Harmonising contradictory narrations (the time for Salat al-Asr) - Part 5

We have so far looked at the technical issues explaining the best time to pray Dhuhr and Asr. However, there is one exception mentioned in this section of the work by Ayatullah Khui and that is what to do in the case of severe heat:

• Muwathaq narration of Zurara who said: “I asked Abu Abdullah (AS) about the time for Dhuhr in severe heat ….he said to him: ‘If your shadow is the same length as yourself, then pray Dhuhr, and if your shadow is like two of you, then pray Asr.’” (1)

And the way to harmonise between this narration and those that talk about one or two feet, is by considering this to be an exception/particularization to the general rule:

• In severe heat, in order to be able to pray free from fear and with your heart present and your soul content and to ensure you do not hurry your prayer, the fadila time is extended to when the length of the shadow is equal to your body length.

This is confirmed by a narration attributed to the prophet (SAW) (2). There is one other narration that also talks about the time of Dhuhr and Asr, and rather than talking about 2 or 4 feet, it talks about 1 or 2 fathoms:

• Narration from Muhammad ibn Hakim, who said: “I heard the righteous servant (AS) who said: ‘The first time for Dhuhr is midday of the Sun, and the end of its time is a fathom from midday. And the first time for the time of Asr is one fathom and the end of it, is two fathoms.’ I asked ‘Is it the same in the Winter and Summer?’. He said: ‘Yes’” (3). This is clear in putting the beginning of Asr at one fathom – making it clear it is at all times by it being the same in both seasons.

Given the lack of other evidence to corroborate this opinion (i.e. it is a fathom rather than a foot/cubit), we have to cast this narration aside and return its knowledge to its owners. This is due to the weakness in its chain due to Muhammad ibn Hakim who is not known to be trustworthy as well as the fact it contradicts all the previous narrations so can be set aside.

Or it is possible to attribute the word “fathom” to “cubit” as the author of al-Hada’iq has done, based on the narration of ibn Handhala who said:
• Abu Abdullah (AS) said to me: ‘the fathom and two fathoms are one cubit and two cubits in the book of Ali (AS)’” (4)

However, this attribution seems very unlikely and there is no direct relevance to this topic here as the attribution of fathom to cubit in the book of Ali (AS) does not mean it will have that meaning from Imam Musa ibn Ja’far (AS). Whatever the case may be, it is relatively unimportant, as we already know the narration has a weak chain of narration.


We have therefore concluded:
• Time to pray Dhuhr and Asr starts at midday
• Best time for Dhuhr is after praying Nafila prayers for Dhuhr after midday, with it ending at the time of Asr
• Best time for Asr is after praying the Nafila prayers for Asr, starting at 2 or 4 feet

In the next blog, we will discuss what this “feet” term means.

(1) Wasa’il, 4:133, Chapters on time, chapter 8, hadith 13
(2) Wasa’il, 4:133, Chapters on time, chapter 8, hadith 6
(3) Wasa’il, 4:133, Chapters on time, chapter 8, hadith 29
(3) Wasa’il, 4:133, Chapters on time, chapter 8, hadith 14