is valid by their unanimous agreement if performed after dawn breaks and up until daylight becomes very bright. As for ‘Asr, one holds that it may be performed until an object’s shadow reaches twice its length, while another holds that it may only be performed after that point. The correct view is that it may be performed from the time each object’s shadow reaches its own length until the sun turns yellow. Its time is thus broader, as both these groups maintain. This is supported by the authentic Medinan hadiths. It is the view of Abū Yūsuf and Muhammad ibn al-Hasan, and the other view reported from Ahmad.

The point here is that there are questions on which it is impossible to follow a position accepted by unanimous agreement. Yet, praise be to Allah, the correct position is supported by scriptural evidence that makes the truth clear.

One such question is converting Hajj into ‘umrah. The forms of Hajj whose permissibility the Muslim community unanimously accepts are to begin with ‘umrah, entering the consecrated state for it at the outset and subsequently performing Hajj, or to combine Hajj and ‘umrah while having brought along the sacrificial animal. But if someone performs Hajj alone, or combines Hajj and ‘umrah without bringing a sacrificial animal, the validity of his Hajj is disputed among earlier and later scholars.

Our subject here, however, is recitation behind the imam. We therefore say: when the imam recites aloud, the follower should listen to his recitation. If he cannot hear because he is too far away, he should recite according to the sounder of the two views. This is the view of Ahmad and others. If, however, he cannot hear because he is deaf, or can hear