MAKKAH: Two senior Muslim scholars, speaking at a conference in Makkah, Tuesday, said that astronomical solutions are compatible with Qur'anic teachings to determine prayer times. The permission to make use of astronomy to set prayer times was the focus of two papers submitted by Nizar Al-Sheikh and Sa'ad Al-Khathlan, members of the Islamic Jurisprudence Conference, at the Islamic Fiqh Conference, being held in Makkah. The scholars argued that a Muslim's prayer is only accepted by Allah when it is performed within its time period. If a Muslim performs a prayer knowingly before its due time, it is deemed unacceptable, they said. On a general note, the scholars said that he who doubts that the prayer time has come should wait until he is sure that it has actually arrived. It is better to wait than to rush when doubting the true time of a prayer. The issue was raised in the conference as it has faced Muslims for a long time. In Islam, prayer times are set with respect to the sun's position in the sky, above the horizon (during the day) or below it (for the sunset and evening/night prayer). In particular, the moments of the first and last prayers are defined by when the first rays of the sun are refracted by the Earth's atmosphere, which has been generally agreed to occur when the sun is about 18 degrees below the horizon. The problem is that the sun does not go that far below the horizon in high-latitude places during certain periods of the year. Conferences, like the one in Makkah, have heard from experts who present novel solutions. The question is usually the extent to which such solutions are both applicable without difficulty and acceptable to the religious authorities. Meanwhile, the conference participants from across the globe engaged in heated and long standing arguments about some thorny issues in Islamic jurisprudence, including the treatment of an abandoned baby born out of wedlock. The scholars agreed that an abandoned foundling baby whose father is not known may not be officially adopted and given the family name of any other person. Family relations may not be officially instituted through adultery in order to keep the marriage institution intact, the five-member panel discussing the topic argued. They also warned against official adoption which comes with a legal given name and right of inheritance to a baby born out of wedlock. Islam, however, recommends good treatment and care for foundling babies from the public funds, the panel said.
