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It is the declaration of Allah:
اِنَّ الصَّلوٰۃَ کَانَتْ عَلَی الْمُؤْ مِنِیْنَ کِّبًا مَّوْقُوْتًا
(Surah
Nisa, 103) ‘Prayer at fixed hours hath been enjoined on the believers’
Because the offering of Prayer is
related to timings, it is important to be familiar with Prayer timings.
If a
person offers Prayer before its due time the Prayer will be invalid. He will
have to perform the Prayer again at its proper time. Similarly, if a person
offers prayer after its due time the Prayer will be counted as a Qaża (late
offering). Thus it is important to offer Prayers with punctuality and at their
due times.
The
time for the Fajr Prayer starts at dawn and lasts until sunrise. The appearance
of even a ray of the sun means that the time for Fajr has ended. Dawn begins
approximately one and a half hours before sunrise. As soon as dawn starts the
time for the Fajr Prayer begins and the time for the Tahajjud Prayer ends. It was
the Holy Prophet's (pbuh) custom to perform two rakats of Prayer at dawn in the
house and then go to the mosque to perform the two rakats of obligatory Prayer.
The
time for the Zuhr Prayer begins after the sun starts to decline. Its
recognition is that the higher the sun will be, the lesser the shadow of
objects. When the shadows stop decreasing it is the start of the afternoon.
When the shadows start getting bigger the sun has begun to decline. From this
time onwards the time for the Zuhr Prayer begins.
The
time for the Asr Prayer begins approximately one and a half hours before sunset
and lasts until sunset. When the sun becomes very low and its light becomes
yellow the offering of the Asr Prayer becomes disapproved, though not unlawful.
As
soon as the sun sets the time for the Maghrib Prayer begins. After sunset until
there remains redness in the sky towards the west, there still remains time for
the Maghrib Prayer.
After the time for Maghrib redness
appears in the horizon, sometimes called ‘the evening twilight’. After this
disappears there remains whiteness. Then the whiteness also disappears and the
sky can be seen properly, and this is when the time for the Ishā Prayer starts.
The time for the Ishā Prayer remains until dawn, but after midnight it becomes
disapproved, though not unlawful.
KHWAJA SHAMSUDDIN AZEEMI
Mehrāj means to enter the world of the unseen. When a believer attains Mehrāj through prayer, Angels appear in front of him. He travels through the Heavens, and through the blessings of the Holy Prophet (pbuh) he comes to know his Lord.
