Answered by Shaykh Sohail Hanif, SunniPath Academy Teacher
We understand that the `Asr prayer, if offered before Maghrib time enters will be valid. And it will be valid even if only the opening takbeera was completed before the sun completed its setting and Maghrib entered. However the questioner (referring to a previous question) specifically says that the adhan had already sounded. I understand this to mean that the sun has already set completely. How could the `Asr prayer be valid and considered a current offering?
Assalamu alaykum
The opinion expressed in this question is correct. One’s offering of the Asr prayer, or indeed any other prayer, is legally valid as long as one utters the opening Allahu Akbar’ before the end of that particular prayer time. If one starts a prayer after a prayer time has ended the prayer will count as a makeup and not a current offering and one will be guilty of having committed a major sin if done intentionally.
Both answers referred to in the question indicate that a person can still perform a current performance of Asr after the adhan of Maghrib. This seems to go against the aforementioned principle that a prayer must be commenced before the end of its prayer time; but in reality it does not.
There is a legal maxim that states, The basic assumption is that states remain as they are,’ (Article 5, Majalla al-Ahkam al-Adaliyya) and another that states, A certainty is not replaced by a doubt.’ (Article 4, ibid) When a particular prayer time, for example the Asr prayer, is drawing to an end, in the time between it and the commencement of the Maghrib prayer when one is uncertain whether Maghrib has entered or not one may still pray Asr and may not pray Maghrib, as indicated by the two aforementioned legal Maxims, because one was certain that the Asr time had entered and was uncertain concerning the entry of the Maghrib prayer.
Likewise when a prayer time commences according to a particular timetable, can one be certain that such a prayer time has actually started at the time stated? What if one’s watch is a few minutes too fast? What if the sun actually sets a minute after the time stated in the timetable? One can not be entirely certain. So in the very first minute of two of the entry of a prayer on a timetable one can reasonably say that one is uncertain that a particular prayer has started and so based on the above stated legal maxims one can pray a prayer from the previous prayer time. This is why it is generally recommended to not start praying a particular prayer or break one’s fast the very second the timetable states a prayer to have started but rather it is superior to wait a few minutes to ensure entry of that particular prayer time.
Some mosques allow for this slight error and delay their adhans slightly, like for example the Maghrib adhan in Amman which is generally about five minutes after the time stated in the timetable. Anybody starting their Asr prayer upon hearing this adhan has certainly missed the Asr prayer. Other mosques might start their adhan the very second stated in a timetable and it is with respect to such mosques that the previous two answers were given stating that one may pray the Asr prayer upon hearing the adhan of Maghrib and the prayer is still valid.
The to-the-second accuracy of prayer timetables can be subject to debate. Therefore one must not impose one’s opinion upon people who might start praying the instant a prayer timetable says so. Rather whatever has been mentioned above should be taken as a guide for one’s personal taqwa and nothing more. Prayer timetables are really quite accurate and anybody insisting on waiting more than a few minutes to start a prayer is afflicted by misgivings (waswasa).
And Allah knows best.
Sohail Hanif