❖ The Shar‘i Status of Permanent Prayer Time Charts
Written by: Imran Ayub Lahori
✦ Overview
While some scholars have expressed disapproval or rejection of preparing and using permanent timetables for prayer times, the stronger and more correct opinion is that such practice is permissible and valid.
✦ Opinions of Scholars Opposing It
❖ Siddiq Hasan Khan (رحمه الله)
He labeled it a form of astrology and rejected it.
[Al-Rawdah al-Nadiyyah 1/204]
❖ Imam Amir al-San‘ani (رحمه الله)
Declared it a consensus innovation (بدعت), stating:
No scholar from the entire Muslim world can claim that this practice existed during the Prophetic era or the time of the Rightly Guided Caliphs, hence it is a pure innovation that likely began during the reign of Caliph Ma’mun al-Rashid.
[Subul al-Salam 2/310–311]
❖ Jalal (رحمه الله)
Stated that this act is not established from the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) nor from any of his rightly guided Caliphs. Thus, it is a clear innovation and contradiction to the Sunnah.
[Dhaw’ al-Nahar 2/424]
✦ A Contemporary Appeal to Scholars
Some scholars even claimed that any scholar who prepares a correct and accurate prayer timetable based on authentic sources would be entitled to a service honorarium of 20,000 rupees, urging the creation of a standardized prayer chart and authentic method of performing Salah.
[Awqat-e-Namaz ki Tahqiq by Abdul Rasheed Ansari, p. 17]
✦ Supportive Scholarly Views
❖ Shaykh Nasir al-Din al-Albani (رحمه الله)
Criticized the confusion of earlier scholars like the author of Subul al-Salam and Siddiq Hasan Khan for not distinguishing between:
① Astrology (علم نجوم) – which involves claiming knowledge of the unseen via stars, and is impermissible, and
② Astronomy and Calculations of Celestial Movements (علم الفلک و میقات) – which is an exact science based on observation and mathematics, used to determine:
✔ Solar and lunar eclipses (کسوف و خسوف)
✔ Prayer times
✔ Islamic months
He states:
Although this knowledge did not exist in the Prophet’s (صلى الله عليه وسلم) time, nor during the Khulafa’ al-Rashideen, we cannot call it a bid‘ah.
Any modern beneficial knowledge that helps Muslims and strengthens the Ummah is commendable.
He concludes:
Bid‘ah (innovation) is only that which is introduced into acts of worship, not that which is related to worldly beneficial sciences, especially when not in conflict with the principles of Shari‘ah.
[Al-Ta‘liqat al-Radiyyah ‘ala al-Rawdah al-Nadiyyah 1/234]
❖ Al-Khattabi (رحمه الله)
Clarified that the form of astronomy used to determine:
✔ Solar zenith (Zawāl al-shams)
✔ Qiblah direction
— based on empirical observation and tools — is not impermissible.
He acknowledged that:
Such devices eliminate the need to constantly observe the sun’s movement. Also, determining the Qiblah through reliable star charts is valid and has been conducted by trustworthy scholars well-versed in Islam.
[Fath al-Majid, p. 257]
❖ Ibn Taymiyyah (رحمه الله)
Divided Ilm al-Nujum (astrology) into two types:
➊ Permissible:
Knowledge that determines months, directions, eclipses, etc. This is actually astronomy (علم ہیئت) and is permissible.
➋ Prohibited:
The practice of using stars to predict fate, unseen events, or lost items, which constitutes kufr and shirk.
[Majmu‘ al-Fatawa 35/102–120, 35/139–142; 25/108–110]
✦ The Stronger Opinion (راجح)
The correct and preferred view is that:
◈ Astrology involving predictions, horoscopes, or fortune-telling is absolutely haram.
◈ But the science commonly referred to as astronomy or celestial measurement (علم ہیئت), which allows scholars and researchers to:
✔ Determine directions
✔ Calculate months and years
✔ Predict solar and lunar eclipses
— is not forbidden. This is based on observation and calculation, not knowledge of the unseen.
Therefore, using such scientific methods to prepare permanent timetables for the five daily prayers is permissible and carries no Shari‘ah objection.
✔ Conclusion
◈ While some scholars initially rejected permanent prayer charts due to confusion with astrology, the sounder view—endorsed by major scholars—is that:
✔ It is not a bid‘ah
✔ It is not against the Sunnah
✔ It is a valid tool based on beneficial science
◈ Such charts can greatly assist the Ummah in determining prayer times accurately, especially in urban settings and non-Muslim lands.
والله أعلم
