Prayer

[vegangoth]

Do the five prayers have to be done at the same time everyday? I undertand that doing the prayers at the same time as all Muslims from around the world can bring a sense of community. But What if for some reason you can't get away for a certain time? Will doing the prayers later on make a diffrence?

 

[safiya58]

hi,

it is better when you do the prayers on time. you have to give your best not to miss them... but when you work (everything what is done with right intention is ibadah=whorship, also working to earn money and be able to provide oneself and family) it can happen that you are really not able to pray on time... for example when you are a pilot or a doctor and there comes someone to you who is seriously injured and his life is in dangour. in such a case of course you have to care for him even if you will miss the prayer... you can not say hold on 10 minutes I have to pray first...! and Allah is Al Rahman Al Rahim the most mercyfull. but no matter how hard it is sometimes even if we are in war and even if we have to pray in secret we should not miss the prayer out of lazyness we should give our all best not to miss it and when we miss we have to feel sorry inside for it.

 

[vegangoth]

Can you pray and not do all the prostrations that go with it?

 

[diplomaticmuslim]

no. prayers don't occur at the same time everyday.

the time of the prayer changes with the movement of the sun in the sky (and its subsequent cast shadow), not the clock. thus as summer approaches, the time between the prayers gets longer and longer because the days become longer.

the time of prayer depends on the latitude and longitude of the place. for example, it may be prayer time in edinburgh but not glasgow.

the sense of community refers to muslims coming and praying in a mosque as this builds a sense of community and friendship.

under special circumstances, prayers can be delayed. islam allows leniency in certain cases and is not strict at all.

 

[diplomaticmuslim]

prostration is a must part of prayer and must be done if one is able to do so. its a sign of humility before Allah, the King of all that exists.

 

[vegangoth]

no. prayers don't occur at the same time everyday.

the time of the prayer changes with the movement of the sun in the sky (and its subsequent cast shadow), not the clock. thus as summer approaches, the time between the prayers gets longer and longer because the days become longer.

the time of prayer depends on the latitude and longitude of the place. for example, it may be prayer time in edinburgh but not glasgow.

the sense of community refers to muslims coming and praying in a mosque as this builds a sense of community and friendship.

under special circumstances, prayers can be delayed. islam allows leniency in certain cases and is not strict at all.

The sense of community I was refering to was someone praying in Scotland knows that someone is also praying in America ( for example) but since that is redundent know i know the prayer times are diffrent then what I said was silly.

There is no diffrence in time between Glasgow and Edinburgh. 3pm in Glasgow is 3pm in Edinburgh and in fact the whole of the UK. There is a slight diffrence between Scotland and England ( time wise) but it's so little that nobody bothers with it.

So how do you know when to pray, if your not near a mosque and can't hear the call to prayer? Is there a special calendar that you can buy for the times?

 

[diplomaticmuslim]

as i said before, it doesnt depend on the clock. when its prayer time in edinburgh, there are a few minutes delay between edinburgh prayer time and glasgow prayer time. it depends on the movement of the sun.

for example, when the sun casts a shadow equal to a the person's length, in edinburgh. it doesn't cast a shadow equal to a person's length in glasgow. there is a few minutes delay.

to make it clear: muslims within a certain locality pray at the same time. muslims from two different cities don't pray at exactly the same time. muslims from the same city dont even pray at the same time, e.g. east london prays earlier than west london.

those in faraway places tend to have different ways. some people record the timings when they go to the mosque. some keep track of prayer times by keeping timetables given at mosques.

but the true method is this:

fajr: when whiteness begins to appear on the horizon

zuhr: after the sun crosses the meridian completely

Asr: when length of object's shadow = length of object + noon shadow length

maghrib: sunset

isha: after the redness of the sky ends.

there is more to this but it'll make your head spin. it even makes the common muslim's head spin so most keep to the clock and let the scholars of islam work out the prayer timings

 

[diplomaticmuslim]

take any point on earth e.g. japan. when the morning prayer, fajr, starts in japan. the adhan is made. as soon as fajr ends in japan, its fajr in indonesia, then its fajr in malaysia, then its fajr in china, then in india, pakistan, iran, iraq, saudi arabia, turkey, lithuania, algeria, morocco, spain, france, england, scotland, wales, portugal.

by the time the fajr time ends in portugal, its time for zuhr in japan. thus in summary, the adhan and name of Allah is constantly being pronounced all over the world at any given time. this happens because the muslim prayer is tied to the movement of the sun in the sky.

 

[safiya58]

ooops sorry I misunderstand the question I understand on time instead of same time....

the period for morning prayer beginns with dawning until sunrise

period for midday prayer is when the sun reaches it´s highest level

afternoon prayer when the shadow amounts its twofold of its usual length

evening prayer is to be prayed immediately after sunset. when the sun is not visible in horizon anymore

and night prayer is to be prayed after about 1 and 1/2 hour after evening prayer respectively when the last red sunset in horizon vanishes

actually you don´t need anything to know the prayer time just have to look at the whether conditions. but there are also calenders available where the time are astronomically calculated

 

[massi]

Times of the five daily prayers

When does the time for ‘Asr end and can you define it by the clock?

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Praise be to Allaah. Allaah has enjoined upon His slaves five prayers throughout the day and night at specific times decreed by the wisdom of Allaah so that the slave may be in contact with his Lord in these prayers throughout all of these times. They are for the heart like water for a tree, given to it time after time, not all in one go and then it stops.
Part of the wisdom behind doing the prayers at these times is so that people will not get bored or find it too difficult, which would happen if they all had to be done at once. Blessed be Allaah, the Wisest of judges.
(From the Introduction to Risaalat Ahkaam Mawaaqeet al-Salaah (Essay on the Rulings on the Times of the Prayers) by Shaykh Muhammad ibn ‘Uthaymeen, may Allaah have mercy on him).
The times of the prayers were mentioned by the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) in the hadeeth: “The time for Zuhr is from when the sun has passed its zenith and a man’s shadow is equal in length to his height, until the time for ‘Asr comes. The time for ‘Asr lasts until the sun turns yellow. The time for Maghrib lasts until the twilight has faded. The time for ‘Isha’ lasts until midnight. The time for Subh (Fajr) prayer lasts from the beginning of the pre-dawn so long as the sun has not yet started to rise. When the sun starts to rise then stop praying, for it rises between the two horns of the Shaytaan.” (Narrated by Muslim, 612).
This hadeeth explains the timings of the five daily prayers. As for defining them by the clock, that varies from one city or country to another. We will define each in more detail as follows:
1 – The time of Zuhr
The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “The time for Zuhr is from when the sun has passed its zenith and a man’s shadow is equal in length to his height, until the time for ‘Asr comes.” So the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) defined the start and the end of the time for Zuhr:
The start of the time for Zuhr is when the sun has passed its zenith i.e., has passed the highest part of the sky and started to descend towards the west.
Practical way of knowing when the zenith has been passed (and the time for Zuhr has begun):
Put a stick or pole in an open place. When the sun rises in the east, the shadow of this stick will fall towards the west. The higher the sun rises, the shorter the shadow will become. So long as it keeps growing shorter, the sun has not yet reached its zenith. The shadow will keep on growing shorter until it reaches a certain point, then it will start to increase, falling towards the east. When it increases by even a small amount, then the sun has passed its zenith. At that point the time for Zuhr has begun.
Knowing the time of the zenith by the clock: divide the time between sunrise and sunset in half, and that is the time of the zenith. If we assume that the sun rises at 6 a.m. and sets at 6 p.m., then the zenith is at 12 noon. If it rises at 7 a.m. and sets at 7 p.m., then the zenith is at 1 p.m., and so on.
See al-Sharh al-Mumti’, 2/96
The end of the time for Zuhr is when the shadow of everything is equal in length to the object itself, plus the length of the shadow of the object at the time of the zenith.
Practical way of knowing when the time for Zuhr has ended: go back to the stick or pole which we described above. Let us assume that its length is one meter. We will notice that before the sun reached its zenith, the shadow decreased gradually until it reached a certain point (make a mark at this point), then it started to increase, at which point the time for Zuhr began. The shadow will continue to increase, falling towards the east until the length of the shadow is equal to the length of the object itself, i.e., it will be one meter long, starting from the point marked at the zenith). As for the shadow before the mark, that is not counted, and it is called fay’ al-zawaal (the shadow of the zenith). At this point the time for Zuhr ends and the time for ‘Asr begins straight away.
2 – The time of ‘Asr
The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “The time for ‘Asr lasts until the sun turns yellow.”
We know that the time for ‘Asr begins when the time for Zuhr ends, i.e., when the length of an object’s shadow becomes equal to the length of the object itself. There are two times for the end of ‘Asr.
(1) The preferred time: this lasts from the beginning of the time for ‘Asr until the sun begins to turn yellow, because the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “The time for ‘Asr lasts until the sun turns yellow.” Defining this time by the clock varies according to the season.
(2) The time of necessity. This lasts from the time the sun turns yellow until sunset, because the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “Whoever catches up with one rak’ah of ‘Asr before the sun sets has caught up with ‘Asr.” (Narrated by al-Bukhaari, 579; Muslim, 608)
Question: what is meant by the time of necessity?
Necessity here refers to when a person is distracted from praying ‘Asr by some essential and unavoidable work, such as dressing wounds, and he is able to pray before the sun turns yellow but it is difficult, then he prays just before sunset. In this case he has prayed on time and has not sinned, because this is the time of necessity. If a person is forced to delay the prayer, there is no sin so long as he prays before the sun sets.
3 – The time of Maghrib
The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “The time for Maghrib lasts until the twilight has faded.”
i.e., the time for Maghrib starts immediately after the time for ‘Asr ends, which is when the sun sets, until the twilight or red afterglow has faded. When the red afterglow has disappeared from the sky, the time for Maghrib ends and the time for ‘Isha’ begins. Defining this time by the clock varies according to the season. When you see that the red afterglow has disappeared from the horizon, this is a sign that the time for Maghrib has ended.
4 – The time of ‘Isha
The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “The time for ‘Isha’ lasts until midnight.”
So the time for ‘Isha’ begins immediately after the time for Maghrib ends (i.e., when the red afterglow disappears from the sky) until midnight.
Question: how do we calculate when midnight is?
Answer: if you want to calculate when midnight is, then calculate the time between sunset and sunrise then divide it in half; that halfway point is the end of the time for praying ‘Isha’ (and that is midnight).
So if the sun sets at 5 p.m., and Fajr begins at 5 a.m., then midnight is 11 p.m. If the sun sets at 5 p.m. and Fajr begins at 6 p.m., then midnight is 11.30 p.m., and so on.
5 – The time of Fajr
The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “The time for Subh (Fajr) prayer lasts from the beginning of the pre-dawn so long as the sun has not yet started to rise. When the sun starts to rise then stop praying, for it rises between the two horns of the Shaytaan.”
The time for Fajr begins with the onset of the “second dawn” (al-fajr al-thaani) and ends when the sun starts to rise. The “second dawn” is the brightness that appears along the horizon in the east and extends north to south. The “first dawn” (al-fajr al-awwal) occurs approximately one hour before this, and there are differences between the two:
(1) In the “first dawn” the brightness extends from east to west, and in the “second dawn” it extends from north to south.
(2) The “first dawn” is followed by darkness, i.e., the brightness lasts for a short period then it becomes dark. The “second dawn” is not followed by darkness, rather the light increases.
(3) The “second dawn” is connected to the horizon, with no darkness between it and the horizon, whereas the “first dawn” is separated from the horizon with darkness between it and the horizon.
See al-Sharh al-Mumti’, 2/107.

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Islam Q&A
Sheikh Muhammed Salih Al-Munajjid

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[diplomaticmuslim]

lower the font please

 

[TheHumbleWun]

So how do you know when to pray, if your not near a mosque and can't hear the call to prayer? Is there a special calendar that you can buy for the times?

Hello,

You can buy calendars from a local store, online, or even use websites like www.islamicfinder.org to tell you when you should pray. Remember when we pray we are facing the Kaba which is located in Saudi Arabia. The Kaba is NOT God. It's just a direction for praying. No matter where a Muslim lives in the world, they face this 1 direction just like we believe in 1 Book and 1 God. Which other religion can you think of that has this sense of unity?

 

[vegangoth]

Hello,

You can buy calendars from a local store, online, or even use websites like www.islamicfinder.org to tell you when you should pray. Remember when we pray we are facing the Kaba which is located in Saudi Arabia. The Kaba is NOT God. It's just a direction for praying. No matter where a Muslim lives in the world, they face this 1 direction just like we believe in 1 Book and 1 God. Which other religion can you think of that has this sense of unity?

That was the sense of community I ment lol. yeah I know the kaba is not a God, can't belive anyone actually thinks that lol.

It's all very complicated though. I gotta say I'm impressed that you all don't get confused 5 times a day.

 

[a_stranger]

prophet Mohummed :saw2: said "If there was a river at the door of anyone of you and he took a bath in it five times a day would you notice any dirt on him?" They said, "Not a trace of dirt would be left." The Prophet added, "That is the example of the five prayers with which Allah blots out evil deeds." (Bokhary book)

 

[a_stranger]

Universal sense of community in Islam:

4:1 O MANKIND! Be conscious of your Sustainer, who has created you out of one living entity, and out of it created its mate, and out of the two spread abroad a multitude of men and women. And remain conscious of God, in whose name you demand [your rights] from one another, and of these ties of kinship. Verily, God is ever watchful over you! Quran

6:98 And He it is who has brought you [all] into being out of one living entity, and [has appointed for each of you] a time-limit [on earth] and a resting-place [after death] : clearly, indeed, have We spelled out these messages unto people who can grasp the truth! Quran

10:19 AND [know that] all mankind were once but one single community, and only later did they begin to hold divergent views. And had it not been for a decree- that had already gone forth from thy Sustainer, all their differences would indeed have been settled [from the outset]. Quran

23:79 And He it is who has caused you to multiply on earth; and unto Him you shall be gathered. Quran

49:13 O men! Behold, We have created you all out of a male and a female, and have made you into nations and tribes, so that you might come to know one another. Verily, the noblest of you in the sight of God is the one who is most deeply conscious of Him. Behold, God is all-knowing, all-aware. Quran