The Shaykh’s mention of the prescribed times for prayer.

The Shaykh: And knowing the prescribed times is easy if people were to pay some attention to it; for the early generations – most of whom were unlettered, unable to read or write – used to call the adhan according to the Shari'ah adhan. So the time for Fajr is clear when you see the red light extending in the east from north to south. This is the meaning of His saying – the Exalted: He said – peace and blessings be upon him: , and in another narration: . He was a blind man, and he would not call the adhan unless he was told: "It is dawn, it is dawn." Who would tell him "It is dawn, it is dawn"? The passersby. They would see the dawn break and spread in the east and say: "O Ibn Umm Maktum, it is dawn, it is dawn," and he would call the adhan.
As for the time of Zuhr, it is when the sun reaches the middle of the sky and the vertical object – by vertical object we mean something upright – such as a stick or a straight tree – remains. This requires some observation and precision. Hence, it should be that the mu'adhdhin... because he observes that the shadow of the sun changes from season to season, from one season to another. I do not know if you observe such things, which are a sign of the signs of Allah – Blessed and Exalted is He. So the sun – and upon you be peace, and the mercy of Allah and His blessings – in winter, when it rises, it leans toward the south. As for in summer, it is almost vertical... it rises – and upon you be peace, and the mercy of Allah.
The point is that every day when the sun rises, this vertical object or that has a shadow extending to the west – and upon you be peace, and the mercy of Allah. And as the sun rises higher, the shadow shortens. The shadow of the vertical object shortens, and shortens, and shortens as it rises. That is to say, if we assume the height of the vertical object is one meter, when the sun rises from the east, the shadow of the vertical object is several meters long, you see a long shadow like this. And as the sun rises higher, the shadow shortens. When the shadow reaches a point where you cannot see with the naked eye that it is lengthening or shortening, this is the time of makruh (disliked). Then, when the shadow tilts slightly toward the east in length – the length of the shadow – when the shadow begins to lengthen slightly – and that is by tilting slightly toward the east – this is the time for prayer; that is, the time of makruh has passed. Then the sun begins to tilt and tilt toward the sunset, and the shadow begins to lengthen and lengthen. This is the time of Zuhr.
When is the time of 'Asr? These are matters that require precise knowledge regarding astronomy or geography. Whoever is on the equator, where night and day are equal, the sun there is cold, vertical over people's heads, and not leaning toward the south as is the case in these lands. There, knowing the time of Zuhr is very easy. When the vertical object covers its shadow – that is, it has no shadow left – this is the time of makruh. This is easy. When the shadow begins to appear from the other side, it means the time of Zuhr has entered. This is on the equator, where the vertical object has no shadow when the sun is in the middle of the sky. This is observed in... for example, if there is... electric, and this cup... the shadow of the cup is on this side, but if the shadow is here, we will see the shadow there. And since the sun, relative to what we see, moves, and we see the shadow move on the equator at the time of Zuhr as we mentioned, the sun becomes exactly above the vertical object, so it has no shadow. This is the time of makruh. When the shadow begins, the time of makruh has passed. As for here, in Oman, Syria, and all the lands located in the northern direction, this requires some precision.
We said earlier that when the sun rises, the shadow begins to shorten as the sun rises, until the shadow... here the shadow does not disappear as is the case on the equator... but it continues to shorten, shortens and shortens until it stops at a point where we do not see it getting shorter, or it begins to lengthen when we see the shadow has stopped shortening and lengthening. This is called the shadow of zawal (noon). Now, if the vertical object is one meter, we said that then we must take this length every day or every few days. We must take this length, and assume its length is a quarter of a meter. When the quarter meter increases by a quarter of a centimeter clearly, the time of Zuhr has entered.
When does the time of 'Asr become? It must be in our minds that the shadow of zawal is one meter. Then we continue to observe this shadow that has begun to tilt toward the east. When its shadow – this vertical object – becomes one meter plus a quarter of a meter, this is the time of 'Asr.
Some scholars say – and their saying is incorrect –: When the shadow of a thing becomes twice its length, meaning two meters plus a quarter of a meter, this is the time of 'Asr.
As for the time of the sunset; it is clear.
The time of Maghrib, as he said – peace and blessings be upon him: , so the time of sunset is clear.
Now, when is the time of 'Isha? Here – also – there is great negligence regarding the calendars – that is, astronomical timing. The time of 'Isha is when the red twilight disappears. If any of you has ever seen the sun when it sets, you will see at Maghrib a red twilight extending from north to south. Then this twilight begins to set – also. When this twilight sets, the time of Maghrib exits and the time of 'Isha enters. These are the prescribed times.