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Understanding Zawal Time: Start and End.

Answered as per Hanafi Fiqh by Muftionline.co.za

Q: What is time of zawal and when does it start and end?

Bismillaah

A: Since the sun is in a constant rotation, it will be difficult to exactly say when the sun will be at the zenith. Hence the ulama advise that a few minutes before and after the calendar time should be considered as zawaal. One way of determining the time of zawaal is that after sunrise the shadow of any object falls to the west and decreases as the sun moves to a higher position. When the shadow stops decreasing then that is the point that the sun has reached the zenith, and once the shadow begins to fall to the east then that is the sign to show that the time of zawaal is over.

And Allah Ta’ala (الله تعالى) knows best.

Answered by:

Mufti Ebrahim Salejee (Isipingo Beach)

This answer was collected from MuftiOnline.co.za, where the questions have been answered by Mufti Zakaria Makada (Hafizahullah), who is currently a senior lecturer in the science of Hadith and Fiqh at Madrasah Ta’leemuddeen, Isipingo Beach, South Africa.