Fiqh of Salah Quiz

Introduction:

1. What are the linguistic definitions of salah?

• Dua
• Blessing, Forgiveness, Mercy,
• Synangogue
• Other: salan = middle of the back; the part which has to bend

2. What is the technical definition of salah?

The worship of Allah with a particular set of statements and actions that begin
with the takbir and end with the taslim

3. Is salah a fard kifayah or a fard al-‘ayn?

Fard kifayah: by ijma’

4. What are the conditions for the accountability of salah?

• Islam
• Sanity
• Post-Pubescence
• State of Purity
• State of Awareness

5. What do the scholars say about the one who denies the obligation of salah?

There is consensus that the one who denies the obligation of salah is a
disbeliever.

6. What are the three opinions on the one who abandons the prayer out of
laziness?

Imam Ahmad: The person is killed as a disbeliever because the person has
committed an act of apostasy

Imam Malik and Shafi’i: The person is a muslim but a fasiq (disobedient evildoer).
He is asked to repent for 3 days and if he doesn’t then he is killed as a
prescribed punishment (hadd) and not as a disbeliever or apostate

Imam Abu Hanifah: The person is a muslim but a fasiq (disobedient evildoer). He
is not to be killed but rather imprisoned and beaten until he repents and if he
doesn’t then he’s left in prison.

Conclusion: Malik and Shafi’i’s position as Imam Al-Nawawi said

7. What was the number of prayers before it was reduced to 5?

50
8. What was the direction of the prayer before it was changed to Makkah?
Jerusalem-Masjid al-Aqsa

9. What is taqlid?

Taqlid refers to a layman (‘ammi) accepting a religious ruling from an ‘Alim

without questioning his
textual proof or juristic reasoning.

10. What is ijma’?

Consensus between the majority of the scholars

11. What is a madhab?

A school of thought or a school of law. Normally it has a founder.

12. Is it an obligation to follow a madhab?

The obligation is to follow someone who knows i.e. a scholar

13. What are the names of the Imams of the 4 schools?

• Hanafi School: Imam Abu Hanifah

• Maliki School: Imam Malik
• Shafi’i School: Imam Shafi’i
• Hanbali School: Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal

14. What is the name of the key hadith in which the times of salah are
established:

Hadith of Jibril/Hadith of Jabir b. Abdullah

15. Why is it referred to by these names?

It involves Jibril showing the Prophet and Jabir b. Abdullah is the narrator

16. Describe this hadith roughly

This is the hadith in which Jibril showed the Prophet the beginning time of each
prayer on the first day and the end time of each prayer on the second day.

17. What is the time for Fajr?

It is from the true dawn until sunrise.

18. What is the true dawn and how did Sheikh Abu Eesa show us?

It is once the twilight becomes visible horizontally across the sky connected to
the horizon. Moved his finger/arm across the way.

19. What is the first/false dawn and how did Sheikh Abu Eesa show us?
It is the short time where a small amount of light appears directly overhead
before the true dawn.

20. Translate the following terms:

Fajr’l-sadiq: True dawn

Fajr’l-Kadhib: First/false dawn

Tulu’ al-Shams: Sunrise

21. How long does Fajr last?

1 ½ hours

22. What are the three angles used for calculating the Salah times in the angle
method?

15, 17, 19

23. What is the start time for Zuhr?

The start time for Zuhr is from when the sun starts to decline to the West post its
zenith. (Shadow = just shadow of zenith/zawaal)

24. What is zenith in Arabic?

Zawaal (Zenith = exactly midday)

25. When is the end time for Zuhr? Give the 2 opinions.

a) Malik, Ahmad, Shafi’i (and 2 of the Hanafi Imams; Muhammad ibn al-Hasan
and Abu Yusuf)

When the shadow is the same length as yourself plus the length of your shadow
at the zenith/zawaal. They use the hadith of Jibril to back it up

b) Abu Hanifah

Once the shadow of each object is twice the length of yourself, plus the length of
your shadow at zawaal

26. What is the time for Asr?

It starts just after the time of Zuhr has finished, based upon the two earlier
opinions. It finishes just before the sun has set i.e. the disk of the sun disappears
from the horizon.

27. When does Asr end?

When the sun becomes bright.

28. When is the time for Maghrib?

By consensus, this starts once the sun has set, and the disk disappears on the
horizon.
The time for Maghrib continues until the twilight remains in the sky. This is the
opinion of the majority.

29. What are the two opinions on what the twilight at the end of Maghrib is?

According to the Hanafis and Shafi’is the twilight is the redness in the sky.

According to Abu Hanifah it is the whiteness that remains on the horizon after
the redness until darkness falls.

30. What is the preferable time to pray Maghrib?

All of the scholars agree that the best time to pray is straight after sunset.

31. When is the time for Isha?

The majority stated that it starts once the redness of the twilight has
disappeared from the sky, lasting until just before the break of true dawn.

32. What is the preferred time for Isha?

It is until a third of the night or a half of the night has passed.