1

Fiqh-ul-'Ibaadat (The Fiqh of Worship)

(Class by Sister Eman al Obaid on Tuesday, 6th

November 2012)

Shurut as-Salaat (continuation)

5. Ash-Shurut Al-Khaamis: At-Tahaarah min An-Najaasah (The fifth

condition: Purifications from the impurity/dirt)

http://alhudasisters.files.wordpress.com/2011/08/fiqh3.pdf - Page 57

One of the conditions required for prayer is purification of impurity/dirt from the

clothing, body and the place where the prayer is offered.

Allah Subhanahu wa Ta’ala says:

And your clothing purify [Surat Al-Muddaththir, 74:4]

Ahkaam At-Tahaarah min An-Najaasah (Rulings on purification from

impurity)

2

1. The whole earth has been made a masjid to pray on it.

The Prophet (ملسو هيلع هللا ىلص) said: “The earth has been made for me a masjid (place

of prayer) and a means of purification, therefore anyone of my ummah can

pray whenever the time for prayer is due.”

Except those places which are forbidden to pray such as graveyards,

bathrooms and the camel’s stables.

Hadith:

The Prophet (ملسو هيلع هللا ىلص) said: “All the earth is a masjid apart from the graveyards

and bathrooms.” [Recorded by At-Tirmidhi; Ibn Maajah, classed as saheeh by

al Albaani in Saheeh Ibn Maajah].

It was narrated that al Bara’ ibn ‘Aazib (radhiyAllahu ‘anhu) said: The

Messenger of Allah (ملسو هيلع هللا ىلص) was asked about praying in camel pastures and he

replied: “Do not pray in camel pastures, for they are from devils.” [Recorded by

Abu Dawood, classed as saheeh by al Albaani in Saheeh al-Jaami’ as-Sagheer,

no.7351]

2. If one prays with impurity on him that he was unaware of or (knew of it

but) forgot, then his prayer is valid.

3

3. If he knows (realizes/remembers) that there is any impurity (on his

body/clothing/place) during his prayer, it is waajib (obligatory/mandatory)

for him to remove from it if possible. And if it (ie; dirt) is on his head dress

(ghitratihi) and he doesn’t remove it, then his Salah (prayer) is invalid.

It has been reported authentically that the Prophet ملسو هيلع هللا ىلص removed his shoes

while he was praying and continued his prayer, because Jibreel came to him and

told him that there was some filth/dirt on it.

Hadith:

Abu Sa'eed al Khudri has said: "The Messenger of Allaah (sallallaahu 'alaihi wa

sallam) prayed with us one day. Whilst he was engaged in the prayer he took

off his shoes and placed them on his left. When the people saw this, they took

off their shoes. When he finished his prayer he said, why did you take your

shoes off? They said, 'We saw you taking your shoes off, so we took our shoes

off.' He said, Verily Jibreel came to me and informed me that there was dirt

or he said: something harmful (in another narration: filth) on my shoes, so I

took them off. Therefore, when one of you goes to the mosque, he should look

at his shoes: if he sees in them dirt or he said: something harmful (in another

narration: filth) he should wipe them and pray in them. [Abu Dawood, Ibn

Khuzaimah & Haakim, who declared it saheeh]

So if someone prays and unknowingly he had some impurity on him or his

clothing, the prayer is valid and he does not repeat the prayer.

If he discovers the impurity during his prayer and he is able to remove it while

praying, for example, dirt on his shoes or on his clothing that does not cover his

‘awrah, then he should remove it and continue his prayer. If he finds that the

impurity is on his body or garment that covers his ‘awrah then he should purify

himself or his garments and then repeat/redo his prayer.

4

If there is any impurity on a man’s headdress, he should simply remove his

headdress and continue his prayer. In the case of a man, he can simply remove his

headdress because it is not a garment that covers his ‘awrah but in the case of a

woman, if there is any impurity on her hijaab (ie; head covering/scarf) she cannot

simply remove it because it is a garment that covers her ‘awrah.

While praying, if you are wearing double garments that cover your ‘awrah (for e.g.

a skirt under your prayer dress/abaayah) and you realize that there is some

impurity/filth on one of them (ie; on the skirt), then you can take off that garment

(ie; skirt) which has impurity (without uncovering your ‘awrah) and continue your

prayer.

So if possible you need to take off the garment that has impurity and continue

praying in a clean garment so that you don’t need to repeat the prayer.

If there is some impurity on your garments that could be removed by washing, then

you need to wash it and pray in that garment which is clean as you cannot pray

with the impurity there. These days we have bathrooms everywhere and so it is

easy to wash.

So if you are certain that there is any impurity on your body, clothing or place you

need to remove it from them as much as possible so that your prayer is accepted /

valid.

Ash-Shurut as-Saadis: Dukhul al-Waqt [The Sixth Condition: The Entrance

of the Times (for the five daily prayers)]

http://alhudasisters.files.wordpress.com/2011/08/fiqh3.pdf - Page 58

5

The (specific) times of (obligatory) prayers enjoined upon us is not valid (if one

offers his prayer) before the time of prayer has begun and after its time has

ended without a valid excuse. A Muslim should take care to offer his (obligatory)

prayers without delaying it until the prescribed time for it has ended as it is a

major sin.

Allah Subhanahu wa Ta’ala says: “Verily, the prayer is enjoined on the believers

at fixed hours.” [Surat An-Nisaa’, 4:103]

So it is important for a Muslim to offer his five daily (obligatory) prayers in the

prescribed times. With regard to delaying the prayer until the time for it has ended,

that is not permissible except in the case of one who has a valid excuse- For

example: During the (prescribed) time for prayer someone who slept off or fainted,

one who forgot to pray, a surgeon who needs to complete a major surgery etc. are

excused for delaying their prayer until the time for it has ended.

The times of the prayer are mainly based on the hadeeth of Jibreel. After Allah

ordained to offer five daily prayers during the Prophet’s Night Journey (Al-Isra’

wal Mi’raaj), Jibreel came and led the Prophet ملسو هيلع هللا ىلص twice, the first day at the

beginning of the time for each prayer and the second day at the end of the time for

each prayer.

Jibreel started with (the beginning time of) Salaat Ad-Dhuhr first and then he came

at the beginning of the time for each prayer. The next day he came at the end of the

time for each prayer till he ended with (the ending time of) Salaat Al-Fajr. Then

Jibreel said to the Prophet ملسو هيلع هللا ىلص: “The times (of the prayers) are between these

two.” (ie; between the two sets of times in which he prayed with him).

6

Mawaaqeet As-Salaat [The (Specific) Times of the Prayers]]

Waqt Ad-Dhuhr (The time for Dhuhr Prayer)

The beginning of the time ( الوقت بداية ) of Dhuhr prayer is when the sun has

passed its zenith (ie; after the Zawaal when the shadow is slightly seen).

And the end of the time ( الوقت نهاية ) of Dhuhr prayer is when (until) the shadow

of an object is equal to the length of the object.

Zawaal is the time of the midday, when the sun is half way (middle) and the

shadow of an object reaches its minimum length (ie; when it is almost not seen).

The higher the sun rises, the shorter the shadow will become. So long as it keeps

growing shorter, the sun has not yet reached its zenith. The shadow will keep on

growing shorter until it reaches a certain point (that it is almost not seen), then it

will start to increase. When the shadow of the object increases by even a small

amount, then the sun has passed its zenith. At that point the time for the

Dhuhr prayer has begun.

7

This shadow will continue to increase until the length of the shadow is equal to

the length of the object itself. At this point the time for the Dhuhr prayer ends

and the time for the ‘Asr prayer begins.

Waqt Al-‘Asr (The time for ‘Asr Prayer)

The beginning of the time ( الوقت بداية ) of ‘Asr prayer is from the end of the time of

Dhuhr when the shadow of the object becomes equal to the length of the object-

And the end of the time ( الوقت نهاية ) of ‘Asr prayer is when (until) the shadow of

the object becomes double the length of the object.

The best time to offer ‘Asr prayer is after adhan at the beginning of its time when

the shadow is the same size of the object until the length of the shadow is twice the

size of the object. It is not allowed to delay the ‘Asr prayer till the Maghrib prayer

and also it is better to avoid delaying it until the time of necessity/وقت ضرورة [ie;

after the end of the time for ‘Asr, when the sun turns yellow until the sun sets].

8

If someone is forced to delay the ‘Asr prayer until the time of necessity because of

some unavoidable/emergency matters, for example: during the (prescribed) time

for ‘Asr prayer someone slept off or fainted or someone waiting for some more

time to do the purification (ghusl) after menstrual period etc. delays the ‘Asr prayer

until the time of necessity (ie; when the sun turns yellow or just before the sun

sets), then in these cases there is nothing wrong in praying at that time though it is

disliked/forbidden to pray at that time.

Waqt Al-Maghrib (The time for Maghrib prayer)

The beginning of the time ( الوقت بداية ) of Maghrib prayer is when the sunsets-.

And the end of the time ( الوقت نهاية ) of Maghrib prayer is until there is redness in

the sky (ie; when the twilight disappears).

So the time for Maghrib starts when the sun sets and and it is ended when you see

that the redness in the sky has completely disappeared from the horizon.

9

Waqt Al-‘Isha’ (The time for ‘Isha’ prayer)

The beginning of the time ( الوقت بداية ) of ‘Isha’ prayer is when the time for

Maghrib has ended (ie; when the twilight completely disappears)-

And the end of the time ( الوقت نهاية ) of ‘Isha’ prayer is until the midnight.

So the time for ‘Isha’ begins after the time for Maghrib has ended, ie; when the

redness completely disappears from the sky and the darkness appears, and the time

for it ends in the midnight.

If you want to calculate when midnight is, then calculate the time between sunset

and sunrise then divide it in half; that halfway point is the end of the time for

praying ‘Isha’ (ie; the midnight).

For example: If the sun sets at 5 p.m., and Fajr begins at 5 a.m., then midnight is

11 p.m [ie; 12 hours/2=6 hours, then 5 p.m + 6 = 11 p.m]. If the sun sets at 5:38

p.m. and Fajr begins at 5:08 a.m., then midnight is 11.23 p.m.[ie; 11 hours 30

mins/2= 5 hours 45 mins, then 5:38 p.m + 5:45 = 11:23 p.m], and so on.

10

After midnight it is وقت ضرورة (time of necesssity), so you cannot pray Salaat Al-

‘Isha’ after midnight or until Salaat Al-Fajr unless there is any unavoidable or

emergency matters.

You cannot pray only Salaat Al-‘Isha after midnight but you can pray Salaat Al-

Witr even after the midnight.

Waqt Al-Fajr (The time for Fajr prayer)

The beginning of the time ( الوقت بداية ) of Fajr prayer is with (the onset of) the

second dawn (al-fajr al-thaani)/true dawn (al-fajr as-saadiq), when the white

line is (seen) along the horizon-

And the end of the time ( الوقت نهاية ) of Fajr prayer is until sunrise.

Now it is possible to know the times of prayers easily using a calendar.

11

There are two Fajr (dawns)

The First dawn (Al-Fajr al-Awwal) - It is the white line that appears

vertically and not horizontally (ie; from the top to the bottom of the horizon)

and it is called the false dawn (Al-Fajr al-Kadhib). Its brightness extends

from east to west and it is followed bt darkness as it lasts for a short period.

The Second dawn (Al-Fajr al-Thaani) - It is the white line that appears

(spreading) along the horizon and it is called the true dawn (Al-Fajr as-

Saadiq). Its brightness extends from north to south and it is not followed by

darkness, rather the light increases.

The first dawn (Al-Fajr al-Kadhib) occurs before the second dawn (Al-Fajr as-

Saadiq). The time for offering the Fajr Prayer starts with the appearance of

the second dawn (Al-Fajr-as-Saadiq/the true dawn).

This is how the specific times for the five daily prayers are estimated.

Hadith:

It was proven that when the Prophet told his companions about the Dajjaal

(antichrist), he was asked how long the Dajjaal would stay on earth, and he ملسو هيلع هللا ىلص

said, “Forty days, one day like a year, one day like a month, one day like a week

and the rest like your days.” It was asked, “O Messenger of Allah, the day which

is like a year, will the prayers of one day be sufficient for us then?” He ملسو هيلع هللا ىلص

said, “No, estimate them.” So the day which will be like a year is not regarded as

one day in which only five prayers will be sufficient, rather we are obliged to

offer five prayers in each twenty four hour period. He commanded them to offer

the prayers at intervals as on a regular day.

There are three times during which it is disliked/forbidden to pray or to bury the

dead (ie. funeral prayer):

When the sun has clearly started to rise until it has fully risen

When the sun is directly overhead at midday until it has passed the zenith

When the sun starts to set (ie; it begins to turn yellow) until it has set

-And Allah knows best