Islamic Prayer Times & Qiblah of Cities Worldwide
بِسْمِ اللهِ الرَّحْمَنِ الرَّحِيم
Praise be to God the Creator of the world, the One Who exists without beginning, without end, without location, without a “how” and Who does not depend on time. Nothing resembles Him in anyway and He hears and sees everything without organs. Whatever you imagine, God is different from that. May the elevation in degree and preservation of his community of what he fears for it, be granted to our master Muhammad Al-‘Amin, the Honest One, who called for following Islam, the religion of truth, the religion of all the Prophets: of the First, Adam, to the last Muhammad.
Allâh, ta`âlâ said:
﴿ إِنَّ الصَّلاَةَ كَانَتْ عَلَى الْمُؤْمِنِينَ كِتَاباً مَّوْقُوتاً ﴾
( Inna ṣ-ṣalâta kânat `ala l-mu’minīna kitāban mawqūtā )
This means: « Certianly, the (obligatory) prayers have been prescribed to the believers to be performed at specific times. »
After the belief in Allâh and His Messenger, the prayer is the best deed. Allâh made five prayers obligatory upon every pubescent, sane Muslim within the night and day. One has to be keen to perform them. Also, one must learn how the time of each prayer begins and how it ends.
It is a duty to check the times of prayers by observation and it is not enough to rely on a schedule based on the simple calculation.
It is obligatory to perform each of these five prayers in its due time. It is better to perform each prayer early in its time.
Explanation of Islamic Prayer Times
The five prayers and their times are:
The Noon Prayer (Dhuhr) [Four rak`ahs (cycles)]: Its time begins when the sun declines westward from the middle of the sky. It ends when the shadow of an object becomes equal to the length of that object plus the length of its shadow when the sun was at its zenith (dhilul-istiwa'). The object may be a straight wooden stick that is plunged upright into the ground. If the sun moves westward from its zenith, the person will notice that the shadow will elongate and lean eastward. This is the sign that the Noon Prayer is in. For example, if the length of your shadow when the sun is at its zenith is 5 feet and you are 6 feet high, then once your shadow becomes 11 feet long the Dhuhr prayer time ends.
The Afternoon Prayer (`Aṣr) [Four rak`ahs]: Its time begins after the time of Dhuhr ends, and it ends with the setting of the sun. Hence, if the shadow of an object becomes equal to the length of that object plus its length when the sun was at its zenith, then the time of Dhuhr ends and the `Asr time begins.
The Sunset Prayer (Maghrib) [Three rak`ahs]: Its time begins with sunset, i.e., the disappearance of the entire disk of sun. It finishes when the redness (evening twilight) in the western horizon disappears.
The Nightfall Prayer (`Isha’) [Four rak`ahs]: Its time begins with the disappearance of the redness in the western horizon, and when the white glow disappears from the west horizon according to the Hanafiyy, and remains until the appearance of the true dawn.
The Dawn Prayer (Fajr) [Two rak`ahs]: Its time begins with the appearance of the true dawn, which is a white horizontal light that appears in the eastern horizon. Its time remains until sunrise.
Every pubescent, sane and pure Muslim is obligated to perform these prayers in their times. A woman is pure (Tâhir) when she is clear of menstruation and postpartum bleeding. It is unlawful, without an Islamic excuse, to perform these prayers ahead of their times or to delay them until their times have passed. Extreme sickness or traveling (with certain conditions) constitute examples of excuse for advancing or delaying the prayers.
الحمد لله رب العالمين
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