What Happens If the Current Prayer Time Exits While I Am Praying?
Hanafi Fiqh
Answered by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani
Question
If an obligatory prayer is considerably delayed to an extent that upon completing the prayer (or in the final rak’aa), the time for the next prayer arrives, is the former prayer accepted as being prayed on time? In other words, when one commences the delayed prayer, he is on time (i.e. with 3 or 4 minutes left before the next salah) but when the prayer is finished, the next salah time has already arrived (e.g. in the 4th rak’aa of Asr prayer, the time of maghrib has commenced), is his Asr prayer considered “on time”? or is it a “make up prayer”? I know praying on time is important, but what if a person experiences the above situation (like I did) for the 1st time in my life?
Answer
It is obligatory to begin and end each obligatory prayer within its time. However, only Fajr is invalidated by the exiting of its time. Asr, Maghrib, and ‘Isha prayers are sinful to delay to their disliked time without genuine excuse.
The Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said that “Prayer at its time” is the best of actions after belief (iman) itself, so one should take the means to perform it at the right time.
Related answers:
Riyad al-Salihin: On the Virtues of Prayer
Prayer: It is Disliked to pray the Sunna of Wudu & Other Non-Obligatory Prayers During These Times
Prayer: Cannot Pray the Sunna of Wudu During the Disliked Times
It is Disliked to Pray the Sunna of Wudu & Other Non-Obligatory Prayers During the Disliked
Greeting the Mosque During Disliked Times
Prayer at adhan time and leaving the masjid after the adhan
Prostration of Recitation During Disliked Prayer Times
And Allah alone gives success.
wassalam,
[Shaykh] Faraz Rabbani
Shaykh Faraz Rabbani spent ten years studying with some of the leading scholars of recent times, first in Damascus, and then in Amman, Jordan. His teachers include the foremost theologian of recent times in Damascus, the late Shaykh Adib al-Kallas (may Allah have mercy on him), as well as his student Shaykh Hassan al-Hindi, one of the leading Hanafi fuqaha of the present age. He returned to Canada in 2007, where he founded SeekersGuidance in order to meet the urgent need to spread Islamic knowledge–both online and on the ground–in a reliable, relevant, inspiring, and accessible manner. He is the author of: Absolute Essentials of Islam: Faith, Prayer, and the Path of Salvation According to the Hanafi School (White Thread Press, 2004.) Since 2011, Shaykh Faraz has been named one of the 500 most influential Muslims by the Royal Islamic Strategic Studies Center.
