Q:
1. There are two times for the starting of Asr Salah. The earlier time is according to the Sha'afi madhab, and a later time is according to Hanafi madhab. I recently came to know that even for us as Hanafis, it is wajib to perform Zuhr salah before the start of Sha'afi Asr time, to be on the safe side and avoid the risk of our Zuhr Salah being Qaza. Is this correct?
2. If a Hanafi performs Asr Salah when the time has started according to Sha'afi madhab but according to Hanafi madhab the time has still not entered, is his Salah valid? Does he have to repeat the Salah? (This is a very common problem in many Western countries where Hanafis print out Salah timetables from the Internet and the Asr time displayed there is according to Sha'afi madhab. So these people then perform Asr salah before the Hanafi time).
3. In some non-Hanafi countries, Asr Salah is performed in the Masajid before the Hanafi time. In this case, a Hanafi person has two choices, either to perform Salah with Jamaat before the Hanafi time or to offer it alone later on. What should he do?
4. There is a time before starting of Zuhr salah when it is prohibited to do Sajda or perform any Salah. I was under the impression that this time lasts for only ten or fifteen minutes before Zuhr. However, I came across a Salah timetable where it mentions the 'Makruh' time before Zuhr. For Durban, South Africa for 3rd April, this Makruh time has a duration of 38 minutes, lasting from 11.22 a.m till 12.00 pm. Is this correct?
A: 1. It is not wajib, it is preferable.
2. If he has done it because of him having to join up with the jamaat then the namaaz is valid.
3. As above.
4. To determine exactly how long is the zawaal time is difficult. Hence, ulama advise a few minutes before and a few minutes after that the namaaz should not be performed. Some suggest five to eight minutes before and five to eight minutes after.
And Allah Ta'ala (الله تعالى) knows best.
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