1. The Times of Prayer

He said, "Yahya ibn Yahya al-Laythi related to me from Malik ibnAnas from Ibn Shihab that one day Umar ibn Abdal-Aziz delayed theprayer. Urwa ibn az-Zubayr came and told him that al-Mughira ibn Shubahad delayed the prayer one day while he was in Kufa and Abu Masud al-Ansari had come to him and said, 'What's this, Mughira? Don't you knowthat the angel Jibril came down and prayed and the Messenger of Allah,may Allah bless him and grant him peace, prayed.' Then he prayedagain, and the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant himpeace, prayed. Then he prayed again, and the Messenger of Allah, mayAllah bless him and grant him peace, prayed. Then he prayed again, andthe Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace,prayed. Then he prayed again, and the Messenger of Allah, may Allahbless him and grant him peace, prayed. Then Jibril said, 'This is whatyou have been ordered to do.' Umar ibn Abd al-Aziz said, 'Be sure ofwhat you relate, Urwa. Was it definitely Jibril who established thetime of the prayer for the Messenger of Allah?' " Urwa said, "That'show it was related to Bashir ibn Abi Masud al-Ansari by his father." Urwa said that A'isha, the wife of the Prophet, may Allah blesshim and grant him peace used to pray asr while the sunlight waspouring into her room, before the sun itself had become visible (i.e.because it was still high in the sky). Yahya related to me from Malik from Zayd ibn Aslam that Ata ibnYasar said, "A man came to the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless himand grant him peace, and asked him about the time of the subh prayer.The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, didnot answer him, but in the morning he prayed subh at first light. Thefollowing morning he prayed subh when it was much lighter, and thensaid, 'Where is the man who was asking about the time of the prayer?'The man replied, 'Here I am, Messenger of Allah.' He said,'The time isbetween these two.' " Yahya related to me from Malik from Yahya ibn Said from Amra bintAbd ar-Rahman that A'isha, the wife of the Prophet, may Allah blesshim and grant him peace, said, "The Messenger of Allah, may Allahbless him and grant him peace, used to pray subh and the women wouldleave wrapped in their garments and they could not yet be recognisedin the darkness." Yahya related to me from Malik from Zayd ibn Aslam from Ata ibnYasar and from Busr ibn Said and from al-Araj-all of whom related itfrom Abu Hurayra - that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless himand grant him peace, said, "Whoever manages to do a raka of subhbefore the sun has risen has done subh in time, and whoever manages todo a raka of asr before the sun has set has done asr in time." Yahya related to me from Malik from Nafi', the mawla of Abdullah ibn Umar, that Umar ibn al-Khattab wrote to his governorssaying, "The most important of your affairs in my view is the prayer.Whoever protects it and observes it carefully is protecting his deen,while whoever is negligent about it will be even more negligent aboutother things." Then he added, "Pray dhuhr any time from when theafternoon shade is the length of your forearm until the length of yourshadow matches your height. Pray asr when the sun is still pure white,so that a rider can travel two or three farsakhs before the sun sets.Pray maghrib when the sun has set. Pray isha any time from when theredness in the western sky has disappeared until a third of the nighthas passed - and a person who sleeps, may he have no rest, a personwho sleeps, may he have no rest. And pray subh when all the stars arevisible and like a haze in the sky." Yahya related to me from Malik, from his uncle Abu Suhayl fromhis father that Umar ibn al-Khattab wrote to Abu Musa saying that heshould pray dhuhr when the sun had started to decline, asr when thesun was still pure white before any yellowness had entered it maghribwhen the sun had set, and to delay isha as long as he did not sleep,and to pray subh when the stars were all visible and like a haze inthe sky and to read in it two long suras from the mufassal. Yahya related to me from Malik from Hisham ibn Urwa from hisfather that Umar ibn al-Khattab wrote to Abu Musa al-Ashari that heshould pray asr when the sun was still pure white so that a man couldride three farsakhs (before maghrib) and that he should pray Ishaduring the first third of the night, or, if he delayed it, then upuntil the middle of the night, and he warned him not to be forgetful. Yahya related to me from Malik from Yazid ibn Ziyad that Abdullahibn Rafi, the mawla of Umm Salama, the wife of the Prophet, may Allahbless him and grant him peace, asked Abu Hurayra about the time of theprayer. Abu Hurayra said, "Let me tell you. Pray dhuhr when the lengthof your shadow matches your height, asr when your shadow is twice yourheight, maghrib when the sun has set, isha in the first third of thenight, and subh in the very first light of dawn," i.e. when the dawnhas definitely come. Yahya related to me from Malik from Ishaq ibn Abdullah ibn AbiTalha that Anas ibn Malik said, "We would pray asr and anyone who thenwent to the Bani Amr ibn Awf would find them praying asr." Yahya related to me from Malik from Ibn Shihab that Anas ibnMalik said, "We would pray asr and anyone who then went to Quba wouldarrive there while the sun was still high." Yahya related to me from Malik from Rabia ibn Abi Abd ar-Rahmanthat al Qasim ibn Muhammad said, "None of the companions that I metprayed dhuhr until well after noon,"(i.e.until when the sun had lostits fierceness). Yahya related to me from Malik from his uncle Abu Suhayl ibnMalik that his father said, "I used to see a carpet belonging to Aqilibn Abi Talib spread out on the day of jumua up to the west wall ofthe mosque. When the shadow of the wall covered the whole carpet, Umaribn al-Khattab would come out and pray the jumua prayer." Malik, Abu Suhayl's father, added, "We would then return after thejumua prayer and take our midday sleep." Yahya related to me from Malik from Amr ibn Yahya ibn Yahya al-Mazini from Ibn Abi Salit that Uthman ibn Affan prayed jumua in Madinaand asr in Malal (a place seventeen miles from Madina). Malikcommented, "That was by praying jumua just past midday and thentravelling fast." Yahya related to me from Malik from Ibn Shihab from Abu Salamaibn Abdar-Rahman from Abu Hurayra that the Messenger of Allah, mayAllah bless him and grant him peace, said "Whoever catches a raka ofthe prayer has caught the prayer." Yahya related to me from Malik from Nafi that Abdullah ibn Umaribn al-Khattab used to say, "If the ruku has passed you by, so has thesajda." Yahya related to me from Malik that he had heard that Abdullahibn Umar and Zayd ibn Thabit used to say, "Whoever catches the raka`ahhas caught the sajda." Yahya related to me from Malik that he had heard that Abu Hurayraused to say, "Whoever catches the ruku has caught the sajda andwhoever misses the recitation of the umm al-Qur'an has missed muchgood." Yahya related to me from Malik from Nafi that Abdullah ibn Umarused to say, "Duluk ash-shams begins from when the sun passes themeridian." Yahya related to me from Malik that Da'ud ibn al-Husayn said thatsomeone had told him Abdullah ibn Abbas used to say, "Duluk ash-shamsbegins from when the sun passes the meridian. Ghasaq al-layl is thegathering of the night and its darkness." Yahya related to me from Malik from Nafi from Abdullah ibn Umarthat the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace,said, "If someone misses the asr prayer it is as if he has suffered agreat misfortune in his family and wealth ." Yahya related to me from Malik from Yahya ibn Said that once Umaribn al-Khattab left after doing the asr prayer and met a man who hadnot been there. Umar asked him what had kept him from the prayer andeventhough the man gave a good reason, Umar said, "You have givenyourself short measure." Yahya added that Malik commented,"It is said that everything has a short measure and a full measure." Yahya related to me from Malik thatYahya ibn Said used to say,"Even if someone manages to pray before the time of the prayer haspassed, the time that has passed him by is more important, or better,than his family and wealth." Yahya said that Malik said, "Ifthe time for a prayer comes and a traveller delays a prayer throughneglect or forgetfulness until he reaches his family, he should dothat prayer in full if he arrives within the time. But if he arriveswhen the time has past, he should do the travelling prayer. That wayhe only repays what he owes." Malik said, "This is what Ihave found the people and men of knowledge doing in our community."Malik explained that shafaq was the redness in the sky after the sunhad set, and said, "When the redness has gone then the isha prayer isdue and you have left the time of maghrib." Yahya related to me from Malik from Nafi that one time Abdullahibn Umar fainted and lost his senses and he did not make up theprayer. Malik commented, "We consider that that was because,and Allah knows best, the time had passed. Someone who recovers withinthe time has to pray." Yahya related to me from Malik from Ibn Shihab from Said ibn al-Musayyab that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and granthim peace, travelled by night on the way back from Khaybar.Towards theend of the night he stopped for a rest and told Bilal to stay awake tokeep watch for the subh prayer. The Messenger of Allah, may Allahbless him and grant him peace, and his companions slept. Bilal stayedon guard as long as was decreed for him and then he leant against hisriding camel facing the direction of the dawn and sleep overcame himand neither he nor the Messenger of Allah nor any of the party woke upuntil the sun's rays had struck them. The Messenger of Allah, mayAllah bless him and grant him peace, was alarmed. Bilal excusedhimself, saying, "Messenger of Allah! The One who took your self wasthe One who took myself. "The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless himand grant him peace, ordered the party to move on and so they rousedthei r mounts and rode on a short distance. The Messenger of Allah,may Allah bless him and grant him peace, ordered Bilal to give theiqama and then led them in the subh prayer. When he had finished hesaid, "Anyone who forgets a prayer should pray it when he remembers.Allah theBlessed and Exalted says in His book, 'Establish the prayerto remember Me.'" Yahya related to me from Malik that Zayd ibn Aslam said, "TheMessenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, stoppedfor a rest one night on the way to Makka and appointed Bilal to wakethem up for the prayer. Bilal slept and everyone else slept and noneof them woke up until the sun had risen. When they did wake up theywere all alarmed. The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him andgrant him peace, ordered them to ride out of the valley, saying thatthere was a shaytan in it. So they rode out of the valley and theMessenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, orderedthem to dismount and do wudu and he told Bilal either to call theprayer or to give the iqama. The Messenger of Allah, may Allah blesshim and grant him peace, then led them in the prayer. Noticing theiruneasiness, he went to them and said, 'O people! Allah seized ourspirits (arwah) and if He had wished He would have returned them to usat a time other than this. So if you sleep through the time for aprayer or forget it and then are anxious about it, pray it as if youwere praying it in its time.' The Messenger of Allah, may Allah blesshim and grant him peace, turned to Abu Bakr and said, 'Shaytan came toBilal when he was standing in prayer and made him lie down and lulledhim to sleep like a small boy.' The Messenger of Allah, may Allahbless him and grant him peace, then called Bilal and told him the sameas he had told Abu Bakr. Abu Bakr declared, 'I bear witness that youare the Messenger of Allah.' " Yahya related to me from Malik from Zayd ibn Aslam from Ata ibnYasar that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant himpeace, said, "Scorching heat is a part of the blast of Jahannam. So,when the heat is fierce, delay the prayer until it gets cooler." He added in explanation, "The Fire complained to its Lord andsaid, 'My Lord, part of me has eaten another part,' so He allowed ittwo breaths in every year, a breath in winter and a breath in summer." Malik related to us from Abdullah ibn Yazid the mawla of al-Aswadibn Sufyan, from Abu Salama ibn Abd ar-Rahman from Muhammad ibn Abdar-Rahman ibn Thawban from Abu Hurayra that the Messenger of Allah,may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, "When the heat isfierce delay the prayer until it gets cooler, for scorching heat is apart of the blast of Jahannam." He added, "The Firecomplained to its Lord, so He allowed it two breaths in each year, abreath in winter and a breath in summer." Yahya related to me from Malik from Abu'z Zinad from al-Araj fromAbu Hurayra that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and granthim peace, said, "When the heat is fierce, wait until it gets coolerbefore you do the prayer, for scorching heat is from the blast ofJahannam." Yahya related to me from Malik from Ibn Shihab from Said ibn al-Musayyab that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and granthim peace, said, "Anyone who eats this plant should not come near ourmosques. The smell of the garlic will offend us." Yahya related to me from Malik from Abd ar-Rahman ibn al-Mujabbarthat he used to see Salim ibn Abdullah pull the cloth away fiercelyfrom the mouth of any man he saw covering his mouth while praying.