Source: Fatāwā Amunpuri by Shaykh Ghulam Mustafa Zaheer Amunpuri
If the sun rises while a person is performing the Fajr (dawn) prayer, what is the ruling of that prayer?
The prayer is valid — if the sun rises during the Fajr prayer, there is no need to repeat it.
Sayyidunā Abū Hurayrah رضي الله عنه narrated that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:
«مَنْ أَدْرَكَ رَكْعَةً مِنَ الصُّبْحِ قَبْلَ أَنْ تَطْلُعَ الشَّمْسُ فَقَدْ أَدْرَكَ الصُّبْحَ، وَمَنْ أَدْرَكَ رَكْعَةً مِنَ الْعَصْرِ قَبْلَ أَنْ تَغْرُبَ الشَّمْسُ فَقَدْ أَدْرَكَ الْعَصْرَ»
“Whoever catches one rakʿah of the Fajr prayer before the sun rises has caught the Fajr prayer; and whoever catches one rakʿah of the ʿAṣr prayer before the sun sets has caught the ʿAṣr prayer.”
(Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī: 579; Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim: 607)
This ḥadīth is also narrated by Sayyidah ʿĀʾishah رضي الله عنها in Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim (ḥadīth no. 209).
The wording of this authentic ḥadīth is clear:
Muftī Muḥammad Taqī ʿUthmānī said:
“This ḥadīth directly contradicts the Ḥanafī position.
Various Ḥanafī scholars have made great efforts to reconcile it, but the reality is that none of their explanations is satisfactory.
This is why the Ḥanafī school counts this ḥadīth among its difficult cases.”
(Dars-e-Tirmidhī, 1/434)
After discussing the Ḥanafī arguments, he further writes:
“Shaykh (Anwar Shāh Kashmīrī) gave a detailed explanation which Mawlānā Yūsuf Binnūrī also elaborated upon in Maʿārif al-Sunan.
However, even he admitted that the heart is not at ease with such interpretations.
In fact, all these explanations suffer from one common flaw:
the apparent meaning of a clear ḥadīth cannot be altered without a decisive textual or legal proof — and in this matter, the Ḥanafīs have no clear text, only weak analogy (qiyās).
The reality is that I (Taqī ʿUthmānī) have not come across any Ḥanafī explanation that is sufficient or convincing.
Hence, it is not appropriate to twist the ḥadīth to fit the Ḥanafī view.
This is why Shaykh Rashīd Aḥmad Gangohī said that the Ḥanafī interpretations of this ḥadīth are all weak (bāridah).
Rather, it should be openly stated that the reasoning of the Ḥanafī scholars on this issue is unclear to us.
According to him (Gangohī), while it is prohibited to pray during sunrise or sunset, if one does pray, the prayer is valid.
Furthermore, Ibn Nujaym (the author of Baḥr al-Rāʾiq) and ʿAllāmah Shabbīr Aḥmad ʿUthmānī also favored the opinion of the other three Imāms — Imām al-Shāfiʿī, Imām Mālik, and Imām Aḥmad — over that of the Ḥanafīs.
Perhaps this is why a narration from Imām Abū Yūsuf states that Fajr prayer is not invalidated by the rising of the sun.”
(Dars-e-Tirmidhī, 1/439–440)
❖ Question:
If the sun rises while a person is performing the Fajr (dawn) prayer, what is the ruling of that prayer?
✿ Answer:
The prayer is valid — if the sun rises during the Fajr prayer, there is no need to repeat it.
❀ Evidence from the Sunnah:
Sayyidunā Abū Hurayrah رضي الله عنه narrated that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:
«مَنْ أَدْرَكَ رَكْعَةً مِنَ الصُّبْحِ قَبْلَ أَنْ تَطْلُعَ الشَّمْسُ فَقَدْ أَدْرَكَ الصُّبْحَ، وَمَنْ أَدْرَكَ رَكْعَةً مِنَ الْعَصْرِ قَبْلَ أَنْ تَغْرُبَ الشَّمْسُ فَقَدْ أَدْرَكَ الْعَصْرَ»
“Whoever catches one rakʿah of the Fajr prayer before the sun rises has caught the Fajr prayer; and whoever catches one rakʿah of the ʿAṣr prayer before the sun sets has caught the ʿAṣr prayer.”
(Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī: 579; Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim: 607)
This ḥadīth is also narrated by Sayyidah ʿĀʾishah رضي الله عنها in Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim (ḥadīth no. 209).
The wording of this authentic ḥadīth is clear:
- If a person manages to pray even one rakʿah of ʿAṣr before sunset, then completes the rest afterward, his ʿAṣr prayer is valid.
- Likewise, if he catches one rakʿah of Fajr before sunrise and completes the second after sunrise, his Fajr prayer is considered valid and complete.
❀ Commentary of Scholars:
Muftī Muḥammad Taqī ʿUthmānī said:
“This ḥadīth directly contradicts the Ḥanafī position.
Various Ḥanafī scholars have made great efforts to reconcile it, but the reality is that none of their explanations is satisfactory.
This is why the Ḥanafī school counts this ḥadīth among its difficult cases.”
(Dars-e-Tirmidhī, 1/434)
After discussing the Ḥanafī arguments, he further writes:
“Shaykh (Anwar Shāh Kashmīrī) gave a detailed explanation which Mawlānā Yūsuf Binnūrī also elaborated upon in Maʿārif al-Sunan.
However, even he admitted that the heart is not at ease with such interpretations.
In fact, all these explanations suffer from one common flaw:
the apparent meaning of a clear ḥadīth cannot be altered without a decisive textual or legal proof — and in this matter, the Ḥanafīs have no clear text, only weak analogy (qiyās).
The reality is that I (Taqī ʿUthmānī) have not come across any Ḥanafī explanation that is sufficient or convincing.
Hence, it is not appropriate to twist the ḥadīth to fit the Ḥanafī view.
This is why Shaykh Rashīd Aḥmad Gangohī said that the Ḥanafī interpretations of this ḥadīth are all weak (bāridah).
Rather, it should be openly stated that the reasoning of the Ḥanafī scholars on this issue is unclear to us.
According to him (Gangohī), while it is prohibited to pray during sunrise or sunset, if one does pray, the prayer is valid.
Furthermore, Ibn Nujaym (the author of Baḥr al-Rāʾiq) and ʿAllāmah Shabbīr Aḥmad ʿUthmānī also favored the opinion of the other three Imāms — Imām al-Shāfiʿī, Imām Mālik, and Imām Aḥmad — over that of the Ḥanafīs.
Perhaps this is why a narration from Imām Abū Yūsuf states that Fajr prayer is not invalidated by the rising of the sun.”
(Dars-e-Tirmidhī, 1/439–440)
Summary:
- If a person begins Fajr before sunrise and completes it after the sun has risen, his prayer is valid and does not need to be repeated.
- The ḥadīth of Abū Hurayrah رضي الله عنه provides explicit proof of this.
- Most jurists — including Imām al-Shāfiʿī, Imām Mālik, and Imām Aḥmad — affirm this view.
- Even some major Ḥanafī scholars acknowledged that the authentic ḥadīth supports this position.
- While performing prayer during sunrise is discouraged, if one is already engaged in Fajr, the prayer is counted and accepted.
