in which to pray and in which to bury our dead: when the sun rises clearly until it is high, when the person at noon is standing upright until it passes the meridian, and when the sun begins to descend for sunset until it sets. (2) He thus identified these three times, and two other times have been established for us by the hadith of Umar and Abu Sa'id (3), so the total is five. Those who made the fifth the time of sunset did so because the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, singled it out with the prohibition in the hadith of Ibn Umar, from the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, that he said: "If the upper limb of the sun appears, then delay the prayer until it fully emerges, and if the upper limb of the sun disappears, then delay the prayer until it sets." (4) And in another hadith: "And do not seek to time your prayer with the rising of the sun nor its setting." (5) In any case, these mentioned times are ones in which prayer is prohibited; this is the position of al-Shafi'i and the scholars of opinion (Ashab al-Ra'y). Ibn al-Mundhir said: What is prohibited are only the three times mentioned in the hadith of Uqbah, due to the evidence of their being singled out with the prohibition in his hadith and the hadith of Ibn Umar. His statement: "Do not pray after Asr unless you pray while the sun is still high." Recorded by Abu Dawud (6). Aisha said: "Umar was mistaken; the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, only forbade seeking to time one's prayer with the rising or setting of the sun." Our evidence is the hadiths we mentioned at the beginning of the chapter, and they are authentic.
(2) Previously cited on page 514. (3) Previously cited on page 513. (4) Previously cited on page 514. (5) Recorded by al-Bukhari, in: Chapter: Do not seek to time the prayer before the sunset, and Chapter: Prayer after Fajr until the sun rises, and Chapter: Whoever did not dislike prayer except after Asr and Fajr, from the Book of Times (Mawaqit), and in: Chapter: The Mosque of Quba, from the Book of the Excellence of Prayer in the Mosque of Makkah. Sahih al-Bukhari 1/152, 153, 2/76, 77. And Muslim, in: Chapter: The times in which prayer is prohibited, and Chapter: Do not seek to time your prayer with the rising of the sun nor its setting, from the Book of the Traveler's Prayer (Salat al-Musafirin). Sahih Muslim 1/567, 568, 571. It was also recorded by al-Nasa'i, in: Chapter: The prohibition of prayer after Asr, from the Book of Times. al-Mujtaba 1/223, 224. And Imam Malik, in: Chapter: The prohibition of prayer after Subh and after Asr, from the Book of the Qur'an. al-Muwatta 1/220, 221. And Imam Ahmad, in: al-Musnad 2/13, 19, 24, 33, 63, 106, 6/255. (6) From Ali, may Allah be pleased with him, in: Chapter: Regarding one who granted concession for the two rak'ahs after Asr if the sun is still high, from the Book of Prayer. Sunan Abi Dawud 1/293.