Wednesday 16 July 2014

Time, Place, Dress and Types of Salat

The following were taken from the book of M. Abdul Karim Saqib. A Guide to Prayer in Islam.

TIME OF ṢALAT

Each ṣalat must be offered at or during its proper time. No ṣalat can be offered before its time. There are five obligatory ṣalat in a day.

Fajr Prayer

The time for the Fajr or the morning prayer starts at dawn and ends at sunrise.

Zuhr Prayer

The time for Zuhr or the early afternoon prayer starts when the sun begins to decline from its zenith and ends when the size of an object's shadow is equal to the size of the object.

        Jabir bin Abdullah (R.A.) narrated, "The angel Jibreel came to Prophet Muhammad (S.A.W.) and said to him, 'Stand up and pray Zuhr'. So the messenger of Allah (S.A.W.) prayed Zuhr when the sun had declined from its zenith. Then the Angel Jibreel came again at the time of Asr and said, 'Stand up and Pray Asr'. Then Prophet Muhammad (S.A.W.) prayed Asr when the shadow of everything was equal to itself. Then Jibreel came the next day to Prophet Muhammad (S.A.W.) and said, 'Stand up and pray Zuhr'. Then Prophet Muhammad (S.A.W.) prayed Zuhr when the shadow of everything was equal to itself. Then Jibreel came again at Asr time and said, 'Stand up and pray Asr'. Then he prayed Asr when the shadow of everything was twice its length. Then Jibreel said, (after praying 10 prayers with Prophet Muhammad (S.A.W.) in two consecutive days) that the time of prayer is in between these two times."

        Ahmad, Nasai, Tirmizi and Bukhari remarked that this is the most authentic hadith giving the times of prayer.

        Many books on ṣalat state the ending time of Zuhr prayer and the starting time of Asr prayer when the shadow of something is twice itself. But this contradicts the above hadith as on the first day Jibreel asked Prophet Muhammad (S.A.W.) to pray Asr when the shadow of everything was equal to itself. This means that was the end time of Zuhr prayer. And we already know that all the ulamas of the Muslim Ummah agree unanimously that no prayer can be off ered before its time.

Asr Prayer

The time for Asr or late afternoon prayer starts when the shadow of something is equal to itself and ends just before sunset.
        It is better to off er Asr prayer before the sun becomes yellow because even though it is allowed to o ffer the prayer at this time the Prophet (S.A.W.) disliked Muslims to delay Asr prayer up to this time. He remarked that the Muna q (Hypocrite) off ered his prayer at this time.

Maghrib Prayer

The time for the Maghrib or the sunset prayer starts just after sunset and ends when twilight has disappeared.

Isha Prayer

The time for Isha or night prayer starts from the disappearance of twilight and ends just before midnight.
         It is preferable to o ffer this prayer before midnight but it can be o ffered right up to break of dawn.

Note: -- In countries where due to cloudy weather the sun is not always visible it is advisable to follow printed calendars giving the accurate time of each prayer.

Forbidden Times of Prayer

Uqbah bin Āmir said, "There were three times at which Allah's messenger (S.A.W.) used to forbid us to pray or bury our dead.
  1. When the sun began to rise until it was fully up.
  2. When the sun was at its height at midday till it passed the meridian,
  3. When the sun drew near to setting till it had set."
(Muslim)

Forbidden Times for Nafl Prayer

  1. Abu Sa'eed al Khudree (R.A.) reported Allah's messenger (S.A.W.) as saying, "No prayer is to be said after the Fajr prayer until the sun rises, or after the Asr prayer until the sun sets." (Bukhari & Muslim)

    Only nafl prayer is forbidden at these times but a missed farḍ prayer can be off ered. Most of the ulamas of the Muslim Ummah allowed the off ering of missed farḍ prayer after Fajr and Asr because of the following hadith.

    Prophet Muhammad (S.A.W.) said, "Who has forgotten the prayer he should pray it whenever he remembers it." (Bukhari & Muslim)
  2. A nafl prayer cannot be off ered once the Iqamat for farḍ. prayer has been said. Abu Hurairah narrated that the messenger of Allah (S.A.W.) said, "When the Iqamat has been said, then, there is no prayer valid (Nafl or sunnat) except the Farḍ prayer for which the Iqamat was said." (Ahmad & Muslim)

    It is seen in practice that many people continue with the sunnat prayer even though the iqamat has been said for the farḍ. prayer expecially in the Fajr prayer. They feel that the 2 Rakat sunnat of Fajr can only be off ered before the Farḍ. This practice is against congregation Philosophy, discipline of Jama'at, and a clear violation of Hadith. They should o ffer 2 rakat sunnat of Fajr immediately after the Farḍ or after sunrise

PLACE FOR ṢALAT

A place or a building which is used for the purpose of worship and prayer is called a masjid (Mosque). A hadith tells us that "all the earth has been rendered for the Muslims, a mosque (Pure and clean)."

This means that wherever a muslim might be he can o er his prayer but the reward of a prayer off ered in a mosque is far greater than that o ffered in an ordinary place. The following points should be noted when choosing a place
for prayer.
  1. The place should be clean and pure. Ṣalat in a dirty, fi lthy and impure place such as a rubbish tip, slaughter house, bathing place and a camel pen is forbidden.
  2. The place should be free from danger. The danger could be due to someone or something that may disturb the worshipper.
  3. A prayer place where the worshipper might hinder movement of others should be avoided, e.g. busy pavements, public roadways etc.
  4. It is forbidden to pray on the roof of Baitullah (Ka'bah).
  5. It is forbidden to pray on top of or facing towards a grave.

DRESS FOR ṢALAT

Men

  1. The dress for the men should be such that it covers from the navel to the knees at least.
  2. The shoulders should not be left uncovered.
  3. Ṣalat can be prayed in one garment if it covers the body from the navel to the knees as well as the shoulders.

    "None of you must pray in a single garment of which no part comes over the shoulder."(Bukhari & Muslim)

    If, however, the garment is not long enough to cover the shoulders then parts of the body between the navel and the knees should at least be covered.

Women

The dress of the woman should be such that it covers her whole body from head to foot leaving only the face and the hands uncovered. A prayer off ered in transparent clothing is not valid. Also tight fi tting clothing which shows the shape of the body should be avoided.

TYPES OF ṢALAT

  1. Farḍ or obligatory Ṣalat
    Farḍ prayer is an obligatory prayer. Every believer is ordered by Allah to o ffer fi ve obligatory prayers in a day. Failure to observe any one of the fi ve obligatory prayer is a serious and punishable sin.
  2. Nafl prayer
    This is a voluntary prayer which Prophet (S.A.W.) observed before or after Farḍ at special and isolated occasions. It also includes those which he encouraged Muslims to pray.

    The Nafl Prayer can be divided into three categories.
    1. Sunnat Mu'akkadah (compulsory)
      That is those which are emphasized by the Holy Prophet (S.A.W.) and off ered regularly by him before or after the Farḍ prayer.
    2. Ghair Mu'akkadah (optional)
      That is those off ered only occasionally by Prophet Muhammad (S.A.W.)
    3. Nafl Prayer (Extra)
      This is an extra prayer. There is a reward for praying it and no sin for leaving it. It can be o ffered at any isolated instance according to the time and capacity of the believer. Prophet Muhammad (S.A.W.) encouraged the believers to pray nafl to help make up for any minor omissions or other defects in the obligatory prayer.

NUMBER OF RAKATS FOR THE OBLIGATORY PRAYERS

  1. Fajr Prayer
    2 rakats sunnat Mu'akkadah, 2 Rakats Farḍ.
  2. Zuhr Prayer
    2 or 4 rakats sunnat Mu'akkadah, 4 rakats farḍ, 2 rakats sunnat Mu'akkadah and an unspeci ed number of nafl as time and capacity allows.

    Ibn Umar (R.A.) said "I prayed alone with Allah's messenger (S.A.W.) 2 rakats before and 2 rakats after the Zuhr prayer." (Bukhari & Muslim)

    It is a familiar practice to off er 4 rakats sunnat before Zuhr prayer, but this hadith proves that 2 rakat sunnat before the Zuhr prayer is also allowed.
  3. Asr Prayer - 2 or 4 rakats sunnat ghair Mu'akkadah, 4 rakats Farḍ. Ali (R.A.) said, "Allah's messenger (S.A.W.) used to pray 4 rakats before Asr prayer separating them with a salutation..."(Tirmizi)

    Another hadith narrated by Ali (R.A.) says, "Allah's messenger (S.A.W.)
    used to pray two rakats before Asr prayer" (Abu Dawūd)
  4. Maghrib Prayer
    2 rakats nafl, 3 rakats farḍ, 2 rakats sunnat Mu'akkadah and an unspecfi ed number of nafl as time and capacity allows.

    Abdullah bin Mugha al reported and the Prophet (S.A.W.) as saying,

    "Pray before the Maghrib prayer", adding when saying it the third time, "This applies to those who wish to do so." (Bukhari & Muslim)

    That was because he did not wish people to treat it as a compulsory sunnat.

    2 rakats nafl after sunset and before the maghrib prayer are allowed for
    those who wish to do so. For this the above hadith is a sure proof. However, some people forbid this and others find it very strange if they see a person o ffer 2 rakats nafl before Maghrib.
  5. Isha Prayer - An unspeci ed number of nafl rakats according to the time and capacity, 4 rakats farḍ, 2 rakats sunnat Mu'akkadah, unspeci ed number of nafl as time and capacity allows and 3 witr.

    Some people insist very emphatically upon the off ering of 4 rakats optional sunnat before the isha prayer but researchers could not fi nd, any practice or order from Prophet Muhammad (S.A.W.) or his companions to justify this claim. Certainly it is allowed to pray nafl while waiting for Jamā'at.

    Some people o ffer 2 rakats nafl after the witr prayer. However, there is an authentic hadith which states that the witr prayer should be o ffered after all the nafl which a person wishes to pray have been o ffered.

    Ibn Umar (R.A.) reported that the Messenger of Allah (S.A.W.) said, "Make witr as the last prayer of your night prayer." (Mishkat)
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