History of Salah:

“…when the Quran directed people to pray, it was nothing unknown to them. They were fully aware of its pre-requisites and etiquette, rituals and utterances. Consequently, it was not required that the Qur’an mention its details. Just as it used to be offered as a practice of Abraham’s religion, the Prophet (sws) at the behest of the Qur’an promulgated it with certain changes among his followers and they are offering it generation after generation in the same manner. Thus, the source of this prayer is the consensus of the Muslims and their perpetual adherence to it“…

Prayer Timings:

“…It is incumbent upon the Muslims to pray five times a day. The time of each prayer is as follows:

fajr, zuhr, ‘asr, maghrib and ‘isha.

When the whiteness of the dawn emerges from the darkness of the night, then this is fajr.

When the sun starts to descend from midday, then this is zuhr.

When the sun descends below the line of sight, then this is ‘asr.

The time of sunset is maghrib.

When the redness of dusk disappears, this is ‘isha.

The time of fajr remains till sunrise, the time of zuhr remains till ‘asr begins, the time of ‘asr remains till maghrib, the time of maghribremains till ‘isha and the time of ‘isha remains till midnight. The times of sunrise and sunset are prohibited for praying since the sun used to be worshiped at these times. Like the rituals and utterances of the prayer, these prayer timings have also been transmitted to us through the consensus and perpetual adherence of the ummah. These timings have remained the same during the era of other prophets as well“…

(Excerpt from Meezan’s English Rendering)

Hence the Quran has referred to these timings at various places as a passing reference, not as a principle for Prayer timings.

For a detailed answer on History of Salah, please refer to the following portion of Ghamidi Sahab’s book Meezan:

Urdu:

نماز کی تاریخ

English:

History of the Prayer

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For a detailed answer on Prayer Timings, please refer to the following portion of Ghamidi Sahab’s book Meezan:

Urdu:

نماز کے اوقات

English:

Prayer Timings