Prayer times in the Quran and Hadith
The Quran says prayer is prescribed at set times, and the Prophet ﷺ showed those times by example. The schools agree on most of them and differ on a few points, mainly the start of Asr, the end of Maghrib and the shared times of the Jafari school.
In the Quran
- Quran 4:103 Prayer has been prescribed for the believers at set times.
- Quran 17:78 Establish prayer from the decline of the sun until the darkness of the night, and the recitation at dawn.
- Quran 11:114 Establish prayer at the two ends of the day and in the early hours of the night.
- Quran 2:238 Guard the prayers, and the middle prayer. The Prophet ﷺ called the middle prayer the Asr prayer (Sahih Muslim 627).
- Quran 2:187 Eat and drink until the white thread of dawn becomes distinct from the black thread. Fajr begins at this true dawn.
In the Hadith
- Abu Dawud 393, Tirmidhi 149 Jibril led the Prophet ﷺ in prayer on two days at the Ka‘bah: on the first day at the start of each time, on the second near its end, and said the time of each prayer lies between the two.
- Sahih Muslim 612 The time of Dhuhr is from when the sun passes the meridian until a man’s shadow equals his height; Asr until the sun turns yellow; Maghrib until the twilight has gone; Isha until the middle of the night; Fajr from dawn until sunrise.
- Sahih Muslim 681 Negligence is only in delaying a prayer until the time of the next one comes. Most scholars take from this that Isha stays valid until Fajr, though it is best before midnight.
- Sahih Muslim 705 Ibn Abbas reported that the Prophet ﷺ combined Dhuhr with Asr and Maghrib with Isha in Madinah, without fear or rain, so as not to burden his community.
Where the schools differ
Asr
The Shafi‘i, Maliki, Hanbali and Jafari schools start Asr when a shadow equals its object’s length (plus the noon shadow), from the hadith of Jibril. Abu Hanifa held that it starts at twice the length, reading Sahih al-Bukhari 557 (the time from Asr to sunset is the shortest part of the day) and 533 (delay Dhuhr in the heat) to mean Dhuhr lasts longer.
Maghrib
The Sunni schools pray Maghrib at sunset (Sahih al-Bukhari 561). The Jafari school waits until the redness has left the eastern sky, from narrations of Imam al-Sadiq collected in al-Kafi and Wasa’il al-Shi‘a.
Isha
Most scholars start Isha when the red twilight has gone. Abu Hanifa held that it starts when the white twilight has gone, which is later.
Dhuhr and Asr, Maghrib and Isha
In the Jafari school, Dhuhr and Asr share one time from midday until sunset, and Maghrib and Isha share one time until midnight, each pair prayed in order. Imam al-Sadiq: when the sun passes the meridian, the time of both prayers begins (Man La Yahduruhu al-Faqih, vol. 1). The Sunni schools give each prayer its own time. The Shafi‘i, Maliki and Hanbali schools allow combining when travelling (the Hanbali school also for illness and other need); the Hanafi school only at Arafah and Muzdalifah during Hajj.
Hadith numbers follow sunnah.com. Jafari sources are named by book and chapter.
Last updated: Tuesday, 6 October 2026