which Muslim narrated in his Sahīh from ‘Abd Allāh ibn ‘Amr. It has also been transmitted from Abū Hurayrah, may Allah be pleased with him. No hadith conveying the Prophet’s own words concerning the five prayer times is more authentic than this. Its meaning is likewise authentically established through several accounts of the Prophet’s practice in Medina, narrated by Abū Mūsā and Buraydah, may Allah be pleased with them both. Its details also appear separately in several hadiths. Most jurists have acted upon most of these reports.

The well-known position of the scholars of Iraq is that the time for Asr does not begin until the shadow of each object is twice its height. The scholars of the Hijaz—Mālik and others—recognize only a single time for Maghrib.

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Likewise, we affirm what the Sunnah and transmitted reports establish concerning combining two prayers when travelling, because of rain or illness—as in the hadith concerning the woman with non-menstrual bleeding—or because of other valid excuses.

We also affirm what the Book, the Sunnah, and transmitted reports indicate: that prayer times fall into two categories—times of choice, comprising five periods, and times of necessity, comprising three periods. For this reason, the Companions—such as ‘Abd al-Rahmān ibn ‘Awf, Ibn ‘Abbās, and others—instructed