What are the means by which the entry of the time is determined for one who is in the desert and the like?

And if the direction of the qiblah is also determined for him, it becomes easy for him thereafter to know the entry of the times of the prayers, the Zuhr prayer and the 'Asr prayer. Because if you do not determine the direction of the qiblah, you cannot know the time of Zuhr, for example. The time of Zuhr, as is known in the books of fiqh, is when the sun departs from the middle of the sky. But the departure of the sun from the middle of the sky differs according to the locations you are in. The departure of the sun while you are in Yemen is not the same as the departure of the sun while you are in Egypt, or in Iraq, or here. So here, when the sun departs, you must have observed the rising of the sun and its ascent. When you observe the ascent of the sun, you observe that the shadow of an object decreases, and decreases, and decreases. I think you are with me in this visualization. As for the other phenomena, they may be hidden from some people. So when this shadow, the shadow of this standing object, decreases and decreases, if you see it stop decreasing, even for moments, this is what is known among the jurists as the time of makruh, which is before the sun's departure. It is not permissible to pray at this moment because it is the time when Hellfire is heated, as came in the hadith. So if you see this shadow has begun to lengthen, this means the entry of the time of Zuhr. But if you have not determined the direction in the east and the west, you do not know if this time of lengthening is the time of the sun's departure or not. We know the time of Zuhr after the shadow of the object has continued to shorten and shorten until it stops, and we do not see it lengthen or shorten. This is the time of makruh for prayer. So when it lengthens slightly, at that point the time of Zuhr has entered and we have exited the time of makruh. As for the time of 'Asr, when the shadow of the object stops shortening and fluctuating, this stopping, this shadow is standing, is known among the jurists as the shadow of the sun's departure (fi' al-zawal). This shadow of the sun's departure, we must keep in mind a natural fact: it lengthens and shortens. We said earlier that the sun is now almost vertically above our heads, and thus the shadow is very short. Therefore, this shadow, the shadow of the sun's departure, which is fi' al-zawal among the jurists, is not seen on the equator because of the vertical pole. The stick that is standing vertically in the middle of the equator, its shadow shortens and shortens until it rides on itself, meaning no shadow remains for it. If it appears slightly, it means it has become the time of Zuhr, i.e., the sun has departed from the time of what? From the time of makruh, and the time of Zuhr has entered. This is on the equator. As for the two lines that encircle the equator, what are they called? Cancer and Leo. These lengthen... this is the sun's departure, and its length differs according to the seasons, as we said now. The shadow of this standing object we are visualizing now is short, but in winter, when the sun tilts toward the south, this shadow remains long. So if we want to know the time of 'Asr—the time of 'Asr, as came in the hadiths with the shadow of the sun's departure, the shadow of the object is like it with the shadow of the sun's departure.

The questioner: Twice it.

The Shaykh: Not twice it. That is a madhhab we do not see. The two times is the madhhab of Abu Hanifah, and his companions differed with him. The point is the text of the hadith: the time of 'Asr is when the shadow of the object becomes its length plus the shadow of the sun's departure. What does this mean? Let us assume now we have a standing object one meter in length. We set it up to know the time of Zuhr, and we tracked its shadow. It shortened, shortened, shortened until it stopped at a shadow length of approximately ten centimeters. After the ten centimeters, it lengthened by a quarter of a centimeter. This means it has become the time of Zuhr. Now, we keep in mind that the length of the shadow of the sun's departure is how much? Ten centimeters. When we see this standing object cast a shadow toward the east of one meter plus ten centimeters, it means it has become the time of 'Asr. In another madhhab, which the professor mentioned here, it is when the shadow of the object becomes twice its length, meaning two meters plus ten centimeters.

The questioner: Twenty centimeters.

The Shaykh: No, the shadow does not double. Two meters plus ten centimeters means it has become the time of 'Asr according to Abu Hanifah (may Allah have mercy on him) and those who followed him, and he calls this the second 'Asr. But what came in the hadiths is that there is only one 'Asr, and it is when the shadow of an object becomes its length plus the shadow of the sun's departure. The shadow of the sun's departure in winter becomes one meter, so at that time you want to measure one meter plus one meter... has it become the time of 'Asr? These are matters that students of knowledge must at least know so that they can use them as evidence, first for the direction of the qiblah, and second for knowing the time of Zuhr and 'Asr. As for the remaining times, they are certainly easier, because you know the time of Fajr when the light extends from the east, extending from north to south; this is seen by every person. And the time of Maghrib is at the setting of the sun, and this is known by the Bedouin just as by the city dweller. But what they differ in is...

The questioner: Excuse me, the setting of the sun, you have told us about it. How does the city dweller and the Bedouin know the setting of the sun? But the extent of the difference occurring among us in Ramadan is not hidden from you.

The Shaykh: The reason for this is turning away from establishing the legal times by the legal proofs, and its only cause is "laziness" and "stupidity," in the Levantine expression, "laziness" and "stupidity," and leaning toward ease. Because now the mu'adhdhins, for whom the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) prayed for good, saying: Yes, these have become like other employees in the state, with no difference between them at all. There is no difference between this mu'adhdhin and any employee in any department, because he is in his routine job. So he does not call to prayer when he sees the sun has set, but he calls to prayer according to the timetable. And the timetable has been proven to us to be unsuitable because it was set in one country and then transferred to another country. Otherwise, why is the adhan today in places like Oman calling for Maghrib after the setting of the sun that we see here on the mountain, Hamlan Mountain? We see with our own eyes that the sun has set, and then they call to prayer after the setting of the sun, and we are on the mountain ten minutes later. What do we say about those in the valley in the middle of Oman? The sun sets for them ten minutes earlier than for us. Yet you find mu'adhdhins calling to prayer in the Great Husayn Mosque, the highest mosque here, and the highest mosque calls to prayer ten minutes after the setting of the sun. The reason is that we have neglected applying the legal rulings, and consequently, there is a difference in the time of 'Isha. The time of 'Isha, as came in the authentic hadiths, is at the setting of the red twilight. And we also see with our own eyes the setting of the red twilight before an hour has passed since the setting of the sun. Yet they call to prayer about an hour and a third after the setting of the sun. Yes, knowing these times and their legal proofs is very important so that a person does not fall into a violation that may sometimes lead to the invalidation of the worship. For example, those who call for Fajr at least twenty minutes before the rising of the true dawn. They may pray, and although, praise be to Allah, we have noticed some adjustments in some mosques, they do not enter the Fajr prayer until after the true dawn has risen exactly. We hear the iqamah in the house, and we barely see whether the dawn has risen or not. The iqamah means that they prayed the sunnah before its time, certainly, especially the people of worship who come early. As soon as he hears the adhan, he is in the mosque, so it means they are praying the sunnah before its time. O Allah, some evil is less than some. We are eager to call for correct times, but why should their voluntary prayer be valid like the obligatory prayer? It requires supervision. But this supervision must be done by the state, which should supervise the matter and then impose on its employees, such as the mu'adhdhins and imams, to call to prayer according to the legal adhan. And this means that what is suitable for the city of Oman in its center is not suitable for those in its higher areas, because every region has its sunrise and sunset, its dawn, its Maghrib, and its 'Isha, and so on. This is the reason why people today differ in when is the adhan for Maghrib? Because they do not supervise the legal means that Allah made a means for knowing the legal times, whether from Fajr or others like Maghrib. Yes.

The questioner: ... the moon is observed to come out full every month from the east ... in the way of the hour ...
Al-Albani: ... by the proof that twelve today equals eleven yesterday.

The Shaykh : And then, the fixed eleven o'clock varies according to the seasons as well, because you know that the call to prayer for the midday prayer is not always at eleven thirty in the old timekeeping system; sometimes it is delayed until twelve minus a third of an hour, correct? This is not fixed, and therefore the issue of the hour... But the things I mentioned are scientific and very beautiful.

The questioner : ... Usually, if you point the clock hands...

The Shaykh : And the one who did not know

The questioner : And if you place the clock hands in this direction, the angle contained between the clock hands and the line connecting twelve o'clock and the angle line, its direction is forward, slightly toward the south, in the direction of the rear line.

The Shaykh : What if the hour differs?

The questioner : This is an approximation; if it differs from twelve... it will be six degrees...

The Shaykh : This is sound and understandable speech.

The questioner : We applied this ourselves militarily.

The Shaykh : Now apply it here so that we can understand it.

The questioner : Come here.

The Shaykh : The clock is small. They say that if there is a phenomenon in the general trees, they lean toward the east relative to our region, this Arab region, because the wind here is mostly westerly. So when the trees and saplings grow, every night the wind hits them and leans them toward the east. Therefore, if a person does not know the direction and there is no sun and no other sign, he looks at the majority of the leaning trees, which indicates the east, and what is opposite it is the west. So here, he places his left hand toward the east and his right hand toward the west, and thus he has known the south. Yes. It is the nature of its ruling, yes.

The questioner : We hear from some of the brothers that when the dawn call to prayer is made and we are traveling, he says there is a quarter of an hour after this call to prayer when the second call to prayer comes. Is this correct?

The Shaykh : First of all, do you mean by the call to prayer the legal call to prayer or the actual call to prayer?

The questioner : The legal call to prayer, for example, the call to prayer in Oman now says that this call to prayer does not indicate the true dawn.

The Shaykh : What is this speech an answer to? May Allah protect you from it. You asked a question, and for me to be able to give the correct answer to it, I need to understand from you: when you mention the call to prayer, do you mean the legal call to prayer, or do you mean the actual call to prayer today?

The questioner : The actual call to prayer, which is in the mosques now, meaning it is not legal.

The Shaykh : This matter has been concluded, and we said that the call to prayer today is made, at the least, a third of an hour before the time. We spoke about this; sometimes the difference is half an hour. I am in the mountains in Oman, and I see the dawn with my own eyes every day, every day I see it. So I am able to start the pre-dawn meal with the dawn call to prayer here; I have seen it, because I have a third of an hour with me sometimes, and sometimes half an hour, and after that I see the dawn. Therefore, if what you are reporting from some of the brothers is the call to prayer that is currently practiced, then this is a non-legal call to prayer. But take what is more important than that: if a Muslim starts his pre-dawn meal and begins eating a few minutes before the dawn rises, and then he sees the dawn with his own eyes or hears the legal call to prayer—which is the one called out when the dawn is seen with one's own eyes—he may continue to eat until he finishes his need for food and drink. This is while he sees with his own eyes, not by saying "with his own eyes" but actually seeing the dawn have brightened while he has not taken his need of food and drink. It is permissible for him to continue, based on the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) , we did not remember the Zahiriyyah.

The questioner : Regarding the apparent meaning of the verse.

Another questioner : Where is this hadith found?

The Shaykh : Look for it in Sunan Abu Dawud and Musnad Ahmad, yes. Regarding this, please proceed.