The original shadow (fay’ al-zawal)

Question

The Ahl-e Hadith perform the ‘asr prayer when the shadow of a stick becomes twice [its length], and they do not take the original shadow (fay’ al-zawal) into account. Is their prayer valid or not?

Answer

According to the Ahl-e Hadith, the time of ‘asr begins when the shadow [of an object] equals the object (one shadow-length), excluding the original shadow; whereas according to Imam A‘zam Abu Hanifa ﵀, the time of ‘asr begins when the shadow of everything becomes twice its length (two shadow-lengths), excluding the original shadow.

Source: Fatawa Mahmudiyya

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