Mu' meneen Brothers and Sisters,

As Salaam Aleikum wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuh.  (May Allah's Peace, Mercy and Blessings be upon all of you)

One of our brothers/sisters has asked this question:

Assalamu alaikum,

The time between asr and magrib is zawwal time. So if you enter a masjid during this time ie. before magrib salah should you not read the tahayyitul-masjif nawafil.

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Answer:

Tahiyatul Masjid before Magrib

In the name of Allah, We praise Him, seek His help and ask for His forgiveness. Whoever Allah guides none can misguide, and whoever He allows to fall astray, none can guide them aright. We bear witness that there is no one (no idol, no person, no grave, no prophet, no imam, no dai, nobody!) worthy of worship but Allah Alone, and we bear witness that Muhammad(saws) is His slave-servant and the seal of His Messengers.

The term ‘zawaal’ is used for the time when the sun as is its zenith at mid-day, and as soon as the sun moves westward after this time of ‘zawaal’, it signals the start of the ‘dhuhr’ or noon prayer.

Al-Muwatta Hadith 15.48

Yahya related to me from Malik from Muhammad ibn Yahya ibn Habban from al Araj from Abu Hurayra that the Messenger of Allah (saws) forbade prayer after asr until the sun had set, and prayer after fajr until the sun had risen.

Sahih Al-Bukhari Hadith 1.562 Narrated by Abu Huraira

The Messenger of Allah (saws) forbade the offering of two prayers:

1. after the morning prayer (fajr) till the sun rises.

2. after the Asr prayer till the sun sets.

Al-Muwatta Hadith 20.120

Praying after Subh and Asr when doing Tawaf

Malik said, "If someone does some of his circuits and then the fajr or asr prayer is begun, he should pray with the imam and then complete the rest of his circuits but should not pray at all until the sun has either risen or set. There is no harm in delaying the two rakas until after he has prayed maghrib."

The Messenger of Allah (saws) forbade the believers to offer any prayers after the completion of the obligatory ‘asr’ prayers, until the sun had completely set. Thus if one happens to enter the masjid before the adhaan of ‘magrib’ has been announced, it would be best not to offer the two rakah ‘tahiyat-ul-masjid’ nafl prayers at this time, but rather wait until after the ‘magrib’ adhaan; and pray the two-rakah nafl prayers between the magrib ‘adhaan’ and the ‘iqaamah’.

Whatever written of Truth and benefit is only due to Allah’s Assistance and Guidance, and whatever of error is of me. Allah Alone Knows Best and He is the Only Source of Strength.

Your Brother in Islam,

Burhan