Sheikh M. S. Al-Munajjid, a prominent Saudi Muslim lecturer and author, states the following about the time of the `Asr prayer: “The times of the prayers were mentioned by the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) in the hadith that reads: “The time for Zuhr is from when the sun has passed its zenith and a man’s shadow is equal in length to his height, until the time for ‘Asr comes. The time for ‘Asr lasts until the sun turns orange. The time for Maghrib lasts [from sunset] until the twilight has faded. The time for ‘Isha’ lasts until midnight. The time for Subh (Fajr) prayer lasts from the beginning of the pre-sunrise twilight so long as the sun has not yet started to rise. When the sun starts to rise then stop praying, for it rises between the two horns of the Shaytan (Satan).” (Reported by Muslim, 612)
The time of ‘Asr
In the light of the above-mentioned hadith, we conclude that the time for ‘Asr begins when the time for Zuhr ends, i.e., when the length of an object’s shadow becomes equal to the length of the object itself plus the length of its shadow at the zenith. There are two times for the end of ‘Asr as follows:
a) The preferred time: This lasts from the beginning of the time for ‘Asr until the sun begins to turn orange, because the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: “The time for ‘Asr lasts until the sun turns orange.”
b) The time of necessity: This lasts from the time the sun turns orange until sunset, because the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: “Whoever catches up with one rak`ah of
‘Asr before the sun sets has caught up with ‘Asr.” (Reported by Al-Bukhari and Muslim)“