Explaining the error committed in many countries by relying on astronomical timing to determine the times of prayer.

The Shaykh : In many countries, because the Muslims have abandoned their Shari'ah for sciences they claim to possess. We do not stand in the way of knowledge, but we do not demolish our religion and our Shari'ah with it. In Kuwait, as well, they pray Fajr a third of an hour before its time. In Makkah, likewise. In Ta'if, likewise. In Madinah, likewise. I tried it in Madinah during my lifetime or my pilgrimages. I went out a quarter of an hour or half an hour before Fajr, heading east, until I reached the large roundabout that takes the traveler to the airport on the left.
The student : It is known.

The Shaykh : So I stopped the car there on the edge of the road to observe the dawn. I was in my car, and my son was also in his car, Muhammad, who may come to us soon, if Allah wills. The point is, while we were waiting there, a police patrol came from the direction of the airport. I said to my companion, my wife was beside me, "There is no doubt that these people will reach us and ask us about this stopping, because it is, well, suspicious." And indeed, that is what happened. First, they contacted my son who was behind me. "What is it?" he asked. He said, "By Allah, my father is in the car observing the rising of the dawn." He came to me and asked me, and I answered him with the same answer. He said, "But this stopping is, well, not desirable, so we request you to move on." We told him, "Soon, if Allah wills." The point is, we sat there waiting until the true dawn appeared. The adhan of the Prophet's Mosque had been called a third of an hour earlier. Since that day, I have not prayed in the Mosque. I started praying in a mosque in a neighborhood, of course, I do not know its name. Returning to the mosque on the right hand, there is a shop like this, and there was a mosque there, and the residents around it were mostly Kuwaiti students of knowledge. They used to pray the morning prayer there after half an hour. So I said, "This is the appropriate place for the Fajr prayer." The point is, this is a calamity in the Muslim world. I do not know how the scholars do not alert people to it. If you would just call the adhan, let us pray.

The questioner : Allah is the Greatest, Allah is the Greatest.

The Shaykh : Allahu Akbar, Allahu Akbar... I am saying that the best food is what enters the stomach without fear, especially for an elderly shaykh like me.