Islamic questions

Clear, step-by-step answers to the most common questions about prayer, wudu, fasting and zakat. Every answer lists the sources it is based on.

Prayer times

• Why do UK prayer timetables differ for Fajr and Isha?
  Why Fajr and Isha times differ between UK timetables and apps, what happens in summer, and why Hanafi Asr is later. How Elif calculates UK prayer times.
• How are Isha and Fajr times set in Europe in summer?
  At high latitudes such as Germany, the Netherlands and the UK, twilight lingers in summer, so Isha and imsak are estimated. Diyanet's 2021 congress rulings.

Prayer

• How do you make up missed prayers (qada)?
  Only the obligatory prayers and witr are made up, not the sunnahs. How to make the intention, when order matters and when not to pray. Based on Diyanet.
• How do you pray when travelling (qasr)?
  Travelling 90 km+ and staying under 15 days makes you a traveller: four-rak'ah prayers become two. When it starts, sunnahs, combining, praying on transport.
• How do you perform sajdah sahw (the prostration of forgetfulness)?
  Sajdah sahw for mistakes in prayer: when it is needed, how to do it step by step, doubts about rak'ahs, praying behind an imam and forgetting it. Diyanet-based.
• How do you pray witr?
  Witr is three rak'ahs; in the third you say a takbir and recite the Qunut. Its ruling, its time, how to pray it and what to do if you forget the Qunut.
• How many rak'ahs is Jumu'ah, and how is it prayed?
  Jumu'ah is 10 rak'ahs: 4 sunnah before, 2 fard, 4 sunnah after. Who must attend, the khutbah, what to do if you miss it, and zuhr al-akhir. Diyanet-based.

Purification

• What breaks wudu?
  What breaks wudu in the Hanafi school and what doesn't: blood, vomiting, sleep, laughing, touching, nail polish, plasters. Diyanet-based, with other schools.
• How do you perform ghusl?
  The three obligatory acts of ghusl, the sunnah way step by step, what makes ghusl necessary, and Diyanet's view on fillings, nail polish and tattoos.

Fasting

• What breaks the fast and what doesn't?
  Do eating by mistake, injections, eye drops, brushing teeth or giving blood break the fast? What needs qada and kaffarah, qada only, or nothing — per Diyanet.

Zakat

• Who can receive zakat, and who cannot?
  Zakat goes to the eight groups in At-Tawbah 9:60, not to parents, children, grandchildren, a spouse or the wealthy. Siblings, charities and timing, per Diyanet.