In Which Times It Is Forbidden To Establish Qada And Nafl (Voluntary) Prayers?

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In which times it is forbidden to establish qada and nafl (voluntary) prayers?

Performing some acts of worship is prohibited at some specific times. These times are called waqt al-karahah ( forbidden times). Uqba ibn Amir transmitted from al-Juhani as follows, “There were three times at which Allah’s Messenger (saw) forbade us to pray, or bury our dead: When the sun begins to rise till it is fully up, when the sun is at its height at midday till it passes over the meridian, and when the sun draws near to setting till it sets.” (Muslim, Musafirin, 293; Abu Dawud, Janaiz, 55; Tirmidhi, Janaiz, 41).

No prayer can be established within these three times mentioned in the hadith. The beginning and end of these times are approximately as follows:

  1. a) From sunrise until 40-50 minutes later,
  2. b) When the sun is at its zenith (From approximately 10 minutes before the start of dhuhr time until the start of dhuhr time),
  3. c) When the sun turns dull in radiance such that one can look at it until sunset (From 40-50 minutes before sunset until beginning of maghrib’s time) (Marghinani, al-Hidayah, I, 265-269).

Just as wajib prayers such as qada and witr cannot be performed in such times, funeral prayer for the deceased person prepared before a prohibited time cannot be established in the mentioned times. On the other hand, the funeral prayer of a deceased person that is prepared within one of these times may be established. One cannot perform prostration of recitation (sajdah al-tilawah) due to the recitation of a verse that requires prostration recited before the prohibited times. However, prostration required for the recitation of such a verse in the prohibited time may be performed in these times although it is better to postpone it.

In the prohibited time before sunset, one may establish only the fardh of ‘asr prayer of that day. But it is makruh to postpone ‘asr prayer that much without an excuse.

Except these, it is makruh to establish only nafl prayers in the following times:

  1. a) Within the period from the beginning of fajr time until sunrise except the rawatib of fajr prayer,
  2. b) After establishment of ‘asr prayer until sunset,
  3. c) Before establishment of fardh cycles when maghrib prayer’s time starts,
  4. d) After khatib goes up to the pulpit on Friday (Marghinani, al-Hidayah, I, 269-271).

Abu Said al-Khudri narrated as follows, “I heard Prophet Muhammad (saw) saying, ‘There is no other prayer after establishing fajr prayer until sunrise. There is no other prayer after establishing asr prayer until sunset.’” (Abu Dawud, Tatawwu’, 9; Ibn Hanbal, Musnad, I, 271)

Source: Presidency Of Religious Affairs The Turkey, High Board of Religious Affairs FATWAS