Assalamualaikum

Question

Muslim experts in falaq have produced salat timetables for the convenience of the ummah.

a.Naturally they would have certain error margins.If, say for example the error is about 2 minutes. The time for asr is 430 pm. Is it then possible to regard the prayer time to be anywhere between 428 and 432 pm? Or one must take the 430 pm strictly?

b.Some people break their fast of 1 or 2 minutes later than the time in the timetable as a precaution/ihtiat ,as the timetable is an approximation. Is this a commendable act? What about the injunction to hasten breaking the fast?

c.There is a hadis which implies if one is eating and hears the fajr azan, he may finish off what he is eating i.e he does not have to stop eating immediately. Does this shows that the syariah provides some allowance and not too rigorous in the timing?The timing is more of a guideline with some flexibility rather than something rigid and absolute.

d.In the time of Rasul, the timing is relied basically on the observance of the naked eye, which is quite relative from one person to the other and may have quite a big error. So, it indicates that one do not have to be very precise and strict in following the prayer timetable ?

Answer 1

I know very little about Islam, so can only guess that the times are approximate. For most people in Islam's long history, time was only approximate. People did not have accurate clocks.

You may want to post your questions on this site.

http://islam.stackexchange.com/questions/13068/is-it-right-or-wrong-assalamualaikum

Answer 2

Here's an answer.

http://www.jiskha.com/display.cgi?id=1338547052