“…The salat is enjoined upon the believers at appointed times.” [Q, 4: 103]
The Salat – five daily obligatory prayers – is the most momentous engagement of a Muslim’s daily life when a devotee turns exclusively toward his Creator to refresh his bond with Him and recommit his loyalty. Each salat must be offered at its appointed time. The salat times are divinely established by Allah’s decree for all Prophets from Adam to Prophet Muhammad SAW without any variation through ages and climes. Describing the universal principle for salat times, Allah SWT commands: “Establish salat from the declining of the sun to the darkness of the night; and hold fast to the recitation of the Qur’an at dawn, for the recitation of the Qur’an at dawn is witnessed.” [Q, 17: 78] Because of its central position in the Islamic life structure, Allah SWT did not leave the salat times even up to His trusted Messengers to be determined.
The verse hints at the times for the five obligatory prayers which were prescribed on the occasion of the Prophet’s Mai’raj (Ascension). According to this verse, the first prayer – Fajr – should be offered before sunrise and the remaining four should be offered between time beginning with the ‘decline of the sun’ through to the ‘thickening of the night. With this specification in the Qur’an, there is absolutely no room for opinion or discrepancy in fixing the salat times. They are fixed.
As the Earth orbits around the sun, it causes seasonal changes and variations in the daylight hours from day to day. Islam uses a rotational strategy for its followers across the globe to uniformly experience these variations in practicing their religious duties by combining the lunar and solar systems. Thus, while it follows the lunar calendar for the beginning of the month, it follows the solar system for time management for various activities on a single day of the calendar. The benchmarks or the reference points in time on a day are the sunrise and sunset. As the earth rotates around the sun, these reference points also shift marginally every day of the calendar. But for a given location and on a given day, they are constant from year to year. For example, on December 10th, the sun rises at 7:00 AM in the Boston area and sets at 4:13 PM. These times on December 10th for the Boston area are constant, regardless of the year. This allows developing a chart of salat times for the whole year in each geographical area that can be used year after year. In fact, this is what we have by location as a prayer timetable, and is also programmed in electronic devices for convenience. We simply need to follow the local timetable strictly without any concern.
The time for each salat, however, is not a point in time. Allah SWT has provided flexibility by defining a range of times – earliest time and latest time – for each salat except salat-ul Maghrib (when most people wind down for the day). Each salat must be offered within its specified time window. Though preferable to offer as early as possible within the range, it’s equally acceptable to offer it any time before the range expires, nevertheless. A salat is neither due nor does it become obligatory before its earliest time. A particular salat becomes obligatory on a person only if/when that person witnesses the period for that particular salat and lives through it; and, therefore, it cannot be performed in advance. If offered sooner than the commencement of its time zone, it could be considered a nafil (optional) salat for reward, but it will not discharge the obligation when it actually becomes due at the start of its designated time interval. It must be repeated within that interval.
On the other hand, if a salat is not offered before its time window expires, it becomes ‘Qada’ (delayed). It must be offered before the next salat, or immediately after the next salat if the next salat is already in progress as a congregation, or if the next salat is also about to become Qada. Though already offered (as Qada), it would still be considered a sin, unless the delay occurred due to circumstances beyond control.
Barring confining physical conditions, every effort must be made to offer a salat within its time interval, because there is a missed opportunity entailed when a salat is rendered Qada. Each salat is comprised of a few rakah Fard, few rakah Sunnah, and a few rakah Nafil. For instance, Zuhr salat has four Sunnah before Fard and two Sunnah after. Similarly, Maghrib has three Fard followed by two Sunnah and two Nafil. If a salat becomes Qada, only Fard will be offered, but there is no makeup for Sunnah or Nafil. That opportunity for highly rewardable ibadah is closed.
Travelers need to offer Qasr salat. That is, they need to reduce salat-ul Zuhr, salat-ul Asr, and salat-ul Isha to two rakah each. They still get the full reward though, because it is so decreed by Allah SWT. There is an opinion, as a special consideration for uncertainties involved in traveling, that travels can combine Zuhr and Asr by offering Asr within the Zuhr time window or conversely. The same applies to salat-ul Maghrib and salat-ul Isha. But this is not a unanimous position and a discussion of this difference of opinion is beyond the scope of this write-up.
The cut-off points for salat intervals are also determined by Allah SWT, again leaving no room for speculation. With a momentary buffer zone concerning Zuhr, Asr, Maghrib, and Isha, the range for each salat begins as the range for the previous one ends. When the directive for salat was initially issued to the Prophet SAW, it was immediately elaborated further by Allah SWT through Angel Gabriel who provided the Prophet with information concerning the time of each prayer. He was sent down to the Prophet SAW two days consecutively to lead him into each salat. He did that first day at the earliest times and the second day at the latest times; thus, establishing the time range for each salat. The Prophet SAW explains the experience:
On the authority of Ibn ‘Abbas, the Prophet SAW said: “Gabriel was twice leader of the prayer which I offered near the Ka’bah. On the first occasion, he offered the Zuhr prayer when the sun had just passed the meridian no more than the thong of a shoe. Then he led the Asr prayer when the shadow of everything was equal to its size. Then he led Maghrib prayer at the time when the sun had just set and a man breaks his fast. Then he led the Isha prayer as soon as the red glow of twilight (shafaq) disappeared. Then he offered the Fajr prayer when the morning light had just appeared, at the time when eating becomes forbidden for him who fasts. On the second occasion, he lead the Zuhr prayer when the shadow of everything was equal to its size, and Asr prayer when the shadow of everything became double its size, and the Maghrib prayer at its previous time; and offered the Isha prayer when a third of the night had passed; and he offered the Fajr prayer when there was a fair amount of light to make the earth visible. Gabriel turned to me and said: ‘Muhammad, these are the times of the prayers as observed by the Prophets before you; the right time of each prayer is between the two-time limits.” [Dawud, Tirmidhi]
Angel Gabriel offered salat-ul Maghrib at the same time on both visits. That is, for salat-ul Maghrib, it is a point in time, not a range. The implication is that, unlike other prayers, there is no flexibility of choice within the range, as there is no range. It must be performed as it becomes due or in the first opportunity if hindered by conditions beyond control.
Genuine diversity, according to the Prophet SAW, is a favor of Allah SWT for intellectual growth and inclusivity. Based on the understanding of the above Hadith, sources of information, and the measurement techniques used, Imam Hanafi and Imam Shafaie have arrived at different computations of the earliest time for salat-ul Asr. In the Shafaie School, on average, the time for Asr begins about 50 minutes earlier than the Hanafi time. The actual difference varies from day to day. It is actually a zero-sum scenario. The extended time for Asr is at the expense of the time window for Zuhr which is reduced by the same amount. A careful person, above any bias or judgment, may avoid the overlap period (gray zone) between the two views (50 minutes, average) for Zuhr and Asr to be on the safe side. That is, offer Zuhr early after the time begins and do Asr a little late; all conditions will be met. However, the timetables for both are available. One may choose to follow any, but consistently. If joining a congregation, just follow the leader.
Updated: 02/15/2025
Islamic Point of View 