the very period Allah had set for it, for in his case the time actually begins when he awakens and remembers. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said, “Whoever forgets a prayer—its time is when he remembers it,” a report recorded by al-Bayhaqi and al-Daraqutni.

Time, therefore, is of two kinds: the time of choice and the time of excuse. The time that applies to one hindered by sleep or forgetfulness is the instant he recollects and rises; he has thus performed the prayer only within its proper time. How, then, can he be likened to someone who prays outside its time willfully and defiantly?

Third: the Sacred Law, in both its rulings and underlying proofs, differentiates between the intentional offender and the forgetful, between the excused and the unexcused. This is a manifest matter; joining one of these categories to the other is impermissible.

Fourth: we have not waived the prayer for the deliberate negligent while imposing it on the excused, such that what you cited could be turned against us. On the contrary, we bound the negligent transgressor to it in a manner that leaves him no opportunity to make it up, as a stern rebuke to him, while granting the concession to the excused who was not negligent.

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As for your proof from the Prophet’s words (peace and blessings be upon him), “Whoever catches one rakʿah of ʿAsr before the sun sets has caught the prayer,” the report is unquestionably sound—but I do not see that it supports your conclusion. You maintain that he is deemed to have caught the ʿAsr prayer even though he grasped none of its time at all, i.e., that he performs it validly and his liability is discharged. Yet had the prayer been valid and accepted after its entire time had expired, its validity would not be tied to catching a single rakʿah. Plainly, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) did not intend that whoever catches one rakʿah of ʿAsr prays without sin; by unanimous agreement he is sinful for having done so deliberately.

He was commanded to perform the whole prayer within its appointed time, showing that this “catching” does not erase the sin; he catches the prayer yet remains sinful. If the prayer were valid after sunset, there would be no difference between catching one rakʿah of the time and catching none of it at all.

Should you argue, “If he delays it until after sunset his sin is greater,” we answer: the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) did not differentiate, in the gravity of the sin, between catching a rakʿah and missing the prayer completely.