And his statement, “until shortly before the sun passes the zenith.” The word “shortly before” is the diminutive of “before”; that is, a short time before the sun passes the zenith—approximately ten minutes. For the period shortly before the zenith is a prohibited time during which prayer is forbidden, because it is the time when Hellfire is stoked. The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, forbade prayer at that time. Uqbah ibn Amir, may Allah be pleased with him, said: “There are three times at which the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, forbade us to pray or to bury our dead: when the sun begins to rise until it has risen high; when the sun stands at noon until it declines; and when the sun draws near to setting until it sets.” (1)

The sun stands at noon approximately ten minutes before it passes the zenith. Thus, when ten minutes remain before the zenith, the prohibited time begins.

Accordingly, the time for the Duha prayer extends from the end of the prohibited time at the beginning of the day until the onset of the prohibited time in the middle of the day.

Performing it toward the end of its time is superior, because the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, said: “The prayer of those who repeatedly turn to Allah is when the young camels rise because of the scorching heat.” This is recorded in Sahih Muslim. (2)

The meaning of “rise because of the scorching heat” is that they get up due to the intense heat of the sun-baked ground. This occurs approximately ten minutes before the sun passes the zenith.

The prostration of Quranic recitation is a prayer ........

His statement, “The prostration of Quranic recitation is a prayer.” “Prostration” is the subject, and “a prayer” is its predicate; that is, its ruling is the ruling of prayer—rather, it is itself a prayer. The genitive construction here