The Asr prayer ( ar, صلاة العصر ', "afternoon prayer") is one of the five

mandatory Mandate most often refers to: * League of Nations mandates, quasi-colonial territories established under Article 22 of the Covenant of the League of Nations, 28 June 1919 * Mandate (politics) In representative democracies, a mandate (or seat) ...

salah (, plural , romanized: or Old Arabic ͡sˤaˈloːh, ( or Old Arabic ͡sˤaˈloːtʰin construct state) ), also known as ( fa, نماز) and also spelled , are prayers performed by Muslims. Facing the , the direction of the Kaaba wit ...

(Islamic prayer). As an Islamic day starts at sunset, the Asr prayer is technically the fifth prayer of the day. If counted from midnight, it is the third prayer of the day.see 'Glossary'
Retrieved 12 July 2020Significance of Offering The Isha Prayer and Its Benefits
QuranReading website, Published 29 January 2015, Retrieved 14 May 2017 The Asr prayer consists of four obligatory rakat. An additional four rakat are recommended to be performed before the obligatory rakat. As with Zuhr prayer, if it is performed in congregation, the

imam Imam (; ar, إمام '; plural: ') is an Islamic leadership position. For Sunni Muslims, Imam is most commonly used as the title of a worship leader of a mosque. In this context, imams may lead Islamic worship services, lead prayers, ser ...

is silent except when announcing the takbir, i'tidal, and taslim. The period of Asr prayer begins approximately when the sun is halfway down from noon to

sunset Sunset, also known as sundown, is the daily disappearance of the Sun below the horizon due to Earth's rotation. As viewed from everywhere on Earth (except the North and South poles), the equinox Sun sets due west at the moment of both the spring ...

(various branches of Islam differ on the starting point; some say that it begins when the shadow of an object equals its actual length plus its shadow during noon, others say that the actual length must be doubled). Asr prayer ends at sunset, when Maghrib prayer begins.. Muslims are also allowed to perform Zuhr and Asr prayers one after another, so they may perform the Asr prayer before the actual period begins. Barring the

Hanafi The Hanafi school ( ar, حَنَفِية, translit=Ḥanafiyah; also called Hanafite in English), Hanafism, or the Hanafi fiqh, is the oldest and one of the four traditional major Sunni schools ( maddhab) of Islamic Law (Fiqh). It is named aft ...

school, which forbids prayer combination,

Sunni Muslims Sunni Islam () is the largest branch of Islam, followed by 85–90% of the world's Muslims. Its name comes from the word '' Sunnah'', referring to the tradition of Muhammad. The differences between Sunni and Shia Muslims arose from a disagr ...

may only do this if they are traveling and incapable of performing the prayers separately. Amongst Sunnis, Salafis allow the combining of prayers for a wide range of reasons such as when various needs or difficulties arise (taking precedence from

Hanbali The Hanbali school ( ar, ٱلْمَذْهَب ٱلْحَنۢبَلِي, al-maḏhab al-ḥanbalī) is one of the four major traditional Sunni schools (''madhahib'') of Islamic jurisprudence. It is named after the Arab scholar Ahmad ibn Hanbal ...

and

Shafiite The Shafii ( ar, شَافِعِي, translit=Shāfiʿī, also spelled Shafei) school, also known as Madhhab al-Shāfiʿī, is one of the four major traditional schools of religious law (madhhab) in the Sunnī branch of Islam. It was founded by A ...

schools). The Asr daily prayer is mentioned as the middle prayer in the

Qur'an The Quran (, ; Standard Arabic: , Quranic Arabic: , , 'the recitation'), also romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a revelation from God. It is organized in 114 chapters (pl.: , sing. ...

at ''

sura A ''surah'' (; ar, سورة, sūrah, , ), is the equivalent of "chapter" in the Qur'an. There are 114 ''surahs'' in the Quran, each divided into '' ayats'' (verses). The chapters or ''surahs'' are of unequal length; the shortest surah ('' Al-K ...

'' 2 ( Al-Baqara) and it is emphasized on the Muslims to protect this prayer meaning that it should be performed at all costs, ayat 238. al-Asr is also the title of the 103rd chapter (sura) of the Qur’ān. The five daily prayers collectively are one pillar of the Five Pillars of Islam, in

Sunni Islam Sunni Islam () is the largest branch of Islam, followed by 85–90% of the world's Muslims. Its name comes from the word '' Sunnah'', referring to the tradition of Muhammad. The differences between Sunni and Shia Muslims arose from a disagre ...

, and one of the ten

Practices of the Religion In Twelver Shia Islam, the ten Ancillaries of the Faith ( ar, فروع الدين ''furūʿ ad-dīn'', also Ten Obligatory Acts of Shi’a Islam) are the ten practices that Shia Muslims have to carry out. According to Twelver doctrine, what is ...

(''Furū al-Dīn'') according to

Shia Islam Shīʿa Islam or Shīʿīsm is the second-largest branch of Islam. It holds that the Islamic prophet Muhammad designated ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib as his successor (''khalīfa'') and the Imam (spiritual and political leader) after him, m ...

Name variations

Format

The Asr prayer consist of four obligatory

rakats A Rak'ah ( ar, ركعة ', ; plural: ') is a single iteration of prescribed movements and supplications performed by Muslims as part of the prescribed obligatory prayer known as salah. Each of the five daily prayers observed by Muslims consist ...

, along with two or four sunnah

preceding it. Although, according to some ''

madh'hab A ( ar, مذهب ', , "way to act". pl. مَذَاهِب , ) is a school of thought within ''fiqh'' (Islamic jurisprudence). The major Sunni Mathhab are Hanafi, Maliki, Shafi'i and Hanbali. They emerged in the ninth and tenth centuries CE a ...

s'', it may be reduced to two ''rakaʿāt'' when travelling.

Ja'fari and Zaydi schools of thought

According to the Ja'fari and Zaydi schools of thought the time period within which the Asr prayer must be recited is the following: *Time begins: once the

Dhuhr The Zuhr prayer ( ar, صَلَاة ٱلظُّهْر ', "noon prayer") is one of the five mandatory salah (Islamic prayer). As an Islamic day starts at sunset, the Zuhr prayer is technically the fourth prayer of the day.setting of the Sun. However, it is very important to recite the prayer as soon as the time begins. Letter 52 of

Nahj al-Balagha ''Nahj al-Balagha'' ( ar, نَهْج ٱلْبَلَاغَة ', 'The Path of Eloquence') is the best-known collection of sermons, letters, and sayings attributed to Ali ibn Abi Talib, fourth Rashidun Caliph, first Shia Imam and the cousin and so ...

contains instruction of

Ali ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib ( ar, عَلِيّ بْن أَبِي طَالِب; 600 – 661 CE) was the last of four Rightly Guided Caliphs to rule Islam (r. 656 – 661) immediately after the death of Muhammad, and he was the first Shia Imam. ...

to his governors on the timings of salat, ''"The Asr prayers can be performed till the sun is still bright and enough time of the day is left for a person to cover a distance of six miles."''

Hanafi, Hanbali, Shafi`i, and Maliki schools of thought

The time period within which the Asr prayer must be recited is the following: *Time begins: The Sunni schools differ on when the time begins. The

Maliki The ( ar, مَالِكِي) school is one of the four major schools of Islamic jurisprudence within Sunni Islam. It was founded by Malik ibn Anas in the 8th century. The Maliki school of jurisprudence relies on the Quran and hadiths as primary ...

, Shafi`i, and

schools say it is at the time when the length of any object's shadow equals the length of the object itself plus the length of that object's shadow at noon. The dominant opinion in the

school says it begins when the length of any object's shadow is twice the length of the object plus the length of that object's shadow at noon. *Time ends: Once the sun has completely set below the horizon. However, it is frowned upon (and sinful in the Maliki school) to delay the prayer without a legitimate excuse to the point of the day in which the sun turns a pale red or orange color as it begins to set, though it would still be considered to have been prayed on time. The Islamic prophet

Muhammad Muhammad ( ar, مُحَمَّد; 570 – 8 June 632 Common Era, CE) was an Arab religious, social, and political leader and the founder of Islam. According to Muhammad in Islam, Islamic doctrine, he was a prophet Divine inspiration, di ...

said, "He who observes Al-Bardayn (i.e., Fajr and `Asr prayers) will enter Jannah."Sahih Bukhari Hadith #574
/ref> In another hadith: Muhammad said 'He who misses his Asr Salat (i.e. performs it after its specified time) is as if he had lost his wife, children and all his wealth.’ (Sahih Muslim)

References

{{Authority control Salah Salah terminology

Name variations

Format

Ja'fari and Zaydi schools of thought

Hanafi, Hanbali, Shafi`i, and Maliki schools of thought

See also

References