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Travelling on Plane and performing Asr Salah at Mithl Awwal

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I am travelling abroad and my flight departure time is before the ʿAṣr Ṣalāh time begins. However, the time for ʿAṣr Ṣalāh begins before this according to the other schools of thought based on Mithl Awwal. As it is extremely difficult on some airlines in particular to perform Ṣalāh on the plane in a standing position, is it permissible for me to perform ʿAṣr Ṣalāh before I board, otherwise it will be qaḍāʾ?

بسم الله الرحمن الرحیم

Answer

The Ḥanafī position is to perform ʿAṣr Ṣalāh at Mithl Thānī, as is transmitted from Imam Abū Ḥanīfah (d. 150/767). However, many of our Ḥanafī scholars have stated that ʿAṣr Ṣalāh can be performed at Mithl Awwal, in accordance with the position of Imam Abū Yūsuf (d. 182/798), Imam Muḥammad (d. 189/805), Imam Ṭaḥāwī (d. 321/933) and others. Scholars who have suggested this include Shāh Walī Allah Muḥaddith Dehlawī (d. 1176/1762) (Fatāwā Rashīdiyyah, p.256), Qāḍī Thanāʾ Allah Pānīpattī (d. 1225/1810) (Tafsīr Maẓharī, 2:444), Shāh ʿAbd al-Azīz Muḥaddith Dehlawī (d. 1239/1824) (Fatāwā Rashīdiyyah, p.256), Mawlānā ʿAbd al-Ḥayy Laknawī (d. 1304/1886) (Al-Taʿlīq al-Mumajjad, 1:165), Mawlānā Rashīd Aḥmad Gangohī (d. 1323/1905) (Fatāwā Rashīdiyyah, p.253), ʿAllāmah Anwar Shāh Kashmīrī (d. 1352/1933) (Fayḍ al-Bārī, 2:99), Mawlānā Ashraf ʿAlī Thānawī (d. 1362/1943) (Imdād al-Fatāwā, 1:95), Mufti Kifāyatullāh Dehlawī (d. 1372/1952) (Kifāyat al-Muftī, 1:30; 3:24), Shaykh Muḥammad Yūsuf Binorī (d. 1397/1977) (Maʿārif al-Sunan, 2:11), Mufti Maḥmūd Ḥasan Gangohī (d. 1417/1996) (Fatāwā Maḥmūdiyyah, 5:338), Mawlānā Yūsuf Ludyānwī (d. 1421/2000) (Āp Key Masāʾil awr Unkā Ḥal, 2:146), Mufti Rashīd Aḥmad Ludyānwī (d. 1422/2002) (Aḥsan al-Fatāwā, 2:145), Muḥaddith al-ʿAṣr Mawlānā Muḥammad Yūnus Jownpūrī (b. 1355/1936) (Al-Yawāqīt al-Ghāliyah, 1:238), Mufti Muḥammad Taqī ʿUthmānī (b. 1362/1943) (Dars Tirmidhī, 1:396), Mufti Raḍaʾ al-Ḥaq (b. 1369-70/1950) (Fatāwā Dār al-ʿUlūm Zakariyyā, 2:63) and my respected father Mufti Shabbir Ahmad (b. 1376/1957). Therefore, in such a scenario where ʿAṣr Ṣalāh is at risk, it is valid to perform ʿAṣr Ṣalāh at Mithl Awwal. One should also try to ensure that Dhuhr Ṣalāh is performed routinely before this time, as is the practice of the Ḥanafīs in Shām and elsewhere.

جاء في الأصل (۱: ۱٤٥): قلت: أرأیت وقت العصر متی هو، قال: من حین یكون الظل قامة فیزید علی القامة إلی أن تتغیر الشمس في قول أبي یوسف ومحمد، وقال أبو حنیفة: لا یدخل وقت العصر حتی یصیر الظل قامتین، وآخر وقتها غروب الشمس، انتهی، وقال الحصكفي في الدر المختار (۱: ۳٥۹): (ووقت الظهر من زواله) أي ميل ذكاء عن كبد السماء (إلى بلوغ الظل مثليه) وعنه مثله، وهو قولهما وزفر والأئمة الثلاثة، قال الإمام الطحاوي: وبه نأخذ، وفي غرر الأذكار: وهو المأخوذ به، وفي البرهان: وهو الأظهر لبيان جبريل، وهو نص في الباب، وفي الفيض: وعليه عمل الناس اليوم وبه يفتى، انتهی، قال ابن عابدین: قوله (وعليه عمل الناس اليوم) أي في كثير من البلاد ، والأحسن ما في السراج عن شيخ الإسلام أن الاحتياط أن لا يؤخر الظهر إلى المثل، وأن لا يصلي العصر حتى يبلغ المثلين ليكون مؤديا للصلاتين في وقتهما بالإجماع، انتهی، وراجع البحر الرائق (۱: ۲٥۷) لترجیح المثل الثاني وتحریر العبد الضعیف في آراء مشایخ دیوبند عن أداء صلوۃ العصر بعد المثل الأول۔

Allah knows best

Yusuf Shabbir

2 Shawwāl 1438 / 26 June 2017

Approved by: Mufti Shabbir Ahmad and Mufti Muhammad Tahir

This answer was collected from IslamicPortal.co.uk, which is a repository of Islamic Q&A, articles, books, and resources. Various schools write and oversee the answers, including Maulana Yusuf Shabbir, Mufti Shabbir Ahmed, and Mufti Muhammad Tahir. 

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