Islam has prescribed specified time limits for each of prayer as can be
noted from the following verse of the Holy Qur'an:“ Prayer is
enjoined on believers at stated times” (Qur'an 4:103).
And
in an authentic prophetic saying it is confirmed that someone once
asked the prophet (peace be upon him) about the best action in the
sight of Allah (subhanahu wa ta'ala) and the prophet replied:“
Offering prayer at its prescribed time” (Reported by Imam
Bukhari).
Thus, the arrival of the time for prayer is a fundamental condition for
performing it and if, therefore, a prayer is intentionally performed
before or after its designated time it shall not be acceptable in the
sight of Allah (subhanahu wa ta'ala). However, persons who may forget
(without intention) to perform any of the obligatory prayers within its
ordained time or who are overtaken by sleep, then such persons should
perform the prayer as soon as they remember it and/or as soon as they
wake up from their sleep.
We
shall now enumerate the different timings of the five obligatory
prayers:
- FAJR (Dawn) PRAYER:Its time begins at dawn when
morning light first appears in the horizon and continues until the sun
rises.
- DHUHR (Noon) PRAYER:Its time begins when the sun
reaches its highest point in the sky and continues up to the time of
Asr Prayer.
- ASR (Afternoon) PRAYER:Its time begins when the shadow
of an object is equal to its own length, plus the length of its
noontime shadow and continues until sunset.
- MAGHRIB (Sunset) PRAYER:Its time starts from sunset
and continues until the end of twilight. Twilight is the redness which
remains in the horizon after sunset.
- ISHA (Evening) PRAYER:Its time starts when the
twilight disappears and continues up to mid-night. Mid-night in this
case may not necessarily be interpreted to mean 12:00 o'clock but may
be construed as the mid-time between sunset and the appearance of the
true dawn.
