Mu' meneen Brothers and Sisters,

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:

Is it riba if I get money for opening a bank?

When does sunnah prayer begins and ends for example fajr and the sunnah you pray before fard and after fard? 

(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:

When does time for sunnah end

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.

Q-1: Is it riba if I get money for opening a bank?

Under general circumstances, any wealth that is derived from a fixed amount at a fixed rate would be considered riba. Beloved brother, we are not absolutely sure what the question means that one gets money for ‘opening a bank’ and would appreciate if you could clarify the statement to enable us to give you our opinion on the matter in light of the guidance of the Quran and the Sunnah.

Q-2: When does sunnah prayer begins and ends

Al-Muwatta Hadith 1.9

Yahya related that Abdullah ibn Rafi, the slave 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.

The prayer times are as follows:

Zohr: The time for zohr prayers starts immediate after ‘zawaal’ (when the sun moves in the westerly 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.

Depending on whether the supererogatory prayer prayed by the Prophet (saws) was offered before or after the obligatory fard prayer, the time for the Sunnah prayers that are prayed before the obligatory fard prayer (fajr and dhuhr) is between the adhaan and the performance of the obligatory prayer, and time limit for the Sunnah prayers that are prayed after the obligatory fard prayer (dhuhr, magrib, isha) is until the time of that prayer elapses.

It is related in authentic traditions that the Messenger of Allah (saws) regularly prayed a total of 12 rakahs voluntary prayers before or after the obligatory prayers as follows:

Your Question: for example fajr and the sunnah you pray before fard and after fard? 

Sahih Al-Bukhari Hadith 6.93 Narrated by Ibn Abbas

I stayed overnight in the house of my aunt Maimuna (the wife of the Prophet (saws)). The Messenger of Allah (saws) talked with his wife for a while and then went to bed. When it was the last third of the night, he got up and looked towards the sky and said:

"Verily! In the creation of the Heavens and the Earth and in the alteration of night and day, there are indeed signs for men of understanding." (Al-Quran 3:190)

Then he (saws) stood up, performed ablution, brushed his teeth with a Siwak, and then prayed eleven Rakat (of Qiyam-ul-Layl or Tahajjud). Then Bilal pronounced the Adhan (i.e. call for the Fajr prayer). The Prophet (saws) then offered two Rakat (Sunnah) prayer and went out (to the Mosque) and offered the (compulsory congregational) Fajr prayer.

The time to offer the Sunnah prayers of Fajr is between the start time of Fajr (adhaan) until the obligatory fajr prayer is performed.

If for any valid reason one has missed the opportunity to offer the two rakahs of Sunnah before performing the obligatory Fajr prayer, one may offer it immediately after the fard prayer but it would be best to delay the offering of the two-rakah belated Sunnah prayer of Fajr after the Sun has completely risen.

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