Ruling on delaying ‘Asr prayer and its adhaan for an hour so that employees can gather

Question

Praise be to Allah.

Firstly:

The Sunnah is to give the adhaan when the time for the prayer
begins, because that was the usual practice of the mu’adhdhins of the
Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him). But there is
nothing wrong with those who want to offer the prayer later than the
beginning of its time delaying the adhaan so that it will be closer to the
time when they offer the prayer.

Ar-Ramli said in his commentary on Asna al-Mataalib
(1/133): The adhaan should be given for the prayer when the time for it
begins, although it is acceptable to do it until the time for the prayer
ends. End quote.

In other words, the time for the adhaan lasts from when the
time for the prayer begins until that time ends.

With regard to giving the adhaan before the time for prayer
begins, that is not permissible except in the case of Fajr prayer.

Ibn Qudaamah (may Allah have mercy on him) said in
al-Mughni (1/246): Giving the adhaan before the time for prayer begins,
except for Fajr, is not acceptable, and we do not know of any difference of
opinion concerning that. Ibn al-Mundhir said: The scholars are unanimously
agreed that the Sunnah is to give the adhaan for prayer after the time for
the prayer has begun, except in the case of Fajr. Because the adhaan was
prescribed to signal the time for prayer, it is not prescribed to do it
before the time begins, lest the purpose for which it was prescribed is
missed. End quote.

Shaykh Ibn ‘Uthaymeen (may Allah have mercy on him) was asked
about the ruling on delaying the adhaan from the beginning of the time for
prayer.

He said: If a person is in a town, it is not appropriate to
delay it from the beginning of the time, because that will lead to chaos and
differences among the mu’adhdhins, and it will lead to people becoming
confused as to which of them is more correct, the one who does it sooner or
the one who does it later? But if the adhaan has nothing to do with the town
(rather it is the matter of a group of people working in some institution
and the like) then it is up to them, but it is better for them to give the
adhaan at the beginning of the time and then pray, because doing the prayer
at the beginning of its time is preferable except in cases where it is
prescribed to delay it. If it is prescribed to delay it, then the adhaan may
also be delayed. Hence it is proven in Saheeh al-Bukhaari that the
Messenger (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) was on a journey and
the mu’adhdhin got up to give the call to prayer, but the Prophet (blessings
and peace of Allah be upon him) said: “Wait until it cools down.” Then he
wanted to get up and he said, “Wait until it cools down.” Then he wanted to
get up and he said, “Wait until it cools down,” until the hill was the same
length as its shadow, then he gave the call to prayer. This indicates that
the adhaan is prescribed when the prayer is prescribed. If the prayer is one
of those that may be delayed, such as Zuhr prayer in the case of extreme
heat and ‘Isha’ prayer, then the adhaan may be delayed. This applies outside
of towns and villages in which there are mu’adhdhins. Otherwise it is not
appropriate to delay it from the time when the people usually give the
adhaan.

End quote from Fataawa ash-Shaykh Ibn ‘Uthaymeen,
12/189. The hadeeth mentioned was narrated by al-Bukhaari (539) and Muslim
(616)

Based on that, you may give the adhaan at the beginning of
the time for prayer, then you may give the iqaamah only when you want to
pray, or you may delay the adhaan so that it will be close to the time when
you actually pray.

Secondly:

The preferred time for ‘Asr prayer ends when the sun turns
yellow, and it is not permissible to delay the prayer until after that
except in case of necessity, because the Prophet (blessings and peace of
Allah be upon him) said: “The appropriate time for ‘Asr is so long as the
sun has not turned yellow.” Narrated by Muslim (612) from ‘Abdullah ibn ‘Amr
ibn al-‘Aas (may Allah be pleased with him). See also the answer to question
no. 9940

The best is to hasten to offer the prayer, because of the
general meaning of the hadeeths which speak of the virtue of offering the
prayer at the beginning of its time. But if delaying it is appropriate so
that the employees may gather and prepare themselves for the prayer, and
that is before the sun turns yellow, then there is nothing wrong with it.

Referring to the Umm al-Qura prayer timetable, we see that
the shortest time for ‘Asr prayer is at the end of November and the
beginning of December, when the time for ‘Asr begins at 2.30 pm and the sun
sets at 4.50 pm, and you said that you want to pray ‘Asr at 3.45 pm. This is
before the sun turns yellow, in sha Allah.

Based on that, there is nothing wrong with you praying ‘Asr
at the time stated.

With regard to Zuhr prayer, we see that on some days of the
year the time for it begins after 11.45 am, which is the time that you
mention for the adhaan. In the middle of February, the time for Zuhr begins
at approximately 11.55 am according to the Umm al-Qura timetable.

What this means is that on some days of the year, you will be
giving the adhaan for Zuhr prayer before the time for it begins, and this is
not permissible according to scholarly consensus, as stated above.

So you have to revise the time for the adhaan of Zuhr, even
if that means delaying it so that it will be at 12.00 noon.

Thirdly:

With regard to the words of the Prophet (blessings and peace
of Allah be upon him) when he was asked which deed is most beloved to Allah,
and he said: “Prayer offered on time” (narrated by al-Bukhaari (527) and
Muslim (85), this indicates that prayer should be offered on time. Some of
the scholars said that it indicates that it is preferable to offer it when
the time for it begins. See: Fath al-Baari.

But Abu Dawood (426) narrated that Umm Farwah (may Allah be
pleased with her) said: The Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah
be upon him) was asked: Which deed is best? He said: “Prayer offered when
the time for it begins.” Classed as saheeh by al-Albaani in Saheeh Abi
Dawood.

This clearly indicates that it is preferable to pray when the
time for the prayer begins, with the exception of waiting until it cools
down to pray Zuhr in the case of extreme heat, and delaying ‘Isha’ prayer if
that does not cause any hardship to the worshippers.

With regard to Zuhr prayer, you will be offering it at the
beginning of its time throughout the year, according to the Umm al-Qura
timetable.

With regard to ‘Asr prayer, there are some days of the year
when the day is short, so you will be offering it after more than half of
its time has passed, which means that you will not be offering it at the
beginning of its time; however doing it at that time is permissible, so long
as it is before the sun turns yellow.

And Allah knows best.