Explanation of the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him): “The time of the Zuhr prayer is until the sun declines”
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The Shaykh : The time for Zuhr, as is well known, is until the sun stands directly overhead on a vertical pole. This is the case on the equator. On the equator, if you take a pole, it stands like this, and the sun becomes vertical, so no shadow is cast by this pole. When any shadow begins to appear, that is the time for Zuhr.
But in other countries that lean toward the south or the north, the sun is tilted. Can you visualize the tilt with me? When the sun rises from the east, the shadow of this pole remains long... and as it rises higher, this shadow shortens. If you observe this, it shortens, shortens, and shortens. If the sun tilts, for example, slightly toward the south relative to Jordan and Syria, because we are in the northern region and Yemen is in the southern region, and some of the Saudi lands are like this and some are like that—if we had a map, we would show you how. The point is that in Syria, when it becomes Zuhr time, the sun is not vertical; rather, the sun is tilted slightly toward the south. So, as the sun rises after its appearance, this shadow shortens until it becomes a short shadow that remains fixed for the observer; it neither lengthens nor shortens. This is the time of dislike, the time when the sun is in the middle of the sky.
When this shadow begins to lengthen toward the west, the time of dislike has passed and the time for Zuhr has begun. I do not believe that the mu'adhdhins today pay any attention to this, because they have relied on the calendars.
Then he says in the hadith: Its length is, for example, twenty centimeters. We do it like this: if the shadow has reached here, the time for 'Asr has not entered. Why? Because we must calculate the shadow at noon, which was present when the sun was in the middle of the sky. We said this is the shadow. This shadow lengthens and shortens according to the seasons of the year. Sometimes its length is equal to, for example, a quarter of this pole, and sometimes an eighth. All of this should be calculated according to the times and seasons. The shadow at noon is added to the shadow of the object. Let us assume, for example, here. At that point, the time for 'Asr has arrived.
But in other countries that lean toward the south or the north, the sun is tilted. Can you visualize the tilt with me? When the sun rises from the east, the shadow of this pole remains long... and as it rises higher, this shadow shortens. If you observe this, it shortens, shortens, and shortens. If the sun tilts, for example, slightly toward the south relative to Jordan and Syria, because we are in the northern region and Yemen is in the southern region, and some of the Saudi lands are like this and some are like that—if we had a map, we would show you how. The point is that in Syria, when it becomes Zuhr time, the sun is not vertical; rather, the sun is tilted slightly toward the south. So, as the sun rises after its appearance, this shadow shortens until it becomes a short shadow that remains fixed for the observer; it neither lengthens nor shortens. This is the time of dislike, the time when the sun is in the middle of the sky.
When this shadow begins to lengthen toward the west, the time of dislike has passed and the time for Zuhr has begun. I do not believe that the mu'adhdhins today pay any attention to this, because they have relied on the calendars.
Then he says in the hadith: