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As Salaam Aleikum wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuh.  (May Allah's Peace, Mercy and Blessings be upon all of you)

One of our brothers/sisters has asked this question:

Assalamu Alaikum dear brother

I stopped reading salatul ishrak and salatul-chasht since i came to know that there is some different methosd to pray them i.e read some surah several time after fatiah ... i am not sure whether that information i obtained from someone was correct r not ... Please confirm that ishrak and chast can be read as normal as other namaz.

Secondly salatul shukrana, is it allowed to pray. Some people say there is no mention of reading this namaz in any hadith book.

Lastly i want to know what is the latest correct time to read Asar. Some people say Asar can be read just few mins Maghrib time starts, soem say it must be read half and hour before maghrib starts.

As i finish my job and reach home late, ner to maghrib time .. Please advise

Thanks a lot

Ramazan ul Mubaruk in Advance

Jazakallah

(There may be some grammatical and spelling errors in the above statement. The forum does not change anything from questions, comments and statements received from our readers for circulation in confidentiality.)

Answer:

Duha prayer chast thankfulness and asr time

In the name of Allah, We praise Him, seek His help and ask for His forgiveness. Whoever Allah guides none can misguide, and whoever He allows to fall astray, none can guide them aright. We bear witness that there is no one (no idol, no person, no grave, no prophet, no imam, no dai, nobody!) worthy of worship but Allah Alone, and we bear witness that Muhammad (saws) is His slave-servant and the seal of His Messengers.

Your Question: I stopped reading salatul ishrak and salatul-chasht since i came to know that there is some different methosd to pray them i.e read some surah several time after fatiah ... i am not sure whether that information i obtained from someone was correct r not ... Please confirm that ishrak and chast can be read as normal as other namaz.

The correct name given in Islamic Jurisprudence for the voluntary prayers prayed after the sun has completely risen is ‘Salaat-ud-Duha’. The best (and indeed only) way to pray these prayers is to pray them like they were prayed by our Prophet, Mohammed ar-Rasool Allah (saws), and he prayed them in a two-rakah combination like the other ‘nafl’ prayers.

There is absolutely no mention in the authentic Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah (saws) that one is required to recite some particular surah several times after the recitation of Surah Fatihah; and if one believes or does so, it would be considered a clear and manifest innovation in the deen, as never did the Messenger of Allah (saws) ever himself practice, nor guide, nor command nor encouraged the believers to recite a Surah several times after the recitation of Surah Fatihah in the ‘Duha’ prayers.

Fiqh-us-Sunnah Fiqh 2.31a

The time for ‘duha’ begins when the sun is about a spear's length above the horizon and it continues until the sun reaches its meridian. It is preferred to delay it until the sun has risen high and the day has become hot.

Zaid ibn Arqam relates: "The Messenger of Allah (saws) went to the people of Quba', and they were performing the ‘Duha’ prayer, and he (saws) said: 'The prayer of ‘Duha’ should be observed when the young weaned camels feel the heat of the sun.'"

Related by Ahmad, Muslim, and at-Tirmidhi .

Fiqh-us-Sunnah Fiqh 2.31b

The minimum number of rak'ah to be prayed in the supererogatory ‘Duha’ (forenoon) prayer is two. The most that the Prophet (saws) performed was eight rak'at, whereas, the most he (saws) mentioned was twelve rak'at. Some eminent scholars, such as Abu Ja'far At-Tabari, Al-Mulaimi, and Ar-Ruwyani, who subscribes to the Shafi' school of thought, say there is no maximum limit to the number of rak'at that one may perform for the voluntary ‘Duha’ prayers.

Al-'lraqi says, in the commentary on Sunan At-Tirmidhi: "None of the companions of the Prophet (saws) or followers are known to have restricted it to twelve rak'at." As-Syuti agrees with it.

Sa'id ibn Mansur records that al-Hassan was asked: "Did the companions of the Prophet (saws) perform the ‘Duha’ prayer?" He answered: "Yes . . . some of them would pray two rak'at, and some of them would pray four rak'at, and some of them would continue until half the [early] day [had passed]."

Umm Hani narrates that the Prophet sallallahu alehi wasallam prayed eight rak'at of ‘Duha’ and made the taslim after every two rak'at.

Related by Abu Dawud.

Aishah reports: "The Prophet (saws) would pray four rak'at for ‘Duha’ and would add to it whatever Allah willed."

Related by Ahmad, Muslim, and ibn Majah.

Sahih Al-Bukhari Hadith 2.274 Narrated by Abu Huraira

My friend (the Prophet (saws)) advised me to do three things and I shall not leave them till I die, these are: To fast three days every month, to offer the voluntary Duha prayer, and to offer Witr before sleeping.

In light of the above guidance of the Messenger of Allah (saws), it would be considered a Sunnah to offer the voluntary ‘Duha’ (forenoon) prayers between the time the sun has completely risen until it reaches its zenith or meridian at mid-day. One may offer a minimum of two rakahs, and a maximum of as much as one wishes.

Your Question: Secondly salatul shukrana, is it allowed to pray. Some people say there is no mention of reading this namaz in any hadith book.

Regardless of what act of worship a sincere slave-servant of the Lord wishes to perform, the real inspiration or ‘key’ behind any act of worship is the state of the slave being grateful to his Lord Most Gracious for His innumerable favors He has bestowed upon him; and the biggest of His innumerable favors being that his Lord guided him to the Truth of Al-Islam.

Thus every prayer is nothing but a procedure of a humble slave displaying his sincere thanks and gratefulness to his Lord Most Merciful, and the fact that the believing slave starts every prayer with the Surah Al-Fatihah, whereby in the the very first verse he recites he makes a declaration that ‘All Praise is due to none except Allah, the Lord of the Worlds’.

Although it is indeed true that there is no particular mention of a prayer named or called ‘salat-ul-shukrana’, the truth is that every prayer a humble slave-servant of the Lord makes is a prayer of thankfulness and gratefulness to the Lord Most Gracious for the innumerable favors He has bestowed upon His obedient slave.

Your Question: Lastly i want to know what is the latest correct time to read Asar. Some people say Asar can be read just few mins Maghrib time starts, soem say it must be read half and hour before maghrib starts.

Allah says in the Holy Quran Chapter 4 Surah Nisaa verse 103:

Indeed, the salaat is a prescribed duty that should be performed at the appointed times by the believers.

Al-Muwatta Hadith 1.9

Yahya related from Malik from Yazid ibn Ziyad that Abdullah ibn Rafi, the mawla of Umm Salama, the wife of the Prophet (saws) asked Abu Hurayra about the time of the prayer. Abu Hurayra said, "Let me tell you. Pray dhuhr when the length of your shadow matches your height, asr when your shadow is twice your height, maghrib when the sun has set, isha in the first third of the night, and subh in the very first light of dawn," i.e. when the dawn has definitely come.

It is reported in an authentic narration that Hadrat Jibrael himself taught the time and the way to perform the salaah to the Prophet (saws). On the first day, Hadrat Jibrael came and led the Prophet (saws) at the beginning times of each prayer; and on the next day he led the Prophet (saws) at the end times of each prayer. And then Hadrat Jibrael told the Prophet (saws), that the prayers should be performed between these two times. But on both these days, Hadrat Jibrael led the Magrib prayers at the same time, which is immediately after the setting of the sun.

The prayer times are as follows:

Zohr: The time for zohr prayers starts immediate after ‘zawaal’ (when the sun moves in the west direction after the mid-day point). And zohr ends when the shadow of any object is twice the length of the object.

Asr: When the zohr ends, that is the beginning of Asr time, and Asr lasts till the sun begins to set.

Magrib: Starts immediately after the sun has set and lasts till the red-line disappears from the sky and it is dark.

Isha: Starts when the red-line from the horizon disappears and becomes dark. There are two opinion when Isha ends: One is uptil mid-night, and the other opinion is that Isha time ends before the advent of fajr time.

Fajr: Starts when the light of the sun is visible from the east and lasts until just before the sun is seen rising.

If the prayer is prayed between the two bands of beginning and end, it will be considered ‘ada’ or ‘prayers-on-time’. The Prophet (saws) said it is preferable to perform the prayers at their beginning times, and he (saws) himself led the believers in all the prayers at the beginning times in congregation.

Whatever written of Truth and benefit is only due to Allah’s Assistance and Guidance, and whatever of error is of me alone. Allah Alone Knows Best and He is the Only Source of Strength.

Your brother and well wisher in Islam,

Burhan