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| Asr prayer | |
|---|---|
 Afternoon sun | |
| Official name | صلاة العصر، الصلاة الوسطى، صلاة العشي، صلاة الآصال |
| Also called | Afternoon prayer |
| Observed by | Muslims |
| Type | Islamic |
| Significance | A Muslim prayer offered to Allah at the afternoon hour of the day. |
| Observances | Fard |
| Begins | Afternoon |
| Ends | Sunset |
| Frequency | Daily |
| Related to | Salah, Wazifa, Five Pillars of Islam |
| Part of a series on |
| Islam |
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The Asr prayer (Arabic: صلاة العصر ṣalāt al-ʿaṣr, "afternoon prayer") is one of the mandatory five daily Islamic prayers.
The Asr prayer consists of four obligatory cycles, rakat. An additional four rakat sunna prayer is recommended to be performed before the obligatory prayer.[1] As with Zuhr prayer, if it is performed in congregation, the imam is silent except when announcing the takbir,[2] i'tidal,[3] and taslim.[4]
The period of Asr prayer begins approximately when the sun is halfway down from noon to sunset (various schools of thought of Islam differ on the starting point; some say that it begins when the shadow of an object equals its actual length plus its shadow during noon, others say that the actual length must be doubled).[citation needed] Asr prayer ends at sunset.
The middle prayer mentioned in the Qur'an, Sura 2 Al-Baqara, verse 238 is interpreted by Islamic scholars as being either the Asr prayer or the Fajr prayer. Muslims are commanded to protect the middle prayer, meaning that it should be performed at all costs.[5]
The five daily prayers collectively are one pillar of the Five Pillars of Islam in Sunni Islam, and one of the ten Practices of the Religion (Furū al-Dīn) according to Shia Islam.
Al-Asr is the title of the 103rd sura of the Qur’ān.