Question
When does the time for ʿAṣr prayer begin?
Answer
The time for ʿAṣr prayer begins when the shadow of an object becomes equal to its length (excluding the shadow at noon). This is supported by numerous authentic aḥādīth.
The view that ʿAṣr begins when the shadow becomes twice its length is baseless and without proof.
Evidence from Aḥādīth
❀ Sayyidunā Anas ibn Mālik (رضي الله عنه) reported:
كان رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم يصلي العصر والشمس مرتفعة حية، فيذهب الذاهب إلى العوالي، فيأتيهم والشمس مرتفعة
“The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) used to pray ʿAṣr while the sun was still high and bright. Then a person would go to al-ʿAwālī (a suburb of Madinah), and upon reaching there, the sun would still be high.”
(Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī 50; Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim 621)
Scholarly Commentary
❀ Ḥāfiẓ Ibn al-Mulaqqin (رحمه الله, d. 804H) said:
فيه دليل على أبى حنيفة القائل : أن العصر وقته إذا صار ظل كل شيء مثليه، لأنه يبعد أن يصلي العصر ثم يمشي أربعة أميال والشمس مرتفعة بعد أن صار الظل مثليه بعد ظل الزوال
“This ḥadīth is evidence against Abū Ḥanīfah, who said that the time of ʿAṣr begins when the shadow becomes twice the object’s length. For it is unlikely that one would pray ʿAṣr at that point, then walk four miles, and the sun would still be high after the shadow had reached twice its length beyond the noon shadow.”
(al-Tawḍīḥ 33/114)
✅ Conclusion:
The beginning of ʿAṣr time is when the shadow of an object reaches one times its length beyond the noon shadow. The opinion of two lengths has no basis in authentic Sunnah.
