Invalid practice of time adjustment for prayer times

Since there are no real Fajr and Isha times for a few weeks in Germany during the summer, the prayer times are not calculated in the same way all year round. Outside of summer, when all phenomena are present, prayer times must be calculated according to the normal method, regardless of how late they get. Only when the prayer time does not occur at all may it be calculated according to an Ijtihad. Unfortunately, in practice, this is still not implemented this way by most organisations, which do so using the argument of "facilitation". They artificially alter the times before and after the transition, as they want to avoid late prayer times at all costs. This means that the real Fajr and Isha still exist, and the prayer time is simply ignored. The reason for the late times is that twilight begins to disappear in spring. This means that Isha and Fajr move closer and closer together until they meet and both prayer times no longer occur. The same applies in reverse a few weeks later when the real times occur again.

The Muslim World League, chaired by the Mufti in Saudi Arabia, has confirmed the inadmissibility of such an adjustment in its fatwas and stated: "If the phenomena still occur, the prayer time must be used, no matter how late it arrives."

With regard to people for whom these times represent a hardship, it has generally been recommended to combine the Isha prayer with the Maghrib prayer and to make up for the fasting days in winter when the days become shorter again. Because the validity of the fast is highly questionable anyway if one has their Suhoor (pre-dawn meal) at a time when Fajr has already arrived.

At present, all major organisations use this invalid practice.

Below is a table for illustration

      <table class="ui very basic collapsing celled table">
        <tr>
          <td colspan=10>
            The valid prayer times: green the real Fajr; blue the time according to Ijtihad
          </td>
        </tr>
        <tr class="mobile hidden">
          <td>
            18.04.
          </td>
          <td>
            19.04.
          </td>
          <td>
            20.04.
          </td>
          <td>
            21.04.
          </td>
          <td>
            22.04.
          </td>
          <td>
            23.04.
          </td>
          <td>
            24.04.
          </td>
          <td>
            25.04.
          </td>
          <td>
            26.04.
          </td>
          <td>
            27.04.
          </td>
        </tr>
        <tr>
          <td class="green-cell">
            3:43
          </td>
          <td class="green-cell">
            3:33
          </td>
          <td class="green-cell">
            3:21
          </td>
          <td class="green-cell">
            3:10
          </td>
          <td class="green-cell">
            2:55
          </td>
          <td class="green-cell">
            2:33
          </td>
          <td class="green-cell">
            2:09
          </td>
          <td class="green-cell">
            1:44
          </td>
          <td class="blue-cell">
            4:23
          </td>
          <td class="blue-cell">
            4:20
          </td>
        </tr>
        <tr>
          <td colspan=10>
            An example of an adjustment between the methods with invalid prayer times in red
          </td>
        </tr>
        <tr>
          <td class="green-cell">
            3:43
          </td>
          <td class="red-cell">
            3:48
          </td>
          <td class="red-cell">
            3:53
          </td>
          <td class="red-cell">
            3:59
          </td>
          <td class="red-cell">
            4:04
          </td>
          <td class="red-cell">
            4:09
          </td>
          <td class="red-cell">
            4:14
          </td>
          <td class="red-cell">
            4:18
          </td>
          <td class="blue-cell">
            4:23
          </td>
          <td class="blue-cell">
            4:20
          </td>
        </tr>
      </table>