Companions. As for what follows: The Permanent Committee for Scholarly Research and Ifta has reviewed the inquiry submitted to His Eminence the General President by the Director of Islamic Education at the Ministry of Education, and referred by the General Secretariat of the Council of Senior Scholars with number 623/2 on 29/4/1397 AH. The inquiry stated: The Ministry received the attached letter from a group of young Muslims in Tunisia asking about how to determine the times of prayer? and requesting an answer.
The Committee responded as follows: The times of the five daily prayers are known from the religion of Islam by necessity, having been transmitted by the later generations of this Ummah from the earliest generations, who received them from the possessor of the great message (peace and blessings be upon him). The Muslims have reached scholarly consensus that the five daily prayers are timed by known, specific times, and authentic hadiths have been reported explaining them, which collectively indicate that the time for the midday prayer is: from the sun passing its zenith until the shadow of an object becomes equal to its length after the shadow it had at the time the sun passed its zenith.
The time for the Asr prayer is: when the shadow of an object becomes equal to its length after the shadow cast at the zenith, until it becomes twice its length, and this is the time of preference for it. The time of necessity is: from the beginning of the sun’s yellowing until there remains enough time to perform one rak'ah before the sun sets, based on his saying (peace and blessings be upon him):Jami` at-Tirmidhi 186Sahih (Darussalam). The time for the Maghrib prayer is: from the setting of the sun until the disappearance of the red twilight. The time for the Isha' prayer is: from the disappearance of the red twilight until the middle of the night, and this is the time of preference for it. The time of necessity is: from the middle of the night until the appearance of the dawn. The time for the Fajr prayer is: from the appearance of the true dawn until the rising of the sun. Among the hadiths narrated regarding this: 1- What came in the two Sahihs: that 'Umar ibn 'Abd al-'Aziz delayed the Asr prayer somewhat, so 'Urwah ibn al-Zubayr said to him: Did you not know that Jibril descended and prayed in front of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him)? So 'Umar said to him: Know what you are saying, O 'Urwah . He said: I heard Bashir ibn Abi Mas'ud say: I heard Abu Mas'ud say: I heard the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) say: Sunan Ibn Majah 668Sahih (Darussalam) The wording of Muslim. 2- The hadith detailing Jibril’s (peace be upon him) leading the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) in prayer, narrated by Abu Dawud al-Tirmidhi al-Nasa'i and others, and the wording of al-Nasa'i is: From Jabir ibn 'Abd Allah, Sunan an-Nasa'i 513. 3- Muslim (may Allah have mercy on him) narrated from 'Abd Allah ibn 'Amr (may Allah be pleased with them both), that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: Sahih Muslim 612d. 4- al-Bukhari and Muslim (may Allah have mercy on them both) narrated from Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him), that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: Sahih al-Bukhari 579. These specified times are general for all parts of the earth, and for every country, its ruling is according to the sun’s zenith, its setting, and the appearance of its dawn, whether the intervals between its specified times are close or far apart permanently or in
some times. And success is from Allah, and may Allah send prayers and blessings upon our Prophet Muhammad, his family, and his Companions.
All praise is due to Allah alone, and peace and blessings be upon His Messenger, his family, and his Companions. As for what follows: The Permanent Committee for Scholarly Research and Ifta has reviewed the inquiry submitted to His Eminence the General President by the Director of Islamic Education at the Ministry of Education, and referred by the General Secretariat of the Council of Senior Scholars with number 623/2 on 29/4/1397 AH. The inquiry stated: The Ministry received the attached letter from a group of young Muslims in Tunisia asking about how to determine the times of prayer? and requesting an answer.
The Committee responded as follows: The times of the five daily prayers are known from the religion of Islam by necessity, having been transmitted by the later generations of this Ummah from the earliest generations, who received them from the possessor of the great message (peace and blessings be upon him). The Muslims have reached scholarly consensus that the five daily prayers are timed by known, specific times, and authentic hadiths have been reported explaining them, which collectively indicate that the time for the midday prayer is: from the sun passing its zenith until the shadow of an object becomes equal to its length after the shadow it had at the time the sun passed its zenith.
The time for the Asr prayer is: when the shadow of an object becomes equal to its length after the shadow cast at the zenith, until it becomes twice its length, and this is the time of preference for it. The time of necessity is: from the beginning of the sun’s yellowing until there remains enough time to perform one rak'ah before the sun sets, based on his saying (peace and blessings be upon him):
Whoever catches a Rak'ah of Asr before the sun has set, then he has caught Asr.
من أدرك ركعة قبل أن تغرب الشمس فقد أدرك العصرJibril came down and led me in prayer, and I prayed with him, then I prayed with him, then I prayed with him, then I prayed with him, then I prayed with him,' and he counted five prayers on his fingers.
نزل جبريل فأمني، فصليت معه، ثم صليت معه، ثم صليت معه، ثم صليت معه، ثم صليت معه، يحسب بأصابعه خمس صلواتIt was narrated from Jabir bin 'Abdullah that Jibril came to the Prophet (ﷺ) to teach him the times of prayer. Jibril went forward, with the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) behind him and the people behind the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ), and he prayed Zurh when the sun had passed its zenith. Then he came to him when the shadow of a person was equal to his height, and did as he had done before; Jibril went forward, with the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) behind him and the people behind the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ), and he prayed 'Asr. Then Jibril came to him when the sun had set; Jibril went forward, with the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) behind him and the people behind the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ), and he prayed Al-Ghadah. [1] Then he came to him on the second day when a man's shadow was equal to his height, and did as he had done the day before, he prayed Zuhr. Then he came to him when the shadow of a man was twice his height, and did what he had done the day before, and prayed 'Asr. Then he came to him when the sun had set and did what he had done the day before, and prayed Maghrib. Then we slept and got up, and slept and got up again. Then he came to him and did what he had done the day before and prayed 'Isha.' The he came to him when the (the light of) dawn was spread (on the horizon) [2] and the starts were still clear in the sky, and he did the same as he had done the day before, and prayed Al-Ghadah. Then he said: ' The time between these two is the time for prayer.'" [1] Meaning Fajr, the morning prayer. [2] The Fajr prayer was elongated because the Prophet recited at length during the prayer, so that it ended just before sunrise. That defined the end of the time for Fajr, as the beginning of the time was defined by the moment when he started the first Rak'ah.
أن جبريل أتى النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم يعلمه مواقيت الصلاة فتقدم جبريل ورسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم خلفه والناس خلف رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم فصلى الظهر حين زالت الشمس، وأتاه حين كان الظل مثل شخصه، فصنع كما صنع، فتقدم جبريل ورسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم خلفه والناس خلف رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم فصلى العصر، ثم أتاه حين وجبت الشمس فتقدم جبريل ورسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم خلفه، والناس خلف رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم فصلى المغرب، ثم أتاه حين غاب الشفق فتقدم جبريل ورسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم خلفه والناس خلف رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم فصلى العشاء، ثم أتاه حين انشق الفجر فتقدم جبريل ورسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم خلفه والناس خلف رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم فصلى الغداة، ثم أتاه اليوم الثاني حين كان ظل الرجل مثل شخصه، فصنع مثلما صنع بالأمس فصلى الظهر، ثم أتاه حين كان ظل الرجل مثل شخصيه، فصنع كما صنع بالأمس فصلى العصر، ثم أتاه حين وجبت الشمس فصنع كما صنع بالأمس فصلى المغرب فنمنا ثم قمنا ثم نمنا ثم قمنا، فأتاه فصنع كما صنع بالأمس فصلى العشاء، ثم أتاه حين امتد الفجر وأصبح والنجوم بادية مشتبكة فصنع كما صنع بالأمس فصلى الغداة، ثم قال: ما بين هاتين الصلاتين وقتThe time of the noon prayer is when the sun passes the meridian and a man's shadow is the same (length) as his height, (and it lasts) as long as the time for the afternoon prayer has not come; the time for the afternoon prayer is as long as the sun has not become pale; the time of the evening prayer is as long as the twilight has not ended; the time of the night prayer is up to the middle of the average night and the time of the morning prayer is from the appearance of dawn, as long as the sun has not risen
وقت الظهر إذا زالت الشمس وكان ظل الرجل كطوله ما لم يحضر العصر، ووقت العصر ما لم تصفر الشمس، ووقت صلاة المغرب ما لم يغب الشفق، ووقت صلاة العشاء إلى نصف الليل الأوسط، ووقت صلاة الصبح من طلوع الفجر ما لم تطلع الشمسWhoever could get one rak`a (of the Fajr prayer) before sunrise, he has got the (morning) prayer and whoever could get one rak`a of the `Asr prayer before sunset, he has got the (`Asr) prayer.
من أدرك من الصبح ركعة قبل أن تطلع الشمس فقد أدرك الصبح، ومن أدرك ركعة من العصر قبل أن تغرب الشمس فقد أدرك العصرsome times. And success is from Allah, and may Allah send prayers and blessings upon our Prophet Muhammad, his family, and his Companions.
Source
www.alifta.gov.sa
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.