When Does the Prohibitively Disliked Time Start for ‘Asr Prayer?

Answered by Shaykh Yusuf Weltch

Question

Can you tell me if Asr starts at 16:40 and Maghrib starts at 19:45, and you pray 15-20 minutes before Maghrib? Is this haraam? Kindly answer as per Hanafi fiqh.

If it is not haram and makruh, is it makruh tahrimi? If it’s makruh Tahrimi, in what conditions is it alright to pray ‘Asr late?

When does it become haram or makruh to pray ‘Asr, 5,10,15,20,30 or more minutes before Maghrib?

I sometimes do this when I can pray earlier.

Answer

In the Name of Allah, the Most Merciful and Compassionate

The prohibitively disliked (makruh tahriman) time of ‘Asr is when the sun’s brightness diminishes, and one can look directly at the sun without the light hurting one’s eyes. [Shurunbulali, Maraqi al-Falah]

This is approximately 15-20 minutes before Maghrib prayer, although many factors, such as the time of year or the country one lives in, may change the timing.

The above principle should be more than sufficient for one to deduce the time before Maghrib they should pray in.

Hope this helps
And Allah knows best

[Shaykh] Yusuf Weltch
Checked and Approved by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani 

Shaykh Yusuf Weltch is a teacher of Arabic, Islamic law, and spirituality. After accepting Islam in 2008, he then completed four years at the Darul Uloom seminary in New York where he studied Arabic and the traditional sciences. He then traveled to Tarim, Yemen, where he stayed for three years studying in Dar Al-Mustafa under some of the greatest scholars of our time, including Habib Umar Bin Hafiz, Habib Kadhim al-Saqqaf, and Shaykh Umar al-Khatib. In Tarim, Shaykh Yusuf completed the memorization of the Qur’an and studied beliefs, legal methodology, hadith methodology, Qur’anic exegesis, Islamic history, and a number of texts on spirituality. He joined the SeekersGuidance faculty in the summer of 2019.