The Book on Salat (Prayer)

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Hannād ibn al-Sarī narrated to us: ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Abī al-Zinād narrated to us, from ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn al-Ḥārith ibn ʿAyyāsh ibn Abī Rabīʿah, from Ḥakīm ibn Ḥakīm (who was ʿAbbād ibn Ḥunayf’s son). Nāfiʿ ibn Jubayr ibn Muṭʿim informed me, he said: Ibn ʿAbbās informed me that the Prophet (ﷺ) said: “Jibrīl (peace be upon him) led me in prayer at the House twice. The first time, he prayed Ẓuhr when the post-noon shadow was like a sandal strap. Then he prayed ʿAṣr when an object’s shadow was equal to its length. Then he prayed Maghrib when the sun had set and the fasting person broke the fast. Then he prayed ʿIshāʾ when the twilight disappeared. Then he prayed Fajr when dawn appeared and food became forbidden to the fasting person. The second time, he prayed Ẓuhr when an object’s shadow was equal to its length, at the time of ʿAṣr the day before. Then he prayed ʿAṣr when an object’s shadow was twice its length. Then he prayed Maghrib at its first time. Then he prayed the later ʿIshāʾ when one third of the night had passed. Then he prayed Ṣubḥ when the land had grown bright. Jibrīl then turned to me and said, ‘O Muḥammad, these are the times of the Prophets before you; the time is between these two times.’” Abū ʿĪsā said: There are also reports on this topic from Abū Hurayrah, Buraydah, Abū Mūsā, Abū Masʿūd al-Anṣārī, Abū Saʿīd, Jābir, ʿAmr ibn Ḥazm, al-Barāʾ, and Anas.

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Aḥmad ibn Muḥammad ibn Mūsā informed me: ʿAbd Allāh ibn al-Mubārak informed us: Ḥusayn ibn ʿAlī ibn Ḥusayn informed us: Wahb ibn Kaysān informed me, from Jābir ibn ʿAbd Allāh, from the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ), who said, “Jibrīl led me in prayer.” He mentioned a report similar in meaning to the hadith of Ibn ʿAbbās, but did not include the phrase, “at the time of ʿAṣr the day before.” Abū ʿĪsā said: This hadith is hasan sahih gharib, and the hadith of Ibn ʿAbbās is hasan sahih. Muḥammad said: The soundest report about the prayer times is the hadith of Jābir from the Prophet (ﷺ). The hadith of Jābir about the prayer times was also narrated by ʿAṭāʾ ibn Abī Rabāḥ, ʿAmr ibn Dīnār, and Abū al-Zubayr, from Jābir ibn ʿAbd Allāh, from the Prophet (ﷺ), with wording similar to the report of Wahb ibn Kaysān from Jābir.

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Hannād narrated to us: Muḥammad ibn Fuḍayl narrated to us, from al-Aʿmash, from Abū Ṣāliḥ, from Abū Hurayrah, who said: The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: “Prayer has an early time and a late time. The beginning of Ẓuhr is when the sun passes its zenith, and its end is when the time of ʿAṣr begins. The beginning of ʿAṣr is when its time begins, and its end is when the sun turns pale. The beginning of Maghrib is when the sun sets, and its end is when the horizon disappears. The beginning of the later ʿIshāʾ is when the horizon disappears, and its end is at the midpoint of the night. The beginning of Fajr is when dawn appears, and its end is when the sun rises.” There is also a report on this topic from ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿAmr. Abū ʿĪsā said: I heard Muḥammad say that al-Aʿmash’s report from Mujāhid about the prayer times is more authentic than Muḥammad ibn Fuḍayl’s report from al-Aʿmash; the report of Muḥammad ibn Fuḍayl is an error that he made. Hannād narrated to us: Abū Usāmah narrated to us, from Abū Isḥāq al-Fazārī, from al-Aʿmash, from Mujāhid, who said: It used to be said, “Prayer has an early time and a late time.” He then mentioned a report similar in meaning to that of Muḥammad ibn Fuḍayl from al-Aʿmash.

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Aḥmad ibn Manīʿ, al-Ḥasan ibn al-Ṣabbāḥ al-Bazzār, and Aḥmad ibn Muḥammad ibn Mūsā al-Maʿnā narrated to us; they said: Isḥāq ibn Yūsuf al-Azraq narrated to us, from Sufyān al-Thawrī, from ʿAlqamah ibn Marthad, from Sulaymān ibn Buraydah, from his father, who said: A man came to the Prophet (ﷺ) and asked him about the times of prayer. He said, “Stay with us, if Allah wills.” He instructed Bilāl to call the prayer when dawn appeared. Then he instructed him to call it when the sun passed its zenith, and he prayed Ẓuhr. Then he instructed him to call it, and he prayed ʿAṣr while the sun was bright and high. Then he instructed him to call Maghrib when the sun’s upper edge had set. Then he instructed him to call ʿIshāʾ when the twilight disappeared. The next day, he instructed him to call Fajr when the light of dawn had brightened. Then he instructed him to delay Ẓuhr, and he allowed it to be delayed until it had cooled. Then he instructed him to call ʿAṣr when the sun was later in its course than it had been the previous day. Then he instructed him to delay Maghrib until just before the twilight disappeared. Then he instructed him to call ʿIshāʾ when a third of the night had passed. Then he said, “Where is the man who asked about the times of prayer?” The man said, “I am here.” He said, “The times of prayer are between these two.” Abū ʿĪsā said: This hadith is hasan gharib sahih. Shuʿbah also narrated it from ʿAlqamah ibn Marthad.

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Qutaybah narrated to us from Mālik ibn Anas. Al-Anṣārī also narrated to us: Maʿn narrated to us: Mālik narrated to us, from Yaḥyā ibn Saʿīd, from ʿAmrah, from ʿĀʾishah, who said: The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) would pray Ṣubḥ, and the women would leave. Al-Anṣārī added: The women would pass by wrapped in their cloaks, unrecognizable in the darkness before dawn. Qutaybah said, “wrapped up.” There are also reports on this topic from Ibn ʿUmar, Anas, and Qaylah bint Makhramah. Abū ʿĪsā said: The hadith of ʿĀʾishah is hasan sahih. Al-Zuhrī also narrated a similar report from ʿUrwah, from ʿĀʾishah. This is what more than one scholar preferred among the Prophet’s Companions, including Abū Bakr and ʿUmar, and those who came after them among the Successors. Al-Shāfiʿī, Aḥmad, and Isḥāq held this view: they considered it recommended to perform the Fajr prayer early, in the darkness before dawn.

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Hannād narrated to us: ʿAbdah (that is, Ibn Sulaymān) narrated to us, from Muḥammad ibn Isḥāq, from ʿĀṣim ibn ʿUmar ibn Qatādah, from Maḥmūd ibn Labīd, from Rāfiʿ ibn Khadīj, who said: I heard the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) say, “Pray Fajr when the light spreads, for that brings a greater reward.” Shuʿbah and al-Thawrī also narrated this hadith from Muḥammad ibn Isḥāq. Muḥammad ibn ʿAjlān also narrated it from ʿĀṣim ibn ʿUmar ibn Qatādah. There are also reports on this topic from Abū Barzah al-Aslamī, Jābir, and Bilāl. Abū ʿĪsā said: The hadith of Rāfiʿ ibn Khadīj is hasan sahih. More than one scholar among the Prophet’s Companions and the Successors favored praying Fajr when the light spreads; Sufyān al-Thawrī held this view. Al-Shāfiʿī, Aḥmad, and Isḥāq said that this means the dawn should become clear, leaving no doubt; they did not understand it to mean delaying the prayer.

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Hannād ibn al-Sarī narrated to us: Wakīʿ narrated to us, from Sufyān, from Ḥakīm ibn Jubayr, from Ibrāhīm, from al-Aswad, from ʿĀʾishah, who said: I have never seen anyone hasten the Ẓuhr prayer more than the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ), Abū Bakr, and ʿUmar. There are also reports on this topic from Jābir ibn ʿAbd Allāh, Khabbāb, Abū Barzah, Ibn Masʿūd, Zayd ibn Thābit, Anas, and Jābir ibn Samurah. Abū ʿĪsā said: The hadith of ʿĀʾishah is hasan. This is what the Prophet’s Companions and those after them preferred. ʿAlī ibn al-Madīnī said: Yaḥyā ibn Saʿīd said that Shuʿbah criticized Ḥakīm ibn Jubayr because of his report from the Prophet (ﷺ), transmitted from Ibn Masʿūd: “Whoever asks people for help while having enough to suffice him...” Yaḥyā said: Sufyān and Zāʾidah also narrated from him, and Yaḥyā saw no problem with his hadith. Muḥammad said: It has also been narrated from Ḥakīm ibn Jubayr, from Saʿīd ibn Jubayr, from ʿĀʾishah, from the Prophet (ﷺ), regarding hastening the Ẓuhr prayer.

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Al-Ḥasan ibn ʿAlī al-Ḥulwānī narrated to us: ʿAbd al-Razzāq informed us: Maʿmar informed us, from al-Zuhrī, who said: Anas ibn Mālik informed me that the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) prayed Ẓuhr when the sun had passed its zenith. Abū ʿĪsā said: This hadith is ṣaḥīḥ and is the best report in this chapter. There is also a report on this topic from Jābir.

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Qutaybah narrated to us: al-Layth narrated to us, from Ibn Shihāb, from Saʿīd ibn al-Musayyab and Abū Salamah, from Abū Hurayrah, who said: The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: “When the heat becomes intense, delay the prayer until it cools, for the intensity of heat is from the breath of Hell.” There are also reports on this topic from Abū Saʿīd, Abū Dharr, Ibn ʿUmar, al-Mughīrah, al-Qāsim ibn Ṣafwān from his father, Abū Mūsā, Ibn ʿAbbās, and Anas. A report with this meaning from ʿUmar, from the Prophet (ﷺ), is also narrated, but it is not authentic. Abū ʿĪsā said: The hadith of Abū Hurayrah is hasan sahih. Some scholars chose to delay the Ẓuhr prayer during intense heat; this was the view of Ibn al-Mubārak, Aḥmad, and Isḥāq. Al-Shāfiʿī said that delaying Ẓuhr applies when people come to a mosque from far away. As for someone praying alone or in the mosque of his own community, he preferred that the prayer not be delayed during intense heat. Abū ʿĪsā said: The view that Ẓuhr should be delayed during intense heat is preferable and closer to following the Prophetic practice. As for al-Shāfiʿī’s view that the concession is for those coming from a distance, because of the hardship this causes people, the hadith of Abū Dharr indicates otherwise. Abū Dharr said: We were traveling with the Prophet (ﷺ), and Bilāl called for the Ẓuhr prayer. The Prophet (ﷺ) said, “Bilāl, let it cool; let it cool.” If the matter were as al-Shāfiʿī held, delaying it then would have no purpose, since they were together on the journey and did not need to come from far away.

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Maḥmūd ibn Ghaylān narrated to us: Abū Dāwūd al-Ṭayālisī narrated to us: Shuʿbah informed us, from Muhājir Abū al-Ḥasan, from Zayd ibn Wahb, from Abū Dharr, that the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) was traveling with Bilāl. Bilāl wanted to establish the prayer, but the Prophet said, “Let it cool.” Bilāl again wanted to establish the prayer, and the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said, “Let Ẓuhr cool.” Abū Dharr said: We waited until we could see the shadows of the hillocks. Then Bilāl established the prayer and the Prophet led it. The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said, “The intensity of heat is from the breath of Hell, so delay the prayer until it cools.” Abū ʿĪsā said: This hadith is hasan sahih.

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Qutaybah narrated to us: al-Layth narrated to us, from Ibn Shihāb, from ʿUrwah, from ʿĀʾishah, who said: The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) prayed ʿAṣr while the sun was still in her chamber; no shadow had yet appeared inside it. There are also reports on this topic from Anas, Abū Arwā, Jābir, and Rāfiʿ ibn Khadīj. A report from Rāfiʿ, from the Prophet (ﷺ), about delaying ʿAṣr is also narrated, but it is not authentic. Abū ʿĪsā said: The hadith of ʿĀʾishah is hasan sahih. Some scholars among the Prophet’s Companions, including ʿUmar, ʿAbd Allāh ibn Masʿūd, ʿĀʾishah, and Anas, and more than one Successor preferred performing ʿAṣr early and disliked delaying it. ʿAbd Allāh ibn al-Mubārak, al-Shāfiʿī, Aḥmad, and Isḥāq held this view.

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ʿAlī ibn Ḥujr narrated to us: Ismāʿīl ibn Jaʿfar narrated to us, from al-ʿAlāʾ ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān, who said: I visited Anas ibn Mālik at his home in Basra after he had finished Ẓuhr; his house was next to the mosque. He said, “Stand and pray ʿAṣr.” We stood and prayed. When we had finished, he said: I heard the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) say, “That is the prayer of the hypocrite: he sits watching the sun until it is between the horns of Satan, then he gets up and pecks out four units of prayer, remembering Allah only a little.” Abū ʿĪsā said: This hadith is hasan sahih.

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ʿAlī ibn Ḥujr narrated to us: Ismāʿīl ibn ʿUlayyah narrated to us, from Ayyūb, from Ibn Abī Mulaykah, from Umm Salamah, who said: The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) was quicker to perform Ẓuhr than you are, while you are quicker to perform ʿAṣr than he was.

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Abū ʿĪsā said: This hadith has also been narrated from Ismāʿīl ibn ʿUlayyah, from Ibn Jurayj, from Ibn Abī Mulaykah, from Umm Salamah, with similar wording. I found in my book: ʿAlī ibn Ḥujr informed me, from Ismāʿīl ibn Ibrāhīm, from Ibn Jurayj.

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Bishr ibn Muʿādh al-Baṣrī narrated to us: He said: Ismāʿīl ibn ʿUlayyah narrated to us, from Ibn Jurayj, with this chain and similar wording. This is more authentic.

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Qutaybah narrated to us: Ḥātim ibn Ismāʿīl narrated to us, from Yazīd ibn Abī ʿUbayd, from Salamah ibn al-Akwaʿ, who said: The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) would pray Maghrib when the sun had set and disappeared behind the veil [of the horizon]. There are also reports on this topic from Jābir, al-Ṣunābiḥī, Zayd ibn Khālid, Anas, Rāfiʿ ibn Khadīj, Abū Ayyūb, Umm Ḥabībah, al-ʿAbbās ibn ʿAbd al-Muṭṭalib, and Ibn ʿAbbās. The report of al-ʿAbbās has also been narrated as his own statement, and that version is more authentic. Al-Ṣunābiḥī did not hear from the Prophet (ﷺ); he was a Companion of Abū Bakr. Abū ʿĪsā said: The hadith of Salamah ibn al-Akwaʿ is hasan sahih. Most scholars among the Prophet’s Companions and the Successors who came after them preferred praying Maghrib early and disliked delaying it. Some scholars even said that Maghrib has only one time, citing the report about the Prophet (ﷺ) being led in prayer by Jibrīl. Ibn al-Mubārak and al-Shāfiʿī held this view.

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Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd al-Malik ibn Abī al-Shawārib narrated to us: Abū ʿAwānah narrated to us, from Abū Bishr, from Bashīr ibn Thābit, from Ḥabīb ibn Sālim, from al-Nuʿmān ibn Bashīr, who said: I know better than anyone the time of this prayer: the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) would pray it when the moon set on the third night [of the lunar month].

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Abū Bakr Muḥammad ibn Abān narrated to us: ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Mahdī narrated to us, from Abū ʿAwānah, with the same chain and similar wording. Abū ʿĪsā said: Hushaym narrated this hadith from Abū Bishr, from Ḥabīb ibn Sālim, from al-Nuʿmān ibn Bashīr, omitting the link from Bashīr ibn Thābit. In our view, the report of Abū ʿAwānah is more authentic, because Yazīd ibn Hārūn narrated from Shuʿbah, from Abū Bishr, with wording similar to the narration of Abū ʿAwānah.

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Hannād narrated to us: ʿAbdah narrated to us, from ʿUbayd Allāh ibn ʿUmar, from Saʿīd al-Maqburī, from Abū Hurayrah, who said: The Prophet (ﷺ) said: “Were it not a hardship for my community, I would have ordered them to delay the later ʿIshāʾ until a third of the night or halfway through it.” There are also reports on this topic from Jābir ibn Samurah, Jābir ibn ʿAbd Allāh, Abū Barzah, Ibn ʿAbbās, Abū Saʿīd al-Khudrī, Zayd ibn Khālid, and Ibn ʿUmar. Abū ʿĪsā said: The hadith of Abū Hurayrah is hasan sahih. This was what most scholars among the Prophet’s Companions, the Successors, and others preferred: delaying the later ʿIshāʾ prayer. Aḥmad and Isḥāq held this view.

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Aḥmad ibn Manīʿ narrated to us: Hushaym narrated to us: ʿAwf informed us. Aḥmad said: ʿAbbād ibn ʿAbbād al-Muhallabī and Ismāʿīl ibn ʿUlayyah also narrated to us, both from ʿAwf, from Sayyār ibn Salāmah (Abū al-Minhal al-Riyāḥī), from Abū Barzah, who said: The Prophet (ﷺ) disliked sleeping before ʿIshāʾ and talking after it. There are also reports on this topic from ʿĀʾishah, ʿAbd Allāh ibn Masʿūd, and Anas. Abū ʿĪsā said: The hadith of Abū Barzah is hasan sahih. Most scholars disliked sleeping before the ʿIshāʾ prayer and talking after it, though some granted permission. ʿAbd Allāh ibn al-Mubārak said: Most hadiths indicate disapproval. Some allowed sleeping before the ʿIshāʾ prayer during Ramadan. Sayyār ibn Salāmah is Abū al-Minhal al-Riyāḥī.