Section

The prohibition concerning Asr is tied to the performance of the Asr prayer. Once a person has performed it, he may not pray afterwards, even if others have not yet performed it. As long as he has not performed it, he may pray. This is established by the textual evidence and by agreement, for the prohibition is tied to the act of praying.

As for Fajr, there is a well-known disagreement, and two positions are reported from Ahmad.

One view is that the prohibition is tied to the break of dawn, after which no voluntary prayer may be offered apart from the two rakahs. This is the view of a group of the early generations and the position of Abū Hanīfah. Al-Nakha‘ī said: “They used to disapprove of voluntary prayer after dawn.”

The other view is that it is tied to the act of praying, as with Asr. This is the view of al-Hasan and al-Shāfi‘ī, for the prohibition is established only after the prayer, just as with Asr.

The hadiths prohibiting prayer treat the two prayers alike. Thus, in both Sahīh collections, Ibn ‘Abbās said:

“Trustworthy men testified to me—the most trustworthy of them in my eyes being Umar—that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, forbade prayer after Fajr until sunrise, and after Asr until sunset.”