Isha\' prayer time in countries where twilight never disappears

By sheikh: Abd El-Akhir Hammad

- The beginning of summer engenders great confusion amongst many Muslims living in Germany and some European countries concerning the correct time for the commencement of the Isha' prayer where it is noticeably delayed in mosques and Islamic centers according to their timetables.

- The reason, which many do not know, is that the red twilight never completely disappears during a certain period of the summer but it remains until daylight. While the prophet- peace be upon him- told us that the time of Isha begins with the disappearance of twilight, which the vast majority of scholars believe it is the disappearance of the redness of twilight, this sign is not there during this period of time; the thing that created great disagreement between scholars.

- First we say that this phenomenon is old and was mentioned in ancient books. For example, in al-Qalqashandī's Subh al-a'sha "the Dawn of the Blind" (4/406) he stated that countries located above 48.5 latitude observe the phenomenon of persistent twilight with the beginning of summer.

NB

- We must differentiate between countries where twilight never disappears during summer and those where it persists until very late or shortly before dawn.

 The resolution of the Muslim World League Conference held in 1402H holds that the countries located between 45 degrees latitude north and south observe this phenomenon.

- Since the legislated indications of the commencement of prayer times exist in such countries, Isha prayer time begins with the disappearance of twilight even very late before dawn as Allah says, "Perform as-salat from midday till the darkness of the night, and recite the Quran in the early dawn. Verily, the recitation of the Quran in the early dawn is ever witnessed."

Identifying research problem

- Here we will discuss only Isha prayer time in the countries with persistent twilight i.e. those located above 48.5 latitude according to al-Qalqashandī and those between 48 and 66 latitude north and south according to the resolution of the Muslim World League Conference. This means that the phenomenon includes Britain, Belgium, Holland and Germany. 

Opinions concerning this issue:

The first opinion:

Isha prayer will not be performed since the legal sign does not exist. This opinion depends on analogy as washing the hands and feet in wodo' is not obligatory for the person whose hands and feet are cut off.

I say this is a strange opinion since Isha prayer cannot be canceled for there are numerous evidences that it is obligatory.

The second opinion:

Praying Isha after dawn as its time starts with the disappearance of twilight, which does not disappear until dawn. This is the opinion of a group of Shafi scholars as the imam of al Haramen.

This means that Isha prayer will be performed after its time which is haram "illegal".

The third opinion: estimation:

- The principle of estimation in essence is valid since it is mentioned in the famous hadith pertaining to the Dajjal during the last days, when Allah extends the length of the days of his presence so that one day will be as long as one complete year, another day will be equal to a month in length, and the third day as long as a week, while others are normal days in length. The Companions asked the Prophet, peace be upon him, about praying in these extended days. The reply of the Prophet, peace be upon him, was to command them to estimate the times of prayer. This hadith is reported in Sahih Muslim.

- Some scholars believe that the last time on which the legal sign appeared should be the reference time. This time should be adopted throughout the period of persistent twilight. In London, for example, the last day when the legal sign is detectable is the 25th May at 12:38am. According to this opinion, isha' should be prayed at 12:38 until the legal sign starts to be visible again on the 18th July.

A second group of these scholars holds that the reference point should be the nearest city where the legal sign is visible.

A third group of these scholars holds that in most countries Isha commences one hour and a half after maghrib and we can apply that in our case.

A fourth group of scholars holds that Makkah should be our reference point for matters related to acts of worship as it is our qiblah and we perform Hajj there. According to this opinion, Isha commences one and a half hours after Maghrib.

A fifth group of scholars adopts the combination between Maghrib and Isha.

I see that the first and second ways of estimation are the most accurate ones depending on the prophet's saying "

I do not agree with taking Makkah as our reference for it is very far from these countries. The same applies to the third way.

As for the opinion of combination, we say as long as we can estimate the Isha prayer time, there is no need for combining.

Allah knows best and He may guide us to the right path.

Translated by: Fatima Suleiman

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