Fixing the prayer times according to a calendar

Question

The hajjis and worshippers [here] are so pious that their words are beyond [our] understanding; because of their daily [disputes over] rulings the mosques have become deserted. The issue that has arisen here is this: in the congregational prayer of any time, is it necessary to take people into consideration, or [to keep to] the time that has been publicly announced? The objecting hajjis and worshippers say: “I was praying the sunnas — why did the imam let the iqama (the takbir of the congregation) be called?

Answer

(1) To be rid of this trouble, the safest course is to fix the prayer times for the whole year, consulting calendars suited to local conditions and also finding out the practice of the surrounding mosques, and to put up a timetable for each month in the mosque, so that the imam begins the congregation at that time and those who come keep to it. (2)

Source: Fatawa Mahmudiyya

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