Praying Asr at One Shadow-Length Because Attendance at Class Is Unavoidable

Question

I am a first-year M.A. Urdu student at a local college. Our classes are held in the evening hours, and the time of one prayer or another begins and ends while we are studying. The question requiring an answer is: please tell me, may I perform this prayer before its time, or should I perform it as qada’?

Answer

There is no right to pray [a prayer] before [its time], unless there is permission, as with the Asr prayer, which is usually performed when the shadow reaches two shadow-lengths (mithlayn), yet there is latitude at one shadow-length (mithl) as well. So you may pray Asr at one shadow-length; do not make it up as qada’.

Source: Fatawa Mahmudiyya

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