Assalamu alaikum warahmatullahi wabarakatuh!

All Praises and thanks be to Allah. And May the Peace & Blessings of Allah be on the last Prophet Muhammad ibn Abdullah, his family, companions and all those who follow his sunnah till the end...

Allah says (interpretation of the meaning):

“Verily, As-Salaah (the prayer) is enjoined on the believers at fixed hours”

[al-Nisa’ 4:103]

Prayer offered before its time is not valid, according to the consensus of the Muslims. If a person offers a prayer before its time:

- if he does that deliberately, then the prayer is invalid and he is not free of sin.

- If that was not done deliberately, and he did it because he thought that the time for prayer had begun, then it is not a sin, and his prayer is regarded as naafil, but he has to repeat it because one of the conditions of the prayer is that it be done at the right time.

Shaykh Muhammad ibn ‘Uthaymeen, in al-Sharh al-Mumti’, 2/88.

Note that the prayer times that is fixed in our respective mosques may not be totally correct! The timings of Solah changes with the season. Sometimes the day may be longer than the night and vice versa! And day and night can be equal in length. Solah time also varies according to geographical location. Hence, the prayer time in Lagos State would be significantly different from that in Borno State.


Solah time is not fixed and varies by season & location!

As Muslims we need to be conscious of the accurate Solah timings as Solah prayed before it's time is invalid! It is appropriate to pray just after its time according to the prevailing season!

What time do we pray?

Zhur Prayer.
The time for Zuhr is from when the sun has passed its zenith and a man’s shadow is equal in length to his height (this is the end time), until the time for ‘Asr comes. The end of the time for Zuhr is when the shadow of everything is equal in length to the object itself, plus the length of the shadow of the object at the time of the zenith.

Most Mosque i know in Lagos pray Zhur by 2pm. Some are gradually drawing back the time to between past 1pm to 1:30pm.
All this timings are correct. Current Zuhr time in Lagos is close to 1:10pm.

Asri Prayer
The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “The time for ‘Asr lasts until the sun turns yellow.” We know that the time for ‘Asr begins when the time for Zuhr ends, i.e., when the length of an object’s shadow becomes equal to the length of the object itself.

Some Mosque err by fixing Asri time to 4pm. Solah time now in Lagos is close to 4:30pm.

Maghrib
The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “The time for Maghrib lasts until the twilight has faded.”
i.e., the time for Maghrib starts immediately after the time for ‘Asr ends, which is when the sun sets, until the twilight or red afterglow has faded.

Most Mosque are correct here as the time the sun sets is readily visible! Magrib Time in Lagos is close to 6:55pm.

'Isha
The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “The time for ‘Isha’ lasts until midnight.”
So the time for ‘Isha’ begins immediately after the time for Maghrib ends (i.e., when the red afterglow disappears from the sky) until midnight. To learn how to calculate midnight visit the site below and read under "time of 'Isha".

Time for Isha Prayer in Lagos begins around 8:10pm and end around 12:29am Midnight.

Fajr Prayer or Subhi
The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “The time for Subh (Fajr) prayer lasts from the beginning of the pre-dawn so long as the sun has not yet started to rise. When the sun starts to rise then stop praying, for it rises between the two horns of the Shaytaan.”


Some Mosque pray Subhi between 5:30am and 5:50am in Lagos. This is not appropriate. Solah time for Fajr in Lagos is around 6:05-6:10 am.



And Allah knows best.

May Allah guide us and accept our Ibaadah! Aamin.