When Is Prayer Forbidden?
The Three Prohibited Times for Prayer and Burial
Summary
Sh. Ali Mashhour continues his discussion on the book of prayer, specifically focusing on the times when it is impermissible to pray. He begins by establishing a logical principle about exceptions: that the exception is always less than the general rule, meaning prayer is permissible at most times except during specific prohibited times. Sh. Ali Mashhour then explains that according to the narration of Uqbah ibn Amir, the Prophet Muhammad prohibited prayer during three specific times of day. He emphasizes the difference between what is impermissible versus what is merely inconvenient or inappropriate, using the example of burying the dead at night, which is permissible though uncommon in modern practice.
Sh. Ali Mashhour details the three prohibited times: approximately 15 minutes after sunrise, approximately 15 minutes before noon (Zuhr), and approximately 15 minutes before sunset (Maghrib). He provides context for each prohibition, explaining the astronomical positions of the sun and why these times were designated as inappropriate for prayer. Sh. Ali Mashhour clarifies that outside these three windows, prayer and burial are permissible at any time of day or night, and notes that a complete discussion of funeral rites will be covered in the dedicated book of funerals later in the study.
Note: This transcript was generated using YouTube's automatic captioning, with AI-assisted cleanup for readability. It may contain inaccuracies due to background noise, audio quality, or limitations of the transcription software — particularly during Arabic recitation. Listener discretion is advised; please refer to the original video for precise wording.
Hey, how are you? Haven't seen you in a couple days. You all right? Good.
[Silence]
Continuing in the book of prayer, the chapters regarding the times of salah. Mawaqit al salah. And we've discussed all of the timings of prayer, both ideal times and at worst latest times of each prayer. We've also discussed what a person is to do if they miss a prayer. And now the author discusses the times when it is impermissible to pray. So, a bit of a logical step here I want to make. When we make an exception to something, when we make an exception to something, which is more? The exception or that which the exception is from. So, let me give you an example. If I say for instance, I'd you to give me $1 except 99 cents. I want you to give me $1 save one pen save 99 cents. What am I actually asking for? One penny. Is that how we set things up? 100 people came except for 99. Right? No. The exception is always less. Right? It's always less. So, we did we say for instance, you know, $1 save 20 cents, 10 cents, 5 cents. That's how exceptions work. Illa. Fal mustathna, da'iman yakun aqal min al mustathna minhu. The point of this is when we have an exception, when we say it is impermissible to pray during the following times, that means that the majority of the time is permissible or impermissible? Permissible. That means that salah is permissible at any hour of the day or night except three times. Except one, two, three. So, the majority is always what? Permissibility. And the exception is the impermissibility. Now, when we look at the times of prayer, this narration of Uqbah ibn Amir, he tells us that the prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam prohibited prayer during three times, which means that he generally advised that a person pray all of the time, anytime, except for three times. If a person were to make the claim, "It is not permissible to pray during this time." they would have to have a clear-cut evidence for that. Right? Because al asal al jawaz. And this is exactly what the prophet said. He said sallallahu alaihi wasallam in a narration in a sunan, What does that mean? Prayer is the best thing to fill time with. You have some extra time on your hands? It's the best thing. That's the best thing to to spend your time in if you're unsure what to do with it. Uqbah ibn Amir, radiyallahu anhu, he says,.
[Silence]
He says, "Three times of the day of night or in night in which the messenger of Allah, sallallahu alaihi wasallam, would prohibit us from both praying or burying our dead during these three times." Now, this means that the majority of the time it is permissible or impermissible to pray? Permissible. This means that during the majority of the day and night, it is permissible or impermissible to bury the dead? Say it. Permissible. Why are you hesitating? The reason you're hesitating is you've never been to a funeral at night. That's why. You're thinking, how bizarre would it be to have a funeral at night? And I agree. That would be very strange. However, it's not because it's impermissible. It's because it's extremely inconvenient. It's because it's slightly creepy. It's because people are sleeping and not out. And the point of janazah is to have as many people come to pray as possible. The more people you can have making salah over a person, over a deceased, the better. But this doesn't mean that it is impermissible to bury during the night time. Uthman ibn Affan was buried at night. Ali ibn Abi Talib was buried at night. Asim ibn Thabit was buried at night. Many companions were buried at night. And during battle, they would always bury whenever the casualties occurred, right? If we're having a long battle, 10 days, 15, 20 days of battle, battle would usually stop at nightfall. You can't see anymore. So, both camps, both sides of the battle would go back and, you know, tend to their dead and so forth. And they would bury during that time. It's very common during the time of the companions radiyallahu anhu to bury at night. There's nothing impermissible about it other than it may not always be appropriate. So, there's a big difference between appropriate and between inappropriate and impermissible, right? So, these three times.
[Arabic recitation]
Prohibited prayer and prohibited the burial of the dead during these three times. He says, Hina tub.
[Arabic recitation]
Eastern horizon, when it's rising, until it rises high enough over the horizon in the sky. And we said that's about how many minutes between when the the disc of the sun first peaks over the eastern horizon until it is permissible to pray again? 15 minutes. Right? It's about 15 minutes. So, from the moment of sunrise until it is permissible to pray again is 15 minutes. Number two. He says, He says the second time of day is when the sun is at exactly high noon. It's at exactly its zenith. In the exact middle of the sky, if we were on the equator, which we're pretty close, and it was exactly noon, if we had a stick in the ground, there would be no shadow. Cuz the sun would be directly above it. Down. This is when it is impermissible to pray. And it becomes permissible again once the sun crosses its zenith from the eastern horizon to the west, and the sun now is on the western side, and the shadow is pointing back towards where the sun came from, and we have a little bit of shadow to thanks going towards the east, towards sunrise. This is about how long? 15 minutes. It's about 15 minutes. Number three. He says, "Wahina tadayafa shamsu lil ghurubi hatta taghruba." He says, "And the third is when the sun is is just about to set over the horizon until it sets. And that is the exact opposite of what happened when at sunrise. Right? It's the exact opposite. So, starting where? Permissible after Fajr starts and then the sun starts to set in its final and its final you know, in its final descent, if you will, or its you know, in its final stage until it sets under the horizon, which is the Adhan of Maghrib. And this is how many minutes before Maghrib Adhan? 15 minutes. It's about 15 minutes. So, to make that very easy, if we are to say when is it impermissible to pray or bury the dead? Number one, 15 minutes after sunrise. Number two, 15 minutes before Zuhr. Number three, 15 minutes before Maghrib. That's to make it easy. Right? I'll repeat it again. When is it impermissible to pray or bury the dead? Number one, 15 minutes after sunrise. Number two, 15 minutes before Zuhr. Number three, 15 minutes before Maghrib. These times it is impermissible to pray or bury the dead. Anything outside of these times is permissible. Is permissible. And when the issues of burial, we have an entire book that we will get to, which is the book of funerals. And we will inshallah, you know, if we're alive and we will go through all of funeral you know, rights from the moment a person becomes ill for his final moments all the way until the ground is settled and even after the burial, what a person does. All of this inshallah we will discuss in its due place. So, the takeaway today is those three times it is impermissible to pray or bury the dead. Mas Allah.
[Silence]
[Arabic recitation]
Wastaghfirna fi ta'atika.
[Arabic recitation]