How Many Rakats Is Asr? Sunnah and Fard

Asr is 4 rakats of fard. The 4 rakats of sunnah before the fard are non-emphasized, meaning the Prophet prayed them less often than the emphasized sunnahs. With the sunnah that is 8 rakats; praying only the fard is 4. No sunnah or Witr follows Asr.

Why is Asr called the "middle prayer"?

Surah al-Baqarah commands guarding the prayers and the middle prayer:

Be guardians of your prayers, and of the midmost prayer, and stand up with devotion to Allah

The TDV Encyclopedia of Islam notes that the majority of scholars take this to mean Asr. The Diyanet Namaz İlmihali gives the same view and cites the Prophet's words at the Battle of the Trench, when the polytheists kept the Muslims from praying Asr:

“May Allah fill their graves and houses with fire, as they distracted us from the middle prayer until the sun set.”

Another narration of the same report explains the middle prayer as Asr, which he then made up between Maghrib and Isha.

How is the sunnah of Asr prayed?

The sunnah before the fard of Asr and Isha is non-emphasized, and it differs from the Dhuhr sunnah in a few places:

• In the first sitting the Tashahhud is followed by the Salawat (Salli and Barik), and only then do you stand for the third rakat.
• In the third rakat you begin with Subhanaka before the ta'awwudh and basmalah.
• The four rakats can be prayed in one go or two at a time. If two at a time, give the salam after two and then pray two more.

The Namaz İlmihali relays from ‘Ali that the Prophet prayed four rakats before the Asr fard and divided them with a salam after every two. The fard is prayed like other four-rakat fard prayers: in the third and fourth rakats only al-Fatihah is recited. For the sequence, see how to perform Salah.

The time of Asr

The start of Asr depends on shadow length. According to the majority of jurists it begins when an object's shadow equals its own length (excluding the shadow at zawal), the earlier Asr (asr-i awwal). According to Abu Hanifa it begins at twice that length (asr-i thani). The Diyanet calendar follows the earlier view, so the Asr time you see in the calendar is the earlier one. The final time is just before sunset.

Can you pray Asr when the sun turns yellow?

The makruh time begins roughly 45 to 50 minutes before sunset. Make-up prayers, Witr and sunnahs are not prayed then, but that day's Asr fard may be. The High Council says that delaying Asr until this time without an excuse is makruh, yet if it had not been prayed earlier, it is prayed even as the sun is about to set. Whoever catches one rakat before sunset has caught the Asr time. The Namaz İlmihali adds that the Prophet delayed Asr until the sun reddened, but there is no report that he delayed it to the last moment, and the Companions disliked delaying it.

Voluntary prayer after Asr

In the Hanafi school no voluntary prayer is offered after Asr until the sun has set:

there should be no prayer after the ‘Asr prayer until the sun sets

Missing Asr

A missed Asr is made up, with no sin if the reason was oversleeping or forgetting. The make-up is 4 rakats, prayed as it would be on time. The Asr sunnah itself is not made up, because the only sunnahs made up are those of Fajr, Dhuhr and Friday. See how to make up missed prayers.

Compare all five prayers in how many rakats in each prayer, and check today's Asr time on the prayer times page.

Sources

1. Diyanet Presidency of Religious Affairs, Namaz İlmihali (Karagöz, Altuntaş), Ankara 2011 (Turkish): PDF
2. High Council of Religious Affairs, the time of Asr (Turkish): kurul.diyanet.gov.tr
3. High Council of Religious Affairs, makruh times (Turkish): kurul.diyanet.gov.tr
4. TDV Encyclopedia of Islam, "Namaz" (Turkish): islamansiklopedisi.org.tr/namaz; "Vakit": islamansiklopedisi.org.tr/vakit