On Spreading Doubts Regarding Prayer Times

In his book "The True Fajr (Dawn) - Between the Stipulation in the Quran and Linguistic Usage" (the foreword was written by the two great scholars Sheikh Salih Al-Fawzan and Sheikh Abdul Aziz Al-Sheikh), the author Ustadh Doctor Ibrahim Bin Muhammed Al-Sabeheeh wrote:

"If a person or an Imam now comes and says: 'The people are praying too early!' and another person says (to them): 'Do not pray!' and another group says: 'Repeat the prayer or your prayer is invalid!', then this constitutes sowing doubts in one of the acts of worship. This is not permitted except based on a fatwa (Islamic legal ruling) by the highest authority of Islamic jurisprudence in this country. This is because this matter is connected to the greatest act of worship, and it is not up to any individual to interfere in these matters based on their own opinion. The general public is not qualified to judge astronomical and mathematical issues, nor what is related to the prayer times and their calculation, regardless of whether it concerns sighting or calculation. Accordingly, it is proper to leave this matter to the specialists, so the matter remains in its original state, and it is not permissible to spread doubts regarding it."