The Creed of Compassion-Islamic Teachings & Answering Doctrinal Misconceptions

Issue No.674- If a person forgetfully begins offering ‘aṣr prayer before ẓuhr prayer and during the prayer he realises that he has committed a mistake, if it is in the common time, he should change his intention to ẓuhr prayer, i.e., he should intend that what he has performed as well as what is he about to perform is of ẓuhr prayer, and after completing the prayer, he will offer the ‘aṣr prayer. However, if it occurs in the exclusive time of ẓuhr prayer, his prayer is void and he should start the prayer over again with the intention of ẓuhr.

Issue No.677- The exclusive time and common time explained in the previous issue are different for different people depending on their conditions. For example, for a traveller who is offering ẓuhr, ‘aṣr and ‘ishā’ prayers, the special time is the time sufficient for offering two rak‘ats and for one who is not a traveller, the special time is the time sufficient for offering four rak‘ats.

Issue No.678- If a person begins ‘ishā’ prayer by mistake before maghrib prayer and realises during the prayer that he has not offered maghrib prayer, he should turn his intention to maghrib prayer, unless he has entered the fourth rak‘at, in which case, it is not permitted to do so, and he should continue to complete the ‘ishā’ prayer and thereafter pray maghrib.

Issue No.679- The end of the time for ‘ishā’ prayer is “canonical midnight”, and as an obligatory precaution, the night should be calculated from the beginning of sunset until the fajr adhān. However, for Night prayer (recommended prayer of night), etc., it should be calculated from sunset until sunrise.

Issue No.683- Those who cannot be certain about the beginning of the time for prayer due to hindrances, like clouds or dust in the sky, one being in prison or due to blindness, they can offer the prayers when it is strongly probable that the time has set in.

Issue No.684- If a person based on one of the above-mentioned methods for discerning the prayer time begins offering the prayer, yet realises during the performance of the prayer that the time has not yet set in, his prayer is void. Also if he realises after the prayer that he has offered the entire prayer before time, he should offer the prayer again. However, if he realises, during or after the prayer, that the time had entered, his prayer will be in order.

Issue No.685- If a person is negligent or unmindful of the fact that he should commence offering prayer after he is certain that the time for it has set in, and if he realises after the prayer that he has offered the entire prayer in time, his prayer is in order. In case however, he realises that he has offered his entire prayer or part of it before time, his prayer is void.

Issue No.686- If a person doubts after he has offered prayer whether or not he has offered his prayer in time, his prayer is in order provided that, at the start of prayer he has not been unmindful of the time. If a person begins offering prayer and doubts while offering prayer whether or not the time has set in, his prayer is void and he should reoffer it after the time has set in.

Issue No.690- If a person has an excuse and is sure that his excuse will cease before the prescribed time ends, it is obligatory that he wait, but if he is certain that his excuse will continue until the end of the prescribed time, it is not obligatory to wait. However, if he considers it probable that his excuse will be ceased, the obligatory precaution is that he should wait, except for tayammum in which case he can offer prayer in the early part of the time.

Issue No.691- If a person does not know the rulings concerning the prayer, or rulings regarding "doubts", "errors", etc., and it is probable that one of such problems will arise during his prayer, he should postpone the prayer from the early part of the prescribed time in order to learn the relevant rules. However, if he is certain that he can offer the prayer correctly, he can perform the prayer during the early part of the prescribed time.

Issue No.692- If, while offering prayer, a problem arises and the ruling regarding which is not known, one is allowed to act on either one of the two probabilities with the intention of the hope of being accepted by Allah. However, after offering the prayer, he should enquire about the problem so that if the prayer is void, he offers it again (the recommended precaution though, is that he should take the side which is more likely to be correct).

Issue No.695- The meritorious time for ẓuhr prayer is from the commencement of the time of ẓuhr prayer up to the time when the shadow of the indicator, which appears after midday, equals the length of the indicator itself. The meritorious time for ‘aṣr prayer starts from the time the shadow of the indicator equals its length, until the moment the shadow of the indicator doubles in length. The meritorious time for maghrib prayer is from sunset until the disappearance of the redness in the sky, which usually appears in the West after sunset. The meritorious time for ‘ishā’ prayer is from when the abovementioned redness disappears, until completion of one-third of the night. The meritorious time for fajr prayer is from the fajr adhān until the time when the horizon becomes bright.