Book of Prayer
Introduction
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Book of Prayer

The obligatory prayers are five.

1. Ẓuhr (the noon prayer): its time begins when the sun passes the meridian and ends when an object’s shadow becomes equal to its own length, not counting the shadow present at midday. That moment is also the beginning of ʿAṣr, whose time lasts until sunset. The preferred course is not to delay ẓuhr beyond the point when the shadow reaches twice the object’s length.
2. Maghrib (the sunset prayer) begins at sunset. According to the Old Position, its time continues until the red twilight disappears; according to the New Position, it expires after the span needed to perform ablution, cover the nakedness, give the adhān and iqāmah, and pray five rakʿahs. If one started within that span and the prayer carried on until the red twilight vanished, it remains valid on the sound view.
   I say: the Old Position is the stronger, and Allah knows best.
3. ʿIshāʾ (the night prayer) begins when the twilight disappears and lasts until dawn. The preferred course is not to delay it beyond the first third of the night; another opinion sets the limit at the half.
4. Ṣubḥ (the dawn prayer) enters with true dawn—the light that spreads horizontally along the horizon—and remains until sunrise. The preferred course is not to delay it beyond the time when the light is clearly manifest.

I say: It is disliked to call maghrib “ʿishāʾ” or to call ʿishāʾ “ʿatamah,” and likewise to sleep before ʿishāʾ or to engage in conversation afterward, unless it is beneficial. Allah knows best.

It is recommended to pray at the beginning of each time; according to one opinion, delaying ʿishāʾ is superior. It is recommended to pray ẓuhr when the heat has abated in intense summer, and the sounder view restricts this to a hot land and to a congregation whose mosque is reached from a distance.

If any part of a prayer falls inside its time, the sound view is that when at least one rakʿah occurs within the time, the whole counts as performed on time; otherwise, it must be made up as a missed prayer.

Whoever is uncertain about the time must exercise personal judgment—by consulting his regular devotions or the like—and if he later realizes that he prayed before the time, he must repeat the prayer.