the reports regarding the prayer times. It is the white light that spreads and diffuses across the horizon, and it is called the true dawn (al-fajr al-ṣādiq) because it tells you the truth about the morning and clarifies it for you. Morning (ṣubḥ) is what combines whiteness and redness, and from this, a man whose complexion has whiteness and redness is called aṣbaḥ. As for the first dawn, it is the whiteness that extends vertically without spreading horizontally, so no ruling is attached to it, and it is called the false dawn (al-fajr al-kādhib). Then the time of choice (ikhtiyār) continues until the day becomes bright, due to what preceded in the hadith of Jibrīl and Burayda. What is after that is a time of excuse and necessity (ḍarūra) until the sun rises, due to the saying of the Prophet, peace and blessings of God be upon him, in the hadith of ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿAmr: "And the time for the morning prayer is as long as the sun has not risen" (3). Whoever catches a rakʿa of it before the sun rises has caught it, and there is a difference of opinion regarding catching it with less than that, which we have already mentioned. The People of Opinion (aṣḥāb al-raʾy) said regarding one for whom the sun rose while he had prayed one rakʿa: His prayer is invalid because he has entered a time in which prayer is forbidden. This is not correct due to the saying of the Messenger of God, peace and blessings of God be upon him: "Whoever catches a rakʿa of the morning prayer before the sun rises [has caught the morning prayer." Agreed upon (5). In one narration: "Whoever catches a prostration (sajda) of the morning prayer before the sun rises] (4) let him complete his prayer." Agreed upon (5). This is because he caught a rakʿa of the prayer within its time, so he is considered to have caught it [in its time], like the rest of the prayers (7). The prohibition only applies to supererogatory (nāfila) prayer; as for the obligatory (farāʾiḍ) prayers, they are to be prayed at any time, evidenced by the fact that the time before sunrise is also a time of prohibition, yet one is not prevented from performing the morning prayer during it.

Section: If one doubts the entry of the time, he should not pray until he is certain of its entry or it becomes the most likely assumption (ghalabat al-ẓann) for him, such as someone who has a craft whose habit is to perform a specific task estimated to take until the time of prayer, or a reader whose habit is to read a certain portion and he has read it, and similar cases. Whenever he does that and it becomes his most likely assumption that the time has entered, prayer is permitted for him, and it is recommended to delay it