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The time for Maghrib begins the moment the entire disc of the sun disappears below the horizon and lasts until the red twilight has vanished. Thereafter the time for ʿIshāʾ immediately commences, with no interval or overlap between the two.
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The time for ʿIshāʾ extends from the disappearance of the red twilight until midnight. The majority of scholars regard this span as its preferred time. As for the permissible period for performing the prayer, it continues until the second dawn appears. Some scholars, however, maintained that its time ends at midnight, and their view is the stronger in terms of evidence.
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The time for Ṣubḥ (Fajr) begins with the appearance of the second dawn and lasts until sunrise.
Decision of the Council of Senior Scholars
The following is an abridged wording of Resolution no. 61, dated 12/4/1398 AH, issued by the Council of Senior Scholars:
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Anyone residing in a land where day and night are distinguishable by the rising of dawn and the setting of the sun—even though daylight may grow very long in summer and very short in winter—must observe the five daily prayers at their legally defined times. This is in accordance with the general meaning of the Almighty’s words: “Establish the prayer from the declining of the sun until the darkness of the night, and the dawn recitation; indeed, the dawn recitation is ever witnessed” (al-Isrāʾ 17:78).
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Those who live in regions where the sun does not set during the summer, does not rise during the winter, or where daylight endures for about six months and night for a like period, are required to perform the five daily prayers within every twenty-four hours. They must calculate the prayer times and fix them by reference to the nearest land in which the obligatory prayers can be clearly distinguished from one another. The proof is the authenticated report in which the Prophet ﷺ spoke to his Companions about the Antichrist (al-Masīḥ al-Dajjāl). They asked, “How long will he remain on earth?” He replied, “Forty days: one day like a year, one day like a month, one day like a week, and the rest of his days like your days.” They said, “Messenger of Allah, on the day that is like a year, will a single day’s prayer suffice for us?” He answered, “No. Calculate the time for it.”