Maghrib prayer

Time begins

• When the sun has completely set beneath the horizon; immediately after the Asr prayer period ends.[4]

Time ends

• Most scholarly opinions follow the Hanafi school, that Isha'a begins when complete darkness has arrived and the yellow twilight in the sky has disappeared.
• According to a minority opinion in the Maliki school, the prescribed time for Maghrib prayer ends when the red thread has disappeared from the sky. In another opinion of the Shafi'i school, the disappearance of the red thread marks the end of the Period of Necessity. These times can be approximated by using the sun as a measure. When the sun has descended 12 degrees below the horizon, it is approximately equivalent to the disappearance of the red from the sky. For approximating when complete darkness begins, i.e. the disappearance of the white thread from the sky, some astronomers argue that it occurs when the sun has descended 15 degrees below the horizon while others use the safer number of 18 degrees.[6][7] Astronomical twilight occurs when the sun is between 12 degrees and 18 degrees below the horizon.

Time begins

• When the redness of the eastern sky, which persists in the east for some time after sunset, disappears from above one's head when one looks vertically upwards.[4][8]

Time ends

• At midnight. The end of its time is after approximately eleven-and-a-quarter hours have passed from the legal noontime. This is for when one is under normal circumstances. However, in the case of one who was asleep, or forgot to perform the prayer or was coerced by extraordinary circumstances or factors beyond his control or in the case of woman whose prayer was delayed due to menstruation, the end of the Maghrib prayer time is Fajr.[9]

Despite the relatively long period in which valid prayers can be recited, it is considered important to recite the prayer as soon as the time begins.

Shia doctrine permits the mid-day and afternoon and evening and night prayers to be prayed in succession, i.e. Zuhr can be followed by Asr once the mid-day prayer has been recited and sufficient time has passed, and Maghrib can be followed by Isha'a once the evening prayer has been recited and sufficient time has passed.

After the Maghrib pray begins, a special meal is eaten to break the fast. This is called Iftar.

• Other salah:
  • Fajr prayer (Morning)
  • Zuhr prayer (Mid-day)
  • Asr prayer (Afternoon)
  • Isha prayer (Night)
• Maariv – Jewish evening prayer; with same etymology
• Mandaean prayer at evening

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Maghrib.

• 'My Prayer Times' on qul.org.au (in 13 languages)
• 'Prayer Time In' on prayertimein.com (English language)