Question: What are the rulings in Islam regarding the times of prayer? What is the method of determining them? And will the shadow at zawal be subtracted or added when determining the times? Please explain in detail.
Answer: Allah the Exalted has made each prayer obligatory in its own time, as stated in the Quran:
﴿إِنَّ الصَّلَاةَ كَانَتْ عَلَى الْمُؤْمِنِيْنَ كِتَابًا مَوْقُوْتًا﴾
“Indeed, prayer has been enjoined upon the believers at specified times.”
From this verse it becomes clear that prayer must be performed within its appointed time. The times of prayer are mentioned in general terms in this verse, and in other places in the Quran Allah has described the times of prayer without specifying their beginning and end. As the Exalted has said:
﴿وَأَقِمِ الصَّلَاةَ طَرَفَيِ النَّهَارِ وَزُلَفًا مِنَ اللَّيْلِ﴾
“Establish prayer at the two ends of the day and in the periods of the night.”
In this verse, طَرَفَيِ النَّهَارِ refers to the Fajr prayer and the Zuhr and Asr prayers, and زُلَفًا مِّنَ اللَّيْلِ refers to the Maghrib and Isha prayers.
At another place He said:
﴿أَقِمِ الصَّلَاةَ لِدُلُوْكِ الشَّمْسِ إِلٰى غَسَقِ اللَّيْلِ وَقُرْآنَ الْفَجْرِ إِنَّ قُرْآنَ الْفَجْرِ كَانَ مَشْهُوْدًا﴾
“Establish prayer from the decline of the sun until the darkness of the night, and also the recitation of Fajr. Indeed, the recitation of Fajr is witnessed.”
In this verse, لِدُلُوْكِ means the decline of the sun, and غَسَقٍ means darkness. From the decline of the sun until the darkness of the night refers to the Zuhr and Asr prayers after the sun declines and the Maghrib and Isha prayers, and قُرْآنَ الْفَجْرِ refers to the Fajr prayer.
Here the Quran is used to mean prayer; it is expressed as the Quran because angels attend the Fajr prayer. At another place Allah the Exalted says:
﴿فَسُبْحَانَ اللهِ حِيْنَ تُمْسُوْنَ وَحِيْنَ تُصْبِحُوْنَ ٭ وَلَهُ الْحَمْدُ فِي السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضِ وَعَشِيًّا وَّحِيْنَ تُظْهِرُوْنَ﴾
“So glorify Allah in the evening and in the morning. To Him belongs praise in the heavens and the earth, and in the afternoon and when you enter the time of midday (glorify Him).”
In this verse too, some commentators take tasbih to mean prayer, and in تُمْسُوْنَ it refers to Maghrib and Isha, in تُصْبِحُوْنَ it refers to the Fajr prayer, in عَشِيًّا it refers to the late afternoon, that is Asr, and in تُظْهِرُوْنَ it refers to the Zuhr prayer. At another place Allah the Exalted said:
﴿وَسَبِّحْ بِحَمْدِ رَبِّكَ قَبْلَ طُلُوْعِ الشَّمْسِ وَقَبْلَ غُرُوْبِهَا وَمِنْ آنَآءِ اللَّيْلِ فَسَبِّحْ وَأَطْرَافَ النَّهَارِ لَعَلَّكَ تَرْضَىٰ﴾
“Glorify your Lord with praise before the rising of the sun and before its setting, and glorify Him during the hours of the night and at the ends of the day, so that you may be well pleased.”
In this verse some commentators take tasbih to mean prayer. Fajr is before the rising of the sun, Asr is before its setting, the periods of the night refer to Maghrib and Isha, and اطراف النهار refers to the Zuhr prayer, because the time of Zuhr lies at the last part of the first part of the day and the first part of the last part of the day. For further reference see:
These clear verses describe the times of prayer in general terms, whereas many authentic hadiths of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ define the beginning and end of the prayer times.
The time of the Fajr prayer is from the break of dawn until sunrise. The time of Zuhr is from the decline of the sun until the shadow of everything becomes equal to its length, and the time of Asr is from when the shadow becomes equal to its length until it becomes twice its length. The time of Maghrib is from sunset until the disappearance of the twilight, and the time of Isha is from the disappearance of the twilight until midnight. It is narrated from Abdullah ibn Amr (may Allah be pleased with both of them) that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:
وَقْتُ الظُّهْرِ إِذَا زَالَتِ الشَّمْسُ، وَكَانَ ظِلُّ الرَّجُلِ كَطُولِهِ، مَا لَمْ يَحْضُرِ الْعَصْرُ، وَوَقْتُ الْعَصْرِ، مَا لَمْ تَصْفَرَّ الشَّمْسُ، وَوَقْتُ صَلَاةِ الْمَغْرِبِ، مَا لَمْ يَغِبْ الشَّفَقُ، وَوَقْتُ صَلَاةِ الْعِشَاءِ إِلَى نِصْفِ اللَّيْلِ الأَوْسَطِ، وَوَقْتُ صَلَاةِ الصُّبْحِ، مِنْ طُلُوعِ الْفَجْرِ، مَا لَمْ تَطْلُعِ الشَّمْسُ، فَإِذَا طَلَعَتِ الشَّمْسُ، فَأَمْسِكْ عَنِ الصَّلَاةِ، فَإِنَّهَا تَطْلُعُ بَيْنَ قَرْنَيْ شَيْطَانٍ
“The time of Zuhr is when the sun declines and a man’s shadow becomes equal to his height, and it is before the time of Asr arrives. The (last) time of Asr is as long as the sun has not turned yellow, the time of Maghrib is as long as the red glow has not disappeared, the time of Isha extends to the middle of the night, and the time of Fajr prayer is from the break of dawn until sunrise. When the sun begins to rise, stop praying, for it rises between the two horns of a devil.”
It is narrated from Abu Hurairah (may Allah be pleased with him):
إِنَّ لِلصَّلَاةِ أَوَّلًا وَآخِرًا، وَإِنَّ أَوَّلَ وَقْتِ صَلَاةِ الظُّهْرِ حِينَ تَزُولُ الشَّمْسُ، وَآخِرَ وَقْتِهَا حِينَ يَدْخُلُ وَقْتُ الْعَصْرِ، وَإِنَّ أَوَّلَ وَقْتِ صَلَاةِ الْعَصْرِ حِينَ يَدْخُلُ وَقْتُهَا، وَإِنَّ آخِرَ وَقْتِهَا حِينَ تَصْفَرُّ الشَّمْسُ، وَإِنَّ أَوَّلَ وَقْتِ الْمَغْرِبِ حِينَ تَغْرُبُ الشَّمْسُ، وَإِنَّ آخِرَ وَقْتِهَا حِينَ يَغِيبُ الْأُفُقُ، وَإِنَّ أَوَّلَ وَقْتِ الْعِشَاءِ الْآخِرَةِ حِينَ يَغِيبُ الْأُفُقُ، وَإِنَّ آخِرَ وَقْتِهَا حِينَ يَنْتَصِفُ اللَّيْلُ، وَإِنَّ أَوَّلَ وَقْتِ الْفَجْرِ حِينَ يَطْلُعُ الْفَجْرُ، وَإِنَّ آخِرَ وَقْتِهَا حِينَ تَطْلُعُ الشَّمْسُ
“Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: “Indeed, for every prayer there is a beginning time and an ending time. The beginning time of the Zuhr prayer is when the sun declines, and its ending time is when the time of the ‘Asr prayer begins. The beginning time of the ‘Asr prayer is when its time begins (i.e., at the end of the Zuhr time), and its ending time is when the sun turns yellow. The beginning time of Maghrib is when the sun sets, and its ending time is when the twilight disappears. The beginning time of ‘Isha is when the twilight disappears, and its ending time is when half the night has passed. The first time of Fajr is when dawn breaks, and its last time is when the sun rises.”
The beginning time of Fajr is when dawn breaks, and its ending time is when the sun rises. Besides this, there are many other authentic hadiths which make it clear that the first time of Fajr is from the breaking of true dawn until sunrise. The first time of Zuhr is from the sun’s decline until the shadow of everything becomes equal to it, and the first time of ‘Asr is from one shadow-length until two shadow-lengths, when the sun turns yellow. The time of Maghrib is from the sun setting until the twilight, meaning the redness of evening, disappears, and the time of ‘Isha is from the disappearance of the redness until midnight.
Now, as for the question of how to identify the mithl (shadow-length) for the Zuhr prayer, and whether the shadow at the time of zawal is included in it or not: regarding this, Imam Ibn Hazm (may Allah have mercy on him) says: “When the sun begins to decline, the first time of the Zuhr prayer begins. Before that, beginning the Zuhr prayer is not permissible at all, and that prayer does not suffice either. Then the time of the Zuhr prayer remains until the shadow of everything becomes one mithl. In this, the original shadow that the thing had at the time of the sun’s decline is not counted; however, whatever is beyond it will be counted.”
Maulana Ismail Salafi (may Allah have mercy on him) says:
“The sun in some regions passes directly over the head, and in some regions it passes at an angle, and with the season this difference in its movement also becomes apparent. In summer it passes close to the head, and in winter it passes at a greater angle to one side. The calculation of the shadow differs between these two seasons. In countries where the sun passes without an angle, at midday when the sun is overhead, the shadow of everything is at its feet and is not apparent. Likewise, in the summer season, since the sun is close to the head, the shadow is small, because due to the inclination and deviation of the sun’s movement, some shadow exists even at exactly midday. In winter, as the angle increases, the shadow also keeps increasing. This is called the original shadow; after zawal, an additional amount is added to it. Therefore, when calculating the mithl, this shadow will be separated out, and after separating it, whatever shadow remains, the mithl or two mithl will be counted from it.”
The shadow of zawal is not counted within the mithl. This same point is found in Imam Ibn Taymiyyah’s “Fatawa (74/22)”, in the Hanafi jurisprudence book “al-Hidayah (4/1)”, in the Shafi’i book “al-Majmu’ (81/3)”, and in the Hanbali book “al-Rawd al-Murbi’ (42/1)”. In short, it is agreed upon that the measurement of the mithl is taken after removing the shadow of zawal.
The method of determining the mithl is this: in an open and level area, a stick is planted before zawal. Its shadow will gradually begin to decrease until at the time of zawal it is at its least. This shadow should be measured; when this shadow begins to increase, it is a sign that zawal has occurred.
Then, when this shadow grows until it equals the length of the stick (after separating the measured shadow of the stick at the time of zawal), it becomes one mithl, and when it doubles, it becomes two mithl.
Another method that is mentioned is this: before midday, level a patch of ground one or two spans across, and draw a straight line on it running north to south. The line can be aligned using a compass. Then fix an upright stick at the southern point of this line. Since it is still before midday, the shadow of this stick will not fall exactly on the line but will lean somewhat towards the west. It will then gradually begin to move onto the line, until it falls exactly upon it. At that moment, mark the end point of the shadow, measure the shadow with another stick, and keep this measure safe. This is the exact time of midday. After this, the shadow will start to move towards the east. This is the beginning of the time for Zuhr, and then, as the shadow keeps increasing, when the shadow measured from the actual shadow mark of the stick used for measuring the original shadow becomes one mithl beyond that mark, that will be the end of the time for Zuhr and the beginning of the time for ‘Asr.
This is the method for determining the mithl. Take some time out to experiment with it, and if you keep doing so every month according to the solar month, you will have an annual calendar prepared for yourself. In the present age, the Meteorological Department also provides considerable convenience, and prepared calendars are available in which the time is correctly indicated. If you are not satisfied, a person can determine the first mithl and the second mithl by experimenting himself.
