Prayer Times, How Accurate?
Question:
Assalamualaikum ,
I have some questions regarding solat's timetable:
1. Naturally they would have certain error margins.If, say for example the error is about 5minutes and the time for asr is 430 pm. Is it then possible to take the prayer time to be anywhere between 425 and 435 pm? Or one must take the 430 pm strictly?
2.Some people break their fast of 1 or 2 minutes later than the time in the timetable as a precaution/ihtiat ,as the timetable is an approximation. Is this a commendable act? What about the injunction to hasten breaking the fast?
3.There is a hadis which implies if one is eating and hears the fajr azan, he may finish off what he is eating i.e he does not have to stop eating immediately. Does this shows that the syariah provides some allowance and not too rigorous in the timing?
4.In the time of Rasul, the timing is relied basically on the observance of the naked eye, which is quite relative from one person to the other and may have quite a big error. Especially, for example , the time of Dhuha is described as observing the sun above the horizon by the length of a spear .The length of a spear would also involves some approximation. So, does it indicates that one do not have to be very precise and strict in following the prayer timetable? It would be more of an approximate guideline?
Thank you.
Answer:
Assalamu Alaykum,
All your questions are about the same concept and I think they all can be addressed with one answer. There are two points to consider here and I think ignoring either of them will result in a wrong practice:
A. On one hand you are certainly correct that the approach of the prophet (pbuh) and the companions to the issues like timing of prayers was not a scientific approach. In fact it was never meant to be scientific. As you correctly write, their approach was more on the basis of observation and it was quite subjective. It is not like exactly at (say) 4:32 PM some doors in heaven will be open and therefore if one (thinking that the time has arrived) start his prayer at 4:30, his prayer will not be able to get in! The point is simply that there are some specifications that the Almighty likes His servants to follow in order to get the best benefit from acts of worship and in order to stay in harmony with each other in their collective capacity. Sometimes trying to be too accurate in observing such specifications can take away its real meaning and result in totally opposite outcomes (like people praying at different times due to following their own strict way of calculating when the time arrives).
B. On the other hand, we should not take the specifications of Shari’ah lightly. It is correct that we are not obliged to treat the timings of prayers scientifically but this also does not mean that we can be careless about them (I don’t mean that this is what you are suggesting). I therefore prefer not to use the word ‘approximation’ here as it can easily be interpreted as not giving due importance to the timings of prayer, etc. I think we need to do our best to establish when the time begins. In doing so we do not need to adopt a scientific approach but at the same time we need to arrive on a decision on some basis. Let me give you a real example. In the city that I live, there are a number of views about the time of fajr during the summer. What I do is that I simply follow the view of the central mosque of the city. I could adopt a more scientific approach but I didn’t. I am satisfied that the Almighty does not expect me more than this. One may follow (not the central mosque but) the local mosque. That too will be satisfactory. The point is to have a clear conscience before the Almighty.
Please note the hadith you mentioned about hasting to eat does not mean that one should choose an opinion that allows earlier time for breaking the fast. What it means is that once you are convinced that the time of breaking the fast has arrived you should then haste towards breaking your fast. This is to respect the allowances and disallowances that are specified by the Shari’ah. If one feels that due to not being sure it is better to be cautious then so be it, as long as this is a reasonable cautious and does not fall into waswas (too much and unnecessary attention to details that makes the person acting irrationally).
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March 2014
Assalamualaikum ,
I have some questions regarding solat's timetable:
1. Naturally they would have certain error margins.If, say for example the error is about 5minutes and the time for asr is 430 pm. Is it then possible to take the prayer time to be anywhere between 425 and 435 pm? Or one must take the 430 pm strictly?
2.Some people break their fast of 1 or 2 minutes later than the time in the timetable as a precaution/ihtiat ,as the timetable is an approximation. Is this a commendable act? What about the injunction to hasten breaking the fast?
3.There is a hadis which implies if one is eating and hears the fajr azan, he may finish off what he is eating i.e he does not have to stop eating immediately. Does this shows that the syariah provides some allowance and not too rigorous in the timing?
4.In the time of Rasul, the timing is relied basically on the observance of the naked eye, which is quite relative from one person to the other and may have quite a big error. Especially, for example , the time of Dhuha is described as observing the sun above the horizon by the length of a spear .The length of a spear would also involves some approximation. So, does it indicates that one do not have to be very precise and strict in following the prayer timetable? It would be more of an approximate guideline?
Thank you.
Answer:
Assalamu Alaykum,
All your questions are about the same concept and I think they all can be addressed with one answer. There are two points to consider here and I think ignoring either of them will result in a wrong practice:
A. On one hand you are certainly correct that the approach of the prophet (pbuh) and the companions to the issues like timing of prayers was not a scientific approach. In fact it was never meant to be scientific. As you correctly write, their approach was more on the basis of observation and it was quite subjective. It is not like exactly at (say) 4:32 PM some doors in heaven will be open and therefore if one (thinking that the time has arrived) start his prayer at 4:30, his prayer will not be able to get in! The point is simply that there are some specifications that the Almighty likes His servants to follow in order to get the best benefit from acts of worship and in order to stay in harmony with each other in their collective capacity. Sometimes trying to be too accurate in observing such specifications can take away its real meaning and result in totally opposite outcomes (like people praying at different times due to following their own strict way of calculating when the time arrives).
B. On the other hand, we should not take the specifications of Shari’ah lightly. It is correct that we are not obliged to treat the timings of prayers scientifically but this also does not mean that we can be careless about them (I don’t mean that this is what you are suggesting). I therefore prefer not to use the word ‘approximation’ here as it can easily be interpreted as not giving due importance to the timings of prayer, etc. I think we need to do our best to establish when the time begins. In doing so we do not need to adopt a scientific approach but at the same time we need to arrive on a decision on some basis. Let me give you a real example. In the city that I live, there are a number of views about the time of fajr during the summer. What I do is that I simply follow the view of the central mosque of the city. I could adopt a more scientific approach but I didn’t. I am satisfied that the Almighty does not expect me more than this. One may follow (not the central mosque but) the local mosque. That too will be satisfactory. The point is to have a clear conscience before the Almighty.
Please note the hadith you mentioned about hasting to eat does not mean that one should choose an opinion that allows earlier time for breaking the fast. What it means is that once you are convinced that the time of breaking the fast has arrived you should then haste towards breaking your fast. This is to respect the allowances and disallowances that are specified by the Shari’ah. If one feels that due to not being sure it is better to be cautious then so be it, as long as this is a reasonable cautious and does not fall into waswas (too much and unnecessary attention to details that makes the person acting irrationally).
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March 2014
