Question 199: Assalamualaikum. Is the time of Asr like that of the Hanafi school, or like all of the others? What are the prayer times (i.e. the due time for obligatory prayers)?
Answer 199: There are three time periods allocated to every one of the five daily prayers that are as follows: Read More
Question 389: Salamualekum members. Please, in the month of Ramadan, is it always required to break our fast before magrib prayer or we should pray before breaking the fast?
Answer 389: In the holy Quran Allah (swt) says: And eat and drink until the whiteness of the day becomes distinct from the blackness of the night at dawn Then complete the fast till night And have not contact with them while you keep to the mosques These are the Limits of Allah, so do not go near them Thus does Allah make clear His communications for men that they may guard (against evil).[1]
Fasting means that a person must, in obedience to the commands of Allah, from the time of Adhan for Fajr prayers up to Maghrib, avoid those things from which a person keeping fast must abstain.[2] Read More
Question 382: What if someone has reverted to Shia Islam but due to his Parents, he has to break some of his fasts or all the fasts on Sunni time. He, somehow, manages to do Sehri on Shia time, but sometimes breaks his fast on Sunni time. Does Allah still accept it considering his problem of not letting his parents know about it or he has to give fidiya? If yes, how much fidiya? Or he has to fast again in future when he can easily, as a remedy of those broken on Sunni time? So, what is the ruling on Breaking our fast after disappearing redness in the sky?
Answer 382: Fasting means that a person must, in obedience to the commands of Allah, refrain, from the time of Adhan for Fajr prayers up to Maghrib, from the things which invalidate the fast.[1]
To further explain, just before dawn a column of whiteness rises upwards from the east. It is called the first dawn. When this whiteness spreads, it is called the second dawn, and the prime time for Fajr prayers.[2] It is exactly the time to refrain from the things which invalidate the fast. Maghrib is the time when the redness in the eastern sky appearing after sunset disappears in the horizon.[3] This is the beginning of Maghrib time and the end of the time for imsak.
Therefore, as per the foregoing explanation, there is no imsak time other than the time between the Adhan for Fajr prayers and the Adhan for Maghrib prayers.
The grand jurists have said that in order to ensure that one has been fasting throughout this time, he should, as a matter of precaution, begin abstaining a little earlier than the Adhan for Fajr prayers, and continue to refrain for a little after Maghrib, from acts which invalidate a fast.
What follows below is an answer to a similar question from Grand Ayatollah Khamenei:
Question: Given that the cities are developing and becoming larger every day and it is not possible to ascertain the exact time of Fajr, kindly let us know about the exact time of imsak for Fast and Fajr prayer.
Answer: The believers are asked to exercise precaution about imsak and the time for Fajr prayer. So, they should refrain from invalidating things from Adhan time as declared by the media and should offer their Fajr prayers five to six minutes after the Adhan for Fajr prayers.[4]
According to most of maraja’, you have to break your fast when the redness in the eastern sky appearing after sunset disappears in the horizon. Therefore, if you break your fast under duress (as you are compelled by your parents) before disappearing the redness (i.e. according to sunni time) you have to compensate your fast later, however Allah (swt) would accept it and there is no need to give Kaffarah. But, according to Ayatollah Bahjat (ra), your fast performed in this state is treated as valid. As a result, if you are following another marja’ you are able to act only in this issue based on the Ayatollah Bahjat’s fatwa.
The following are some recommendations you are supposed to observe in order to break your fast after disappearing the redness in the sky (i.e. according to Shia time):
– As it is mutahab to break your fast after prayers you should try to offer mustahab or qadha prayers.[6]
– Try to recite some verses of the holy Quran specially Surah al-Qadr or duas, Salawat or any kinds of Dikr.[7]
– Making Wudu.
– Making any excuses in order to refrain eating or drinking on that time.
For further information, please refer to the following answer:
Index: Things from which a person keeping fast must abstain & Kaffarah (Expiation), answer 372.
Index: Studying in the month of Ramadhan is not a valid excuse to escape fasting, answer 572.
Index: Using Asthma Inhaler does not break the Fast, answer 575.
Index: Number of things which are disapproved (Makruh) for a person observing fast, answer 566.
Index: Fasting and prayers of a traveler who travel after Zuhr, answer 384.
Index: Qada Fast for a person reverted to Islam, answer 196.
Index: Rules of prayers and fasting performed without ghusl, answer 034.
Index: Fast in countries with long days, answer 106.
Index: Niyyat for Fasting: How to make intention to Fast Ramadan, answer 627.
Index: Rules concerning tooth brush (Miswak) during fasting, answer 391.
[1] – Tawzih al-Masail (with annotation by Imam Khomeini), vol.1, pg. 880.
[2] – Ibid, vol.1, pg.411
[3] – Khomeini, Sayyid Rohullah Musavi, Tawzih al-Masail (by Imam Khomeini), pg.164, issue No.730, First, 1436 A.H; Jawahir al-Kalam, Vol. 16, Pg. 384.
[4] – Tawzih al-Masail (with annotation by Imam Khomeini), vol.1, pg.440; Khamenei, Sayyid Ali, Answers to Jurisprudential Questions, pg. 73, Office of Grand Ayatollah Khamenei in Qom, Qom, Iran, First, 1424 A.H.
[5] . Tawzih al-Masael (with annotation of Imam Khomeini (ra)), Vol. 1, Pg. 407, Q 735.
[6] . Wasael al-Shia, chapter 7, rules concerning fast; Sayyid Sistani (ha), issue 1718; Tawzih al-Masael (with annotation of Imam Khomeini (ra), Vol. 1, Pg. 969; Tabatabaee, Yazdi, Sayyid Muhammad Kazem, al-Urwa al-Wuthqa, Vol. 2, Pg. 213.
[7] . Wasael al-Shia, Vol. 10, Pgs. 149-151; Jawahir al-Kalam, Vol. 11, Pgs. 384-385.
[8] . Imam Sadiq, peace be upon him, said: “If there was anything less than “fie” to cause distress and discomfort to parents, he would prohibit it and “fie” is the lowest level of hurting parents. One of the instances of causing distress is to gaze at the parents. See: Muhammad bin Ya’qub, Usul-e Kafi (translated by Mustafavi), vol.4, pg. 50, Islamic Book Store, Tehran, 1st edition.
Question 297: Assalam o alaikum, How do I know when exactly does prescribed time for maghrib prayer passes away? I.e. the moment after which maghrib should be prayed qadha. What are the Fixed Times of Daily Prayers?
Answer 297: There are three time periods allocated to every one of the five daily prayers that are as follows:
1- The specific period: the period in which no other prayer can be performed.
2- The common period: the period in which you can perform Dhuhr and Asr or Maghrib and Isha prayers. It must be noted that their order must be observed (at noon, the Dhuhr prayer must be done before Asr, and at night, the Maghrib prayer must be done before Isha).
3- The time of merit: The period which praying in has more thawab or reward.[1]
The time of the significance of Maghrib is from sunset till the disappearance of the redness which usually appears in the West after the sunset. The time of the significance of Isha prayers is from the time when the said redness disappears till completion of one-third of the night.
The due time for the Maghrib and Ishã’ prayers in ordinary circumstances is from Maghrib (evening) till midnight, out of which the time for Maghrib prayer is reserved from its beginning to the extent it is required for offering it, and the Ishã’ prayer for the last according to the circumstances of the person offering the prayer, and the time between them is common to both.
If a person does not offer both the (Maghrib and Ishã’) prayers until midnight in case of emergency due to sleep, forgetfulness, menstruation, etc., or deliberately, it is more cautious for him to offer both the prayers upto the beginning of the morning with the intention of what he owes.
In case the time left for beginning of the morning is not sufficient for offering both the prayers, he should, by way of precaution, offer the Ishã’ prayers. It is more cautious to offer both the compensatory prayers in succession after the due time.[2]
For further information in this regards, please refer to the following answer:
Index: Allocated time for offering Obligatory Prayers, answer 534.
Index: Three time periods allocated to each of the five daily prayers, answer 199.
[1] . Adopted from answer 199 (Index: Three time periods allocated to each of the five daily prayers).
[2] . Tahrir al-Wasilah of Imam Khomeini, Vol. 1, Chapter on Preliminaries of Prayer, Pg. 138, Q 6.