Time of Salat al-Asr

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

وصلى الله على نبيه الكريم

وعلى آله واصحابه اجمعين

Umm al-Mu’minin Umm Salama asked Sayyidina Abi Huraira (radi Allahu anhuma) about the timing of the Salat, to which the latter answered:

 

صَلِّ الظُّهْرَ إِذَا كَانَ ظِلُّكَ مِثْلَكَ وَالْعَصْرَ إِذَا كَانَ ظِلُّكَ مِثْلَيْكَ

“Pray the Zuhr when the length of your shadow equals your height; and the Asr when your shadow is twice your height.”
(Al-Muwatta #9)

This is the position of the great Imam Abi Hanifa (rahimahullah). While Sayyidina Abi Huraira (radi Allahu anhu) prescribed praying the Asr prayer when the shadow of an object is twice its length, we find that many other Muslims who adhere to various other schools of thought pray the Asr much earlier, when the shadow of an object is equal to its length. Once Angel Gabriel (alayhis-salam) descended and led the Prophet Muhammad (sall Allahu alayhi wasallam) in the five daily prayers. He led the Prophet in the Asr prayer when the shadow of an object was twice its length: 

ثُمَّ صَلَّى الْعَصْرَ حِينَ كَانَ ظِلُّ كُلِّ شَيْءٍ مِثْلَيْهِ

Then he (Gabriel) prayed the Asr when the shadow of everything was twice its length

(Jami’ at-Tirmidhi #149)