Assr (Afternoon Prayer)

General Definition

There are two major opinions regarding the start of Assr: The opinion proposed by the Shafi'i school of jurispundence, which is the most popular opinion, and the opinion proposed by the Hanafi school of jurisprudence.

Shafi'i School of Jurisprudence

Assr starts when the shadow of an object is equal to the sum of the object's shadow at the beginning of Zuhr time and the length of the object itself. For instance, assuming a person of 180 cm height, if during Zwaal (beginning of Zuhr time) that person's shadow is 30 cm long, then Assr would begin once that person's shadow reaches 210 cm (180+30).

Hanafi School of Jurisprudence

Assr starts when the shadow of an object is equal to the sum of the object's shadow at the beginning of Zuhr time and twice the length of the object itself. For instance, again assuming a person of 180 cm height, if during Zwaal (beginning of Zuhr time) that person's shadow is 30 cm long, then Assr would begin once that person's shadow reaches 390 cm (2 x 180 + 30).