returning.

The term zill (shade), however, encompasses both. Before sunrise, the shade extends, as Allah Most High says:

“Have you not seen how your Lord extends the shade? Had He willed, He could have made it stationary.”

Then, when the sun rises, it serves as a guide to the shade, distinguishing shade from sunlight. The sun dispels the shade, continuing to do so as it shortens until midday. Once the sun passes its zenith, the shade again extends eastward, where it began, after the sun had first dispelled it from the east and then from the west. It then returns towards the east and then the west, continuing to extend and lengthen until sunset, when the shade dispels all sunlight.

For this reason, he said in the hadith of ‘Amr ibn ‘Abasah:

“Then refrain from prayer, for Hell is stoked at that time. When the shade returns, pray.”

Accordingly, those who permit prayer on Friday at this time say that Hell is not stoked on Friday, as has been narrated. They also say that delaying the Friday prayer until it becomes cooler is not recommended. Rather, it may be performed immediately after the sun passes its zenith, as established by the authentic Sunnah and unanimous agreement. Delaying it until it becomes cooler would impose hardship on people.

According to Ahmad and others, the Friday prayer may be performed when the sun is at its zenith, as more than one Companion did. How, then, can this be a prohibited time when the Friday prayer is permissible then? Obligatory prayers performed within their appointed times are not prescribed during a prohibited time without an excuse, as we have stated concerning Fajr. This would be contradictory.

In short, the permissibility of prayer at the zenith on Friday follows more clearly from Ahmad’s principles than from those of others, for he permits the Friday prayer at the zenith and does not regard