And for the afternoon prayer, prioritizing the prayer over it [benefits by] (7) having it occur during a time that is not a prohibited time for prayer, and thus it is more appropriate (8).

Section: Ahmad said: Prayer—meaning over the deceased—is disliked at three times: at sunrise, at midday, and at sunset. He mentioned the hadith of Uqba ibn Amir: “There are three times during which the Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) forbade us to pray or to bury our dead: when the sun begins to rise until it is high, when the one standing at midday is upright until it tilts, and when the sun leans towards setting until it sets.” Narrated by Muslim (10). The meaning of “tadayyafu” (leans) is that it inclines and tilts toward setting, from your saying: “I leaned towards so-and-so,” if you incline toward him. Ibn al-Mubarak said: The meaning of “burying our dead during them” refers to the funeral prayer. It was said to Ahmad: “What if the sun is yellow against the walls?” He replied: “One may pray over it as long as it has not leaned toward setting.” Thus, it is not permissible to perform the funeral prayer during these times. This is narrated from Ibn Umar, ‘Ata’, al-Nakha‘i, al-Awza‘i, al-Thawri, Ishaq, and the People of Opinion (Ashab al-Ra’y). It has been reported from Ahmad that it is permissible, which is also an opinion of al-Shafi‘i (11) by way of analogy to the time after the dawn and afternoon prayers. The first [view] is more correct due to the hadith of Uqba ibn Amir. The analogy to the other two times is not valid because their duration is long, and there is fear for the deceased in them, and waiting for them to end is difficult, unlike these times. Ahmad also disliked burying the deceased during these times, due to the hadith of Uqba. As for the prayer over a grave or for a person absent, it is not permissible at any of the prohibited times; because the rationale for permitting it over the deceased is based on fear for him, and that is secure here, so it remains upon the original ruling of prohibition.