Maghrib (Arabic:صلاة المغرب) is one of the fivemandatorysalah (Islamic prayers), and contains three cycles (rak'a). If counted from midnight, it is the fourth one.
According to Shia andSunni Muslims, the period for Maghrib prayer starts just aftersunset, followingAsr prayer, and ends at the beginning ofnight, the start of theIsha prayer. As forShia Muslims, since they allow Maghrib and Isha prayers to be performed one after another, the period for Maghrib prayer extends until midnight. Sunni Muslims (Except for theHanafi school) are also permitted to combine Maghrib and Isha prayers if they are traveling and incapable of performing the prayers separately. In this case, the period for Maghrib prayer extends from sunset to dawn, as with Shiites.
The formal daily prayers ofIslam comprise different numbers of units, calledrakat. The Maghrib prayer has three obligatory (fard) rak'at and twosunnah and two non-obligatorynafls. The first two fard rak'ats are prayed aloud by theImam in congregation (the person who misses the congregation and is offering prayer alone is not bound to speak the first two rak'ats aloud), and the third is prayed silently.
To be considered validsalat, the formal daily prayers must each be performed within their own prescribed time period. People with a legitimate reason have a longer period during which their prayers will be valid.[1][better source needed]
When the sun has completely set beneath the horizon; immediately after theAsr prayer period ends.
Time ends
Most scholarly opinions follow theHanafi school, that Isha'a begins when complete darkness has arrived and the yellow twilight in the sky has disappeared.
According to a minority opinion in the Maliki school, the prescribed time for Maghrib prayer ends when the red thread has disappeared from the sky. In another opinion of the Shafi'i school, the disappearance of the red thread marks the end of the Period of Necessity. These times can be approximated by using the sun as a measure. When the sun has descended 12 degrees below the horizon, it is approximately equivalent to the disappearance of the red from the sky. For approximating when complete darkness begins, i.e. the disappearance of the white thread from the sky, some astronomers argue that it occurs when the sun has descended 15 degrees below the horizon while others use the safer number of 18 degrees.[2][3]Astronomical twilight occurs when the sun is between 12 degrees and 18 degrees below the horizon.
When the redness of the eastern sky, which persists in the east for some time after sunset, disappears from above one's head when one looks vertically upwards.
Time ends
At midnight. The end of its time is after approximately eleven-and-a-quarter hours have passed from the legal noontime. This is for when one is under normal circumstances. However, in the case of one who was asleep, or forgot to perform the prayer or was coerced by extraordinary circumstances or factors beyond his control or in the case of a woman whose prayer was delayed due to menstruation, the end of the Maghrib prayer time is Fajr.
Despite the relatively long period in which valid prayers can be recited, it is considered important to recite the prayer as soon as the time begins.
Shia doctrine permits the mid-day and afternoon andevening and night prayers to be prayed in succession, i.e. Zuhr can be followed by Asr once the mid-day prayer has been recited and sufficient time has passed, and Maghrib can be followed by Isha'a once the evening prayer has been recited and sufficient time has passed.
DuringRamadan, the maghrib prayer marks the end of the fast and is the start of theiftar.
