the sun has indeed caught the Dawn Prayer.’
This is analogous to what the majority have ruled in the case of the Afternoon Prayer; yet it is remarkable that they abandoned that reasoning here and sided with the Ẓāhirites. The Ẓāhirites, therefore, are entitled to ask them to explain the distinction between the two cases.
Section Two – Chapter One – Book One
Times of Necessity and Excuse for the Prayer
As for the times of necessity and excuse, the jurisprudents of the major cities affirmed their existence, whereas the Ẓāhirites rejected them. The basis of their disagreement has already been set out.
Those who affirmed these times then differed in three areas:
- For which prayers do such times exist and for which do they not?
- What are the precise limits of these times?
- Who are the people of excuse for whom these concessions apply—and for which prayers do they not apply? They also disagreed over the legal consequences, that is, whether the prayer remains obligatory or is waived.
Issue One
Mālik and al-Shāfiʿī agree that this period applies to four prayers: Zuhr and ‘Asr share one interval, and Maghrib and ‘Ishā’ share another, though they differ— as will be explained—over the manner of that sharing. Abū Ḥanīfah, however, maintains that the period pertains solely to ‘Asr and that there is no shared time at all.
The root of their disagreement lies in their divergent views on the permissibility of combining two prayers while travelling within the time of one of them, as will be discussed later. Whoever holds fast to the explicit text regarding ‘Asr—namely the authenticated statement of the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, ‘Whoever performs one rakʿah of the Afternoon Prayer before sunset has caught the ‘Asr’—sees in it a concession and does not allow sharing. He relies as well on the Prophet’s words, peace be upon him, ‘No prayer’s time passes until the time of the next prayer has entered,’ together with additional proofs to be mentioned in the chapter on combining prayers, concluding that the period can belong only to ‘Asr. By contrast, those who allow combining prayers while travelling draw an analogy with people of necessity, for the traveller too is a person of need and excuse. They therefore treat this period as common to Zuhr and ‘Asr, and to Maghrib and ‘Ishā’.
Issue Two
Mālik and al-Shāfiʿī differ over the end of the shared interval. Mālik says that, for Zuhr and ‘Asr, it begins after the sun’s zenith and lasts for the time required to perform four rakʿahs for a resident or two for a traveller; it then continues until what remains of the day equals four rakʿahs for the resident or two for the traveller. Thus, the exclusive time of Zuhr is only that span of four rakʿahs (or two for the traveller) immediately after the zenith, while the exclusive time of ‘Asr is the span of four rakʿahs before sunset for the resident or two for the traveller. In other words, whoever reaches only the exclusive time is liable solely for the prayer specific to that interval—provided he is among those upon whom the earlier prayer had not yet become obligatory—