Calculating the time of zawāl and the prohibited prayer times

Question

Please advise:

1). How the precise time of Zawaal is calculated.

2). What is the preferred duration on either side of this time that one must avoid praying any Salaah.

— Mohamed Hussein, Brisbane, Australia

Answer

The disliked (makrūh) time of prayer called ḍaḥwā kubrā, which is also incorrectly known amongst the masses as the time of zawāl, occurs at the time of the sun’s zenith. One of the many methods of calculation for the precise time for the commencement of ḍaḥwā kubrā is that the beginning time of fajr be added to the time of maghrib (sunset), both in 12-hour clock formats. Thereafter, the sum of this will be divided by two, and six will be added to it at the end. This process will result in the start time of ḍaḥwā kubrā.

[Zubdah al-Tawqīt, pg. 3, Muftī Sayyid ‘Afḍal Ḥusayn Mawngīrī]

This method is expressed in the following formula:

((fajr+maghrib)/2)+6=ḍaḥwā kubrā

An example of this, in the case that the true dawn of a day is at 4:51:49 a.m. and sunset is at 7:49:07 p.m., would be that 4:51:49 and 7:49:07 will be added. Upon attaining the resulting sum of 12:40:56, this number will be divided by two to get 6:20:28. Six hours will be added to this result, and this would lead to the final answer of 12:20:28 p.m., and that would be the start time of ḍaḥwā kubrā for this day.

The end time of ḍaḥwā kubrā is the same as the start time for ẓuhr. It is from the beginning of ḍaḥwā kubrā to its end wherein ṣalāh and any sajdah is disliked, and Allāh knows best.

May he be pardoned

Faqīr Sayyid `Abdul Ṣamad al-Qādirī · Shawwāl 14,1445

Verified by Muftī Zāhid Ḥussain al-Qādirī