Answer
In the Name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful.
All praise and thanks are due to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon His Messenger.
In this fatwa:
The time of Asr prayer begins in the afternoon when the shadow of an object is of the same length as the object itself, and continues until the sun sets.
In his famous work, Fiqh As-Sunnah, Sheikh Sayyid Sabiq, elaborates on the subject as follows:
Time of Asr prayer
The time of Asr prayer begins in the afternoon when the shadow of an object is of the same length as the object itself, and continues until the sun sets.
Abu Hurairah (may Allah be pleased with him) reported that the Prophet (peace be upon him) said, “Whoever catches one rak`ah of the afternoon prayer before the sun sets and then prays the remainder of the prayer after the sun has set has not missed the afternoon prayer.”
Preferred time of Asr prayer
The best and most preferred time to pray the afternoon prayer ends when the sun becomes yellowish on the horizon. This is implied by the preceding hadith of Jabir and `Abdullah ibn `Umar.
To delay the prayer until the sun becomes yellowish, although it is permissible, is greatly disliked, unless there is some need to do so.
Anas (may Allah be pleased with him) reported that he heard the Prophet (peace be upon him) say, “The following is the prayer of the hypocrite: he waits until the sun is between the horns of Satan, then he gets up and prays four quick rak`ah, and he does not remember Allah therein save a little bit.” (Related by “the group,” except al-Bukhari and Ibn Majah)
An-Nawawi said in his commentary on Sahih Muslim:
“Our companions (the Shafiyyah) hold that the afternoon prayer time can be divided into five categories:
- the most virtuous time,
- the preferred time,
- the allowable time in which there is no disliked aspect,
- the allowable time that contains some aspect of dislike,
- and the time that is due to some excuse or necessity.
- The most virtuous time is at the beginning of the permissible time.
- The preferred time is until the shadow of an object is twice the length of the object itself.
- The permissible time without any aspect of dislike is from the time the sun becomes yellowish.
- The permissible time with some aspect of dislike is from the time the sun becomes yellowish until the setting of the sun.
- The time of excuse or necessity begins, in fact, at the time of the noon prayer for one who is to combine the noon and afternoon prayers, due to travelling or rain.
If the afternoon prayer is made during any of those times, it has been fulfilled properly. If all of those times pass and the sun has set, then one must make up the prayer.”
On a cloudy day, Asr prayer should be prayed earlier in its time.
Buraidah al-Aslami reported, “We were with the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) during a battle and he said, “Hasten in praying on a cloudy day, for one who misses the afternoon prayer has destroyed all of his works.” (Ahmad and Ibn Majah)
Ibn al-Qayyim says,
“Leaving the prayer is of two types: leaving it completely and never praying it (which destroys all of one’s deeds), and leaving it during a particular day, which destroys all of the deeds of that day.”
What is the middle prayer in Islam?
Allah says in the Quran, “Observe and guard the prayers and the middle prayer, and stand with total submission to Allah.” Authentic hadith have made it clear that the afternoon prayer is the middle prayer.
Ali in Abi Talib (may Allah be pleased with him) reported that the Prophet (peace be upon him) said on the day of Al-Ahzab (the battle of the clans), “May Allah fill their graves and houses with fire, as they kept us preoccupied from the middle prayer until the sun had set.” (Al-Bukhari and Muslim)
Muslim, Abu Dawud and Ahmad have “the afternoon prayer” inserted after “the middle prayer.”)
Explaining the context of this hadith, Ibn Mas`ud said, “The idol-worshippers kept the Prophet from the afternoon prayer until the sun had become reddish and yellowish. The Messenger of Allah said, “They kept us preoccupied from the “middle” prayer, the afternoon prayer–may Allah fill their bellies and graves with fire.”‘ (Ahmad, Muslim, and Ibn Majah)
Almighty Allah knows best.