Tafseer of The Cow · Al-Baqara · 2:238
Maintain with care the [obligatory] prayers and [in particular] the middle prayer and stand before Allah, devoutly obedient.
Important: The Arabic source text is always authoritative. This translation is a study aid and has not been verified by scholars — do not use it as a basis for religious proof or for deriving rulings (ahkam). When in doubt, always consult the Arabic text and a qualified scholar.
The statement concerning the interpretation of His saying, the Exalted: Waakt over de gebeden en het middelste gebed (Guard over the prayers and the middle prayer) — He, exalted be His mention, means by it: persevere in the prescribed prayers at their appointed times, observe them, hold fast to them, and especially the middle prayer among them. And what we have said concerning this is also what the authorities of interpretation have said. Mention of who said that:
4210 — Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Isḥāq ibn al-Ḥajjāj related to us, saying: Abū Zuhayr related to us, on the authority of al-Aʿmash, on the authority of Masrūq, concerning His saying: Waakt over de gebeden (Guard over the prayers) — he said: guarding over them is: guarding over their time, and not heedlessly neglecting them. * Yaḥyā ibn Ibrāhīm al-Masʿūdī related to me, saying: my father related to us, on the authority of his father, on the authority of his grandfather, on the authority of al-Aʿmash, on the authority of Muslim, on the authority of Masrūq concerning this verse: Waakt over de gebeden (Guard over the prayers) — guarding over them is: performing the prayer at its time, and heedlessness regarding it is: letting its time lapse.
Then they differed concerning the middle prayer (al-ṣalāh al-wusṭā). Some said: it is the afternoon prayer (ʿaṣr). Mention of who said that:
4211 — Muḥammad ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: Abū ʿĀṣim related to us; and Aḥmad ibn Isḥāq related to us, saying: Abū Aḥmad related to us — both together — they said: Sufyān related to us, on the authority of Abū Isḥāq, on the authority of al-Ḥārith, on the authority of ʿAlī, who said: and the middle prayer is the afternoon prayer (ʿaṣr). 4212 — Muḥammad ibn ʿUbayd al-Muḥāribī related to me, saying: Abū al-Aḥwaṣ related to us, on the authority of Abū Isḥāq, who said: someone who had heard Ibn ʿAbbās related to me that he said concerning: Waakt over de gebeden en het middelste gebed (Guard over the prayers and the middle prayer) — he said: the afternoon prayer (ʿaṣr). * Abū Kurayb related to us, saying: Muṣʿab ibn Sallām related to us, on the authority of Abū Ḥayyān, on the authority of his father, on the authority of ʿAlī, who said: and the middle prayer is the afternoon prayer (ʿaṣr). * Yaʿqūb related to me, saying: Ibn ʿUlayya related to us, saying: Abū Ḥayyān related to us, on the authority of his father, on the authority of ʿAlī, in the same manner. * Abū Kurayb related to us, saying: Muṣʿab related to us, on the authority of al-Ajlaḥ, on the authority of Abū Isḥāq, on the authority of al-Ḥārith, who said: I heard ʿAlī say: the middle prayer is the afternoon prayer (ʿaṣr). * Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Ḥakkām related to us, on the authority of ʿAnbasa, on the authority of Abū Isḥāq, on the authority of al-Ḥārith, who said: I asked ʿAlī about the middle prayer, and he said: the afternoon prayer (ʿaṣr). 4213 — Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿAbd al-Ḥakam al-Miṣrī related to me, saying: Abū Zurʿa Wahb ibn Rāshid related to us, saying: Ḥaywa ibn Shurayḥ informed us, saying: Abū Ṣakhr informed us that he heard Abū Muʿāwiya al-Bajalī of the people of Kūfa say: I heard Abū al-Ṣahbāʾ al-Bakrī say: I asked ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib about the middle prayer. He said: it is the afternoon prayer (ʿaṣr), and it is that with which Sulaymān ibn Dāwūd ﷺ was tested. 4214 — Yaʿqūb ibn Ibrāhīm related to me, saying: Ibn ʿUlayya related to us, saying: Sulaymān al-Taymī informed us; and Ḥumayd ibn Masʿada related to us, saying: Bishr ibn al-Faḍl related to us, saying: al-Taymī related to us, on the authority of Abū Ṣāliḥ, on the authority of Abū Hurayra, that he said: the middle prayer is the afternoon prayer (ʿaṣr). * Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Suwayd related to us, saying: Ibn al-Mubārak informed us, on the authority of Maʿmar, on the authority of ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿUthmān ibn Ghanm, on the authority of Ibn Labība, on the authority of Abū Hurayra: Waakt over de gebeden en het middelste gebed (Guard over the prayers and the middle prayer) — indeed, that is the afternoon prayer (ʿaṣr); indeed, that is the afternoon prayer. 4215 — Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿAbd al-Ḥakam related to me, saying: my father and Shuʿayb ibn al-Layth related to us, on the authority of al-Layth, on the authority of Yazīd ibn al-Hād, on the authority of Ibn Shihāb, on the authority of Sālim ibn ʿAbd Allāh, on the authority of ʿAbd Allāh, who said: I heard the Messenger of Allah ﷺ say: "Whoever misses the afternoon prayer (ʿaṣr), it is as though his family and his property were taken from him." Thus Ibn ʿUmar saw a virtue in the afternoon prayer, because of what the Messenger of Allah ﷺ had said about it, namely that it is the middle prayer. * Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to me, saying: Muʿtamir related to us, on the authority of his father, who said: Abū Ṣāliḥ asserted, on the authority of Abū Hurayra, that he said: it is the afternoon prayer (ʿaṣr). * Aḥmad ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Wahb related to me, saying: my uncle ʿAbd Allāh ibn Wahb related to me, saying: ʿAmr ibn al-Ḥārith informed me, on the authority of Ibn Shihāb, on the authority of Sālim, on the authority of his father, on the authority of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, with something similar. Ibn Shihāb said: and Ibn ʿUmar was of the opinion that it is the middle prayer. 4216 — Muḥammad ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: ʿAffān ibn Muslim related to us, saying: Hammām related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, on the authority of al-Ḥasan, on the authority of Abū Saʿīd al-Khudrī, who said: the middle prayer is the afternoon prayer (ʿaṣr). 4217 — Muḥammad ibn Maʿmar related to me, saying: Ibn ʿĀmir related to us, saying: Muḥammad ibn Abī Ḥumayd related to us, on the authority of Ḥumayda bint Abī Yūnus, the freedwoman of ʿĀʾisha, who said: ʿĀʾisha bequeathed to us her household goods, and I found in the muṣḥaf of ʿĀʾisha: Waakt over de gebeden en het middelste gebed (Guard over the prayers and the middle prayer) — namely the afternoon prayer (ʿaṣr) — en staat voor Allah in deemoedige gehoorzaamheid (and stand before Allah in devout obedience). 4218 — Saʿīd ibn Yaḥyā al-Umawī related to me, saying: my father related to us, saying: Ibn Jurayj related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Malik ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān informed us that his mother Umm Ḥumayd bint ʿAbd al-Raḥmān asked ʿĀʾisha about the middle prayer. She said: we used to read it according to the first reading in the time of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ: "Guard over the prayers and the middle prayer, the afternoon prayer, and stand before Allah in devout obedience." * ʿAbbās ibn Muḥammad related to me, saying: Ḥajjāj related to us, saying: Ibn Jurayj said: ʿAbd al-Malik ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān informed me, on the authority of his mother Umm Ḥumayd bint ʿAbd al-Raḥmān, that she asked ʿĀʾisha — and he mentioned something similar, except that he said: "And guard over the prayers and the middle prayer and the afternoon prayer." 4219 — Sufyān ibn Wakīʿ related to us, saying: my father related to us, on the authority of Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr Abū Sahl al-Anṣārī, on the authority of al-Qāsim ibn Muḥammad, on the authority of ʿĀʾisha, concerning His saying: het middelste gebed (the middle prayer) — she said: the afternoon prayer (ʿaṣr). 4220 — Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: al-Ḥajjāj related to us, saying: Ḥammād related to us, on the authority of Hishām ibn ʿUrwa, on the authority of his father, who said: in the muṣḥaf of ʿĀʾisha it stood: "Guard over the prayers and the middle prayer, and that is the afternoon prayer." 4221 — Abū Kurayb related to us, saying: Wakīʿ related to us, on the authority of Dāwūd ibn Qays, saying: ʿAbd Allāh ibn Rāfiʿ, the freedman of Umm Salama, related to me, saying: Umm Salama charged me to write a muṣḥaf for her, and she said: when you reach the verse about the prayer, let me know! When I let her know, she dictated to me: "Guard over the prayers and the middle prayer, the afternoon prayer." 4222 — It was related to us on the authority of ʿAmmār, saying: Ibn Abī Jaʿfar related to us, on the authority of his father, who said: al-Ḥasan used to say: the middle prayer is the afternoon prayer (ʿaṣr). * Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to us, saying: al-Muʿtamir related to us, on the authority of his father, who said: Qatāda related to us, on the authority of Abū Ayyūb, on the authority of ʿĀʾisha, that she said: the middle prayer is the afternoon prayer (ʿaṣr). * Muḥammad ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: Yaḥyā related to us, on the authority of Sulaymān al-Taymī, on the authority of Qatāda, on the authority of Abū Ayyūb, on the authority of ʿĀʾisha, in the same manner. 4223 — Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Ḥakkām related to us, saying: ʿAnbasa related to us, on the authority of al-Mughīra, on the authority of Ibrāhīm, who said: they used to say: the middle prayer is the afternoon prayer (ʿaṣr). * It was related to me on the authority of ʿAmmār, saying: Ibn Abī Jaʿfar related to us, on the authority of his father, on the authority of al-Rabīʿ, who said: it was related to us about ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib that he said: the middle prayer is the afternoon prayer (ʿaṣr). 4224 — Yaʿqūb ibn Ibrāhīm related to me, saying: Hushaym related to us, on the authority of Abū Bishr, on the authority of Saʿīd ibn Jubayr, who said: the middle prayer is the afternoon prayer (ʿaṣr). 4225 — Yaʿqūb related to me, saying: Hushaym related to us, on the authority of Abū Bishr, on the authority of Sālim, on the authority of Ḥafṣa, that she charged a man to write a muṣḥaf for her, and she said: when you reach this place, let me know! When he reached Waakt over de gebeden en het middelste gebed (Guard over the prayers and the middle prayer), she said: write: "the afternoon prayer". 4226 — Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Ḥajjāj ibn al-Minhāl related to us, saying: Ḥammād ibn Salama related to us, saying: ʿUbayd Allāh ibn ʿUmar informed us, on the authority of Nāfiʿ, on the authority of Ḥafṣa, the wife of the Prophet ﷺ, that she said to the scribe of her muṣḥaf: when you reach the prayer times, inform me, that I may tell you what I heard from the Messenger of Allah ﷺ! When he informed her, she said: write, for I heard the Messenger of Allah ﷺ say: "Guard over the prayers and the middle prayer, and that is the afternoon prayer." 4227 — Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: al-Ḥajjāj related to us, saying: Ḥammād related to us, on the authority of ʿĀṣim ibn Bahdala, on the authority of Zirr ibn Ḥubaysh, who said: the middle prayer is the afternoon prayer (ʿaṣr). 4228 — Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning His saying: Waakt over de gebeden en het middelste gebed (Guard over the prayers and the middle prayer) — we used to relate that it is the afternoon prayer (ʿaṣr): before it are two prayers of the day, and after it two prayers of the night. 4229 — Abū Kurayb related to us, saying: Hushaym related to us, saying: Juwaybir informed us, on the authority of al-Ḍaḥḥāk, concerning His saying: Waakt over de gebeden en het middelste gebed (Guard over the prayers and the middle prayer) — he said: they were commanded to guard over the prayers, and He set apart the afternoon prayer, namely the middle prayer, that is to say the afternoon prayer. 4230 — It was related to me about al-Ḥusayn ibn al-Faraj, saying: I heard Abū Muʿādh say: ʿUbayd Allāh ibn Sulaymān informed us, saying: I heard al-Ḍaḥḥāk say concerning His saying: en het middelste gebed (and the middle prayer) — it is the afternoon prayer (ʿaṣr). — It was related to me about ʿAmmār, saying: Ibn Abī Jaʿfar related to us, on the authority of his father, on the authority of al-Rabīʿ, who said: it was related to us about ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib that he said: the middle prayer is the afternoon prayer (ʿaṣr). 4231 — Muḥammad ibn Saʿd related to me, saying: my father related to me, saying: my uncle related to me, saying: my father related to me, on the authority of his father, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās: Waakt over de gebeden (Guard over the prayers) — that is to say the prescribed prayers, en het middelste gebed (and the middle prayer) — that is to say the afternoon prayer (ʿaṣr). * Aḥmad ibn Isḥāq al-Ahwāzī related to me, saying: Abū Aḥmad related to us, saying: Qays related to us, on the authority of Abū Isḥāq, on the authority of Razīn ibn ʿUbayd, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, who said: I heard him say it: Waakt over de gebeden en het middelste gebed (Guard over the prayers and the middle prayer) — he said: the afternoon prayer (ʿaṣr). 4232 — Aḥmad ibn Isḥāq related to me, saying: Abū Aḥmad related to us, saying: Isrāʾīl related to us, on the authority of Thawr, on the authority of Mujāhid, who said: the middle prayer is the afternoon prayer (ʿaṣr). * Yaḥyā ibn Abī Ṭālib related to me, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Juwaybir informed us, on the authority of al-Ḍaḥḥāk, who said: the middle prayer is the afternoon prayer (ʿaṣr). * Aḥmad ibn Ḥāzim related to us, saying: Abū Nuʿaym related to us, saying: Isrāʾīl related to us, on the authority of Abū Isḥāq, on the authority of Razīn ibn ʿUbayd, who said: I heard Ibn ʿAbbās say: it is the afternoon prayer (ʿaṣr). 4233 — Ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: Ibn Abī ʿAdī related to us, saying: Ismāʿīl ibn Muslim informed us, on the authority of al-Ḥasan, on the authority of Samura, on the authority of the Prophet ﷺ, who said: "The middle prayer is the afternoon prayer (ʿaṣr)." 4234 — Ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: Wahb ibn Jarīr related to us, saying: my father related to us, saying: I heard Yaḥyā ibn Ayyūb relate, on the authority of Yazīd ibn Abī Ḥabīb, on the authority of Murra ibn Mukhmar, on the authority of Saʿīd ibn al-Ḥakam, who said: I heard Abū Ayyūb say: the middle prayer is the afternoon prayer (ʿaṣr). 4235 — Ibn Sufyān related to us, saying: Abū ʿĀṣim related to us, on the authority of Mubārak, on the authority of al-Ḥasan, who said: the middle prayer is the afternoon prayer (ʿaṣr).
And the basis of those who held this view is what: 4236 — Muḥammad ibn Maʿmar related to me about this, saying: Abū ʿĀmir related to us, saying: Muḥammad — that is to say Ibn Ṭalḥa — related to us, on the authority of Zubayd, on the authority of Murra, on the authority of ʿAbd Allāh, who said: the polytheists (mushrikīn) kept the Messenger of Allah ﷺ from the afternoon prayer until the sun turned yellow or red, and he said: "They have kept us from the middle prayer; may Allah fill their bellies and their graves with fire." * Aḥmad ibn Sinān al-Wāsiṭī related to me, saying: Yazīd ibn Hārūn related to us, saying: Muḥammad ibn Ṭalḥa informed us, on the authority of Zubayd, on the authority of Murra, on the authority of ʿAbd Allāh, on the authority of the Prophet ﷺ, with something similar, except that he said: "May Allah fill their houses and their graves with fire, as they have kept us from the middle prayer." 4237 — Muḥammad ibn al-Muthannā and Muḥammad ibn Bashshār related to us, they said: Muḥammad ibn Jaʿfar related to us, saying: Shuʿba related to us, saying: I heard Qatāda relate, on the authority of Abū Ḥassān, on the authority of ʿAbīda al-Salmānī, on the authority of ʿAlī, who said: the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said on the day of al-Aḥzāb: "They have kept us from the middle prayer until the sun set; may Allah fill their graves and their houses with fire" — or "their bellies with fire" — Shuʿba doubted between "the bellies" and "the houses". * Ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Raḥmān related to us, saying: Sufyān related to us, on the authority of ʿĀṣim, on the authority of Zirr, who said: I said to ʿAbīda al-Salmānī: ask ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib about the middle prayer! He asked him, and he said: we held it to be the morning prayer (ṣubḥ) or the dawn prayer (fajr), until I heard the Messenger of Allah ﷺ say on the day of al-Aḥzāb: "They have kept us from the middle prayer, the afternoon prayer; may Allah fill their graves and their bellies with fire." * Ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Raḥmān related to us, saying: Sufyān related to us, on the authority of al-Aʿmash, on the authority of Abū al-Ḍuḥā, on the authority of Shutayr ibn Shakal, on the authority of ʿAlī, who said: they kept us on the day of al-Aḥzāb from the afternoon prayer, until I heard the Messenger of Allah ﷺ say: "They have kept us from the middle prayer, the afternoon prayer; may Allah fill their graves and their houses with fire" — or "their bellies with fire". * Muḥammad ibn al-Muthannā related to us, saying: Muḥammad ibn Jaʿfar related to us, saying: Shuʿba related to us, on the authority of al-Ḥakam, on the authority of Yaḥyā ibn al-Jazzār, on the authority of ʿAlī, on the authority of the Prophet ﷺ, that he said on the day of al-Aḥzāb at one of the openings of the trench: "They have kept us from the middle prayer until the sun set; may Allah fill their graves and their houses with fire" — or "their bellies and their houses with fire". * Abū al-Sāʾib and Saʿīd ibn Numayr related to me, they said: Abū Muʿāwiya related to us, on the authority of al-Aʿmash, on the authority of Muslim, on the authority of Shutayr ibn Shakal, on the authority of ʿAlī, who said: the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: "They have kept us from the middle prayer, the afternoon prayer; may Allah fill their graves and their houses with fire." Then he performed it between the two evening prayers, between sunset (maghrib) and the night prayer (ʿishāʾ). * Al-Ḥusayn ibn ʿAlī al-Ṣudāʾī related to us, saying: ʿAlī ibn ʿĀṣim related to us, on the authority of Khālid, on the authority of Muḥammad ibn Sīrīn, on the authority of ʿAbīda al-Salmānī, on the authority of ʿAlī, who said: the Messenger of Allah ﷺ did not perform the afternoon prayer on the day of the trench until after the sun had set, and he said: "What is the matter with them? May Allah fill their hearts and their houses with fire — they have kept us from the middle prayer until the sun set." * Zakariyyā ibn Yaḥyā al-Ḍarīr related to us, saying: ʿUbayd Allāh related to us, on the authority of Isrāʾīl, on the authority of ʿĀṣim, on the authority of Zirr, who said: ʿAbīda al-Salmānī and I went to ʿAlī, and I charged ʿAbīda to ask him about the middle prayer. He said: O Commander of the Believers, what is the middle prayer? He said: we held it to be the morning prayer (ṣubḥ); but while we were fighting the people of Khaybar, they fought until they kept us from the prayer, and that was shortly before sunset. Then the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: "O Allah, fill the hearts of these people who have kept us from the middle prayer, and their bellies, with fire" — or "fill their hearts with fire". He said: thus we knew on that day that it was the middle prayer. * Bishr ibn Muʿādh related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, on the authority of Abū Ḥassān al-Aʿraj, on the authority of ʿAbīda al-Salmānī, on the authority of ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib, that the Prophet of Allah ﷺ said on the day of al-Aḥzāb: "O Allah, fill their houses and their graves with fire, as they have kept us" — or "as they have hindered us from the middle prayer until the sun set". * Sulaymān ibn ʿAbd al-Jabbār related to us, saying: Thābit ibn Muḥammad related to us, saying: Muḥammad ibn Ṭalḥa related to us, on the authority of Zubayd, on the authority of Murra, on the authority of Ibn Masʿūd, who said: the polytheists (mushrikīn) kept the Messenger of Allah ﷺ from the afternoon prayer until the sun turned yellow or red, and the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: "They have kept us from the middle prayer; may Allah fill their houses and their hearts with fire" — or "may Allah fill their hearts and their houses with fire". 4238 — Muḥammad ibn ʿUmāra al-Asadī related to me, saying: Sahl ibn ʿĀmir related to us, saying: Mālik ibn Mighwal related to us, saying: I heard Ṭalḥa say: I prayed with Murra in his house, and he neglected — or he said: he forgot — and he stood up and related to us (while it pleased me that I should hear it from a trustworthy one). He said: when it was the day of the trench — that is to say the day of al-Aḥzāb — the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: "What is the matter with them? They have kept us from the middle prayer, the afternoon prayer; may Allah fill their bellies and their graves with fire." 4239 — Aḥmad ibn Manīʿ related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Wahhāb related to us, on the authority of Ibn ʿAṭāʾ, on the authority of al-Taymī, on the authority of Abū Ṣāliḥ, on the authority of Abū Hurayra, who said: the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: "The middle prayer is the afternoon prayer (ʿaṣr)." 4240 — ʿAlī ibn Muslim al-Ṭūsī related to me, saying: ʿAbbād ibn al-ʿAwwām related to us, on the authority of Hilāl ibn Khabbāb, on the authority of ʿIkrima, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, who said: the Messenger of Allah ﷺ set out on one of his campaigns, and the polytheists (mushrikīn) kept him from the afternoon prayer until evening fell. Then the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: "O Allah, fill their houses and their bellies with fire, as they have hindered us from the middle prayer." * Mūsā ibn Sahl al-Ramlī related to us, saying: Isḥāq related to us, on the authority of ʿAbd al-Wāḥid al-Mawṣilī, saying: Khālid ibn ʿAbd Allāh related to us, on the authority of Ibn Abī Laylā, on the authority of al-Ḥakam, on the authority of Miqsam, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, who said: the Prophet ﷺ said on the day of al-Aḥzāb: "They have kept us from the middle prayer until the sun disappeared; may Allah fill their graves and their houses with fire." * Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: ʿAmr ibn ʿAwn related to us, saying: Khālid informed us, on the authority of Ibn Abī Laylā, on the authority of al-Ḥakam, on the authority of Miqsam, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, who said: the confederates (al-Aḥzāb) kept the Prophet ﷺ on the day of the trench from the afternoon prayer until the sun set, and the Prophet ﷺ said: "They have kept us from the middle prayer; may Allah fill their graves and their houses with fire" — or "their bellies with fire". 4241 — Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Sulaymān ibn Aḥmad al-Ḥarashī al-Wāsiṭī related to us, saying: al-Walīd ibn Muslim related to us, saying: Ṣadaqa ibn Khālid informed me, saying: Khālid ibn Dahqān related to me, on the authority of Jābir ibn Saylān, on the authority of Kuhayl ibn Ḥarmala, who said: Abū Hurayra was asked about the middle prayer, and he said: we differed about it as you differ about it, while we were in the courtyard of the house of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ. Among us was the righteous man Abū Hāshim ibn ʿUtba ibn Rabīʿa ibn ʿAbd Shams, and he said: I will find that out for you. He stood up and sought permission from the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, went in to him, and then came out to us and said: he has informed us that it is the afternoon prayer (ʿaṣr). 4242 — Al-Ḥusayn ibn ʿAlī al-Ṣudāʾī related to me, saying: my father related to us; and Ibn Isḥāq al-Ahwāzī related to us, saying: Abū Aḥmad related to us — both together — they said: Fuḍayl ibn Masrūq related to us, on the authority of Shaqīq ibn ʿUqba al-ʿAbdī, on the authority of al-Barāʾ ibn ʿĀzib, who said: this verse was revealed: "Guard over the prayers and the afternoon prayer." He said: and I read it in the time of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ for as long as Allah willed that we read it. Then Allah abrogated it and revealed: Waakt over de gebeden en het middelste gebed en staat voor Allah in deemoedige gehoorzaamheid (Guard over the prayers and the middle prayer and stand before Allah in devout obedience). He said: then a man who was with Shaqīq said: then it is the afternoon prayer! He said: I have told you how it was revealed and how Allah abrogated it, and Allah knows best. * Ḥumayd ibn Masʿada related to us, saying: Yazīd ibn Zurayʿ related to us; and Ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: Muḥammad ibn Bakr and Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd Allāh al-Anṣārī related to us — both together — they said: Saʿīd ibn Abī ʿArūba related to us; and Abū Kurayb related to us, saying: ʿAbda ibn Sulaymān and Muḥammad ibn Bishr and ʿAbd Allāh ibn Ismāʿīl related to us, on the authority of Saʿīd, on the authority of Qatāda, on the authority of al-Ḥasan, on the authority of Samura, on the authority of the Prophet ﷺ, who said: "The middle prayer is the afternoon prayer (ʿaṣr)." * ʿIṣām ibn Rawwād ibn al-Jarrāḥ related to me, saying: my father related to us, saying: Saʿīd ibn Bishr related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, on the authority of al-Ḥasan, on the authority of Samura, who said: the Messenger of Allah ﷺ informed us that the middle prayer is the afternoon prayer (ʿaṣr). 4243 — Ibn al-Muthannā related to us, saying: Ibn Abī ʿAdī related to us, on the authority of Shuʿba, on the authority of Sulaymān, on the authority of Abū al-Ḍuḥā, on the authority of Shutayr ibn Shakal, on the authority of Umm Ḥabība, on the authority of the Prophet ﷺ, that he said on the day of the trench: "They have kept us from the middle prayer, the afternoon prayer, until the sun set." Abū Mūsā said: thus Ibn Abī ʿAdī said it. 4244 — Yaʿqūb ibn Ibrāhīm related to me, saying: Ibn ʿUlayya related to us, on the authority of Yūnus, on the authority of al-Ḥasan, who said: the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: "Guard over the prayers and the middle prayer, and that is the afternoon prayer." 4245 — Aḥmad ibn Isḥāq related to us, saying: Abū Aḥmad related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Salām related to us, on the authority of Sālim, the freedman of Abū Naṣīr, saying: Ibrāhīm ibn Yazīd al-Dimashqī related to me, saying: I was sitting with ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz ibn Marwān, and he said: O so-and-so, go to so-and-so and say to him: what did you hear from the Messenger of Allah ﷺ about the middle prayer? Then a man who was sitting there said: Abū Bakr and ʿUmar sent me, while I was a small boy, to ask him about the middle prayer. He took my smallest finger and said: "This is the dawn prayer (fajr)", and he folded the finger next to it and said: "This is the noon prayer (ẓuhr)", then he folded the thumb and said: "This is the sunset prayer (maghrib)", then he folded the finger next to it and said: "This is the night prayer (ʿishāʾ)", then he said: "Which of your fingers is left?" I said: the middle one. He said: "Which prayer is left?" I said: the afternoon prayer (ʿaṣr). He said: "It is the afternoon prayer." 4246 — It was related to me about ʿAmmār ibn al-Ḥasan, saying: Ibn Abī Jaʿfar related to us, on the authority of his father, on the authority of al-Rabīʿ, who said: it was related to us that the polytheists kept them on the day of al-Aḥzāb from the afternoon prayer until the sun disappeared, and the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: "They have kept us from the middle prayer, the afternoon prayer, until the sun set; may Allah fill their houses and their graves with fire." * Ibn al-Barqī related to us, saying: ʿAmr related to us, on the authority of Abū Salama, saying: Ṣadaqa related to us, on the authority of Saʿīd, on the authority of Qatāda, on the authority of Abū Ḥassān, on the authority of ʿAbīda al-Salmānī, on the authority of ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib, on the authority of the Prophet ﷺ, that he said on the day of al-Aḥzāb: "O Allah, fill their houses and their graves with fire, as they have kept us from the middle prayer until the sun set." 4247 — Muḥammad ibn ʿAwf al-Ṭāʾī related to me, saying: Muḥammad ibn Ismāʿīl ibn ʿAyyāsh related to me, saying: my father related to us, saying: Ḍamḍam ibn Zurʿa related to me, on the authority of Shurayḥ ibn ʿUbayd, on the authority of Abū Mālik al-Ashʿarī, who said: the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: "The middle prayer is the afternoon prayer (ʿaṣr)."
And others said: no, the middle prayer is the noon prayer (ẓuhr). Mention of who said that: 4248 — Muḥammad ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: ʿAffān related to us, saying: Hammām related to us, saying: Qatāda related to us, on the authority of Saʿīd ibn al-Musayyab, on the authority of Ibn ʿUmar, on the authority of Zayd ibn Thābit, who said: the middle prayer is the noon prayer (ẓuhr). * Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd Allāh al-Makhzūmī related to us, saying: Abū ʿĀmir related to us, saying: Shuʿba related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, on the authority of Saʿīd ibn al-Musayyab, on the authority of Ibn ʿUmar, on the authority of Zayd — that is to say Ibn Thābit — in the same manner. * Muḥammad ibn al-Muthannā related to us, saying: Muḥammad ibn Jaʿfar related to us, saying: Shuʿba related to us, on the authority of Saʿd ibn Ibrāhīm, who said: I heard Ḥafṣ ibn ʿĀṣim relate on the authority of Zayd ibn Thābit, who said: the middle prayer is the noon prayer (ẓuhr). * Ibn al-Muthannā related to us, saying: Sulaymān ibn Dāwūd related to us, saying: Shuʿba related to us; and Yaʿqūb ibn Ibrāhīm related to me, saying: Ibn ʿUlayya related to us, on the authority of Shuʿba, saying: ʿUmar ibn Sulaymān, a descendant of ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb, informed me, saying: I heard ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Abān ibn ʿUthmān relate on the authority of his father, on the authority of Zayd ibn Thābit, who said: the middle prayer is the noon prayer (ẓuhr). 4249 — Zakariyyā ibn Yaḥyā ibn Abī Zāʾida related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Ṣamad related to us, saying: Shuʿba related to us, on the authority of ʿUmar ibn Sulaymān — so said Abū Zāʾida — on the authority of ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Abān, on the authority of his father, on the authority of Zayd ibn Thābit, in his narration which he attributed to the Prophet ﷺ: "The middle prayer is the noon prayer (ẓuhr)." 4250 — Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: ʿAbd Allāh ibn Yazīd related to us, saying: Ḥaywa ibn Shurayḥ and Ibn Lahīʿa related to us, they said: Abū ʿAqīl Zuhra ibn Maʿbad related to us, that Saʿīd ibn al-Musayyab related to him that he was sitting — he, ʿUrwa ibn al-Zubayr and Ibrāhīm ibn Ṭalḥa. Then Saʿīd ibn al-Musayyab said: I heard Abū Saʿīd al-Khudrī say: "The middle prayer is the noon prayer (ẓuhr)." Then ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿUmar passed by us, and ʿUrwa said: send someone to Ibn ʿUmar and ask him! They sent a boy to him, who asked him, and the messenger then came back to us and said: he says: it is the noon prayer. We doubted the word of the boy, so we all rose and went to Ibn ʿUmar and asked him, and he said: it is the noon prayer (ẓuhr). * Yaʿqūb related to me, saying: Hushaym related to us, saying: al-ʿAwwām ibn Ḥawshab informed us, saying: a man of the Anṣār related to me, on the authority of Zayd ibn Thābit, that he used to say: it is the noon prayer (ẓuhr). * Aḥmad ibn Isḥāq related to me, Abū Aḥmad related to us, saying: Ibn Abī Dhiʾb related to us; and al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Ādam related to us, saying: Ibn Abī Dhiʾb related to us, on the authority of al-Zibriqān ibn ʿAmr, on the authority of Zayd ibn Thābit, who said: the middle prayer is the noon prayer (ẓuhr). * Al-Muthannā related to us, saying: al-Ḥajjāj related to us, saying: Ḥammād related to us, saying: ʿUbayd Allāh informed us, on the authority of Nāfiʿ, on the authority of Zayd ibn Thābit, that he said: the middle prayer is the noon prayer (ẓuhr). 4251 — Ibn al-Barqī related to us, saying: Ibn Abī Maryam related to us, saying: Nāfiʿ ibn Yazīd informed us, saying: al-Walīd ibn Abī al-Walīd Abū ʿUthmān related to me, saying: ʿAbd Allāh ibn Dīnār related to me, on the authority of ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿUmar, that he was asked about the middle prayer, and he said: it is that which immediately follows the forenoon prayer (ḍuḥā). 4252 — Ibn al-Barqī related to us, saying: Ibn Abī Maryam related to us, saying: Nāfiʿ ibn Yazīd related to us, saying: al-Walīd ibn Abī al-Walīd related to me that Salama ibn Abī Maryam related to him that a group of Quraysh sent to ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿUmar to ask him about the middle prayer, and he said to him: it is that which immediately follows the forenoon prayer (ḍuḥā). They said to him: go back and ask him, for he has only confused us further about it! Then ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Aflaḥ, the freedman of ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿUmar, passed by them, and they sent to him also, and he said: it is that at which the Messenger of Allah ﷺ turned toward the qibla. * Ibn al-Barqī related to me, saying: Ibn Abī Maryam related to us, saying: Nāfiʿ informed us, saying: Zuhra ibn Maʿbad related to me, saying: Saʿīd ibn al-Musayyab related to me that he was sitting — he, ʿUrwa and Ibrāhīm ibn Ṭalḥa. Then Saʿīd said to him: I heard Abū Saʿīd say: indeed, the noon prayer (ẓuhr) is the middle prayer. Then Ibn ʿUmar passed by us, and ʿUrwa said: send someone to him and ask him! The boy asked him, and he said: it is the noon prayer. We doubted the word of the boy, so we all rose toward him and asked him, and he said: it is the noon prayer (ẓuhr). 4253 — Ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: ʿUthmān ibn ʿUmar related to us, saying: Abū ʿĀmir related to us, on the authority of ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Qays, on the authority of Ibn Abī Rāfiʿ, on the authority of his father — who was a freedman of Ḥafṣa — who said: Ḥafṣa charged me to write a muṣḥaf and said to me: when you reach this verse, let me know, that I may dictate it to you as she read it to me! When I reached this verse: Waakt over de gebeden en het middelste gebed (Guard over the prayers and the middle prayer), I came to her, and she said: write: "Guard over the prayers and the middle prayer and the afternoon prayer." Then I met Ubayy ibn Kaʿb or Zayd ibn Thābit, and I said: O Abū al-Mundhir, Ḥafṣa said such and such. He said: it is as she said; are we not most occupied at the time of the noon prayer with our flocks and our water-bearing camels?
And the basis of those who said that is what: 4254 — Muḥammad ibn al-Muthannā related to us about this, saying: Muḥammad ibn Jaʿfar related to us, saying: Shuʿba related to us, saying: ʿAmr ibn Abī Ḥakīm informed me, saying: I heard al-Zibriqān relate, on the authority of ʿUrwa ibn al-Zubayr, on the authority of Zayd ibn Thābit, who said: the Messenger of Allah ﷺ used to perform the noon prayer in the heat of midday, and there was no prayer that weighed more heavily upon the companions of the Prophet ﷺ than that. He said: then was revealed: Waakt over de gebeden en het middelste gebed (Guard over the prayers and the middle prayer), and he said: "Indeed, before it are two prayers and after it two prayers." 4255 — Mujāhid ibn Mūsā related to us, saying: Yazīd ibn Hārūn related to us, saying: Ibn Abī Dhiʾb informed us, on the authority of al-Zibriqān, who said: indeed, a group of Quraysh — Zayd ibn Thābit passed by them, and they sent two men to him to ask him about the middle prayer. Zayd said: it is the noon prayer (ẓuhr). Then two men of them rose and came to Usāma ibn Zayd, and asked him about the middle prayer, and he said: it is the noon prayer. Indeed, the Messenger of Allah ﷺ used to perform the noon prayer in the heat of midday, and there was behind him only one or two rows — the people were in their siesta and in their trade. Then the Messenger of Allah said: "Indeed, I have considered burning houses over people who do not attend the prayer." He said: then this verse was revealed: Waakt over de gebeden en het middelste gebed (Guard over the prayers and the middle prayer). And others read it as: "Guard over the prayers and the middle prayer and the afternoon prayer."
Mention of who used to say it thus: 4256 — Muḥammad ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: Muḥammad ibn Jaʿfar related to us, saying: Shuʿba related to us, on the authority of Abū Bishr, on the authority of ʿAbd Allāh ibn Yazīd al-Azdī, on the authority of Sālim ibn ʿAbd Allāh, that Ḥafṣa charged a person, and he wrote a muṣḥaf, and she said: when you reach this verse: Waakt over de gebeden en het middelste gebed (Guard over the prayers and the middle prayer), point it out to me! When he reached it, he pointed it out to her, and she said: write: "Guard over the prayers and the middle prayer and the afternoon prayer." 4257 — Ibn al-Muthannā related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Wahhāb related to us, saying: ʿUbayd Allāh related to us, on the authority of Nāfiʿ, that Ḥafṣa charged a freedman of hers to write a muṣḥaf for her, and she said: when you reach this verse: Waakt over de gebeden en het middelste gebed (Guard over the prayers and the middle prayer), do not write it until I dictate it to you as I heard the Messenger of Allah ﷺ recite it. When he reached it, she charged him and he wrote it: "And guard over the prayers and the middle prayer and the afternoon prayer, and stand before Allah in devout obedience." Nāfiʿ said: I read that muṣḥaf and found in it the "wāw" (the connective word "and"). 4258 — Al-Rabīʿ ibn Sulaymān related to us, saying: Asad ibn Mūsā related to us, saying: Ḥammād ibn Salama related to us, on the authority of ʿUbayd Allāh ibn ʿUmar, on the authority of Nāfiʿ, on the authority of Ḥafṣa, the wife of the Prophet ﷺ, that she said to the scribe of her muṣḥaf: when you reach the prayer times, inform me, that I may charge you with what I heard the Messenger of Allah ﷺ say. When he informed her, she said: write, for I heard the Messenger of Allah ﷺ say: "Guard over the prayers and the middle prayer and the afternoon prayer." 4259 — Abū Kurayb related to us, saying: ʿAbda ibn Sulaymān related to us, saying: Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr related to us, saying: Abū Salama related to me, on the authority of ʿAmr ibn Rāfiʿ, the freedman of ʿUmar, who said: in the muṣḥaf of Ḥafṣa it was written: "Guard over the prayers and the middle prayer and the afternoon prayer, and stand before Allah in devout obedience." * Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿAbd al-Ḥakam al-Miṣrī related to us, saying: my father and Shuʿayb related to us, on the authority of al-Layth, saying: Khālid ibn Yazīd related to us, on the authority of Ibn Abī Hilāl, on the authority of Zayd, on the authority of ʿAmr ibn Rāfiʿ, who said: Ḥafṣa called me, and I wrote a muṣḥaf for her, and she said: when you reach the prayer verse, inform me! When I wrote: Waakt over de gebeden en het middelste gebed (Guard over the prayers and the middle prayer), she said: "and the afternoon prayer" — I bear witness that I heard it from the Messenger of Allah ﷺ. 4260 — Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿAbd al-Ḥakam related to me, saying: my father and Shuʿayb ibn al-Layth related to me, on the authority of al-Layth, saying: Khālid ibn Yazīd informed me, on the authority of Ibn Abī Hilāl, on the authority of Zayd, that something similar reached him about Abū Yūnus, the freedman of ʿĀʾisha. * Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Abū Ṣāliḥ related to us, saying: al-Layth related to me, saying: Khālid related to me, on the authority of Saʿīd, on the authority of Zayd ibn Aslam, that something similar reached him about Abū Yūnus, the freedman of ʿĀʾisha, on the authority of ʿĀʾisha. 4261 — Muḥammad ibn al-Muthannā related to us, saying: Wahb ibn Jarīr related to us, they said: Shuʿba informed us, on the authority of Abū Isḥāq, on the authority of ʿUmayr ibn Maryam, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās: "Guard over the prayers and the middle prayer and the afternoon prayer." 4262 — Mujāhid ibn Mūsā related to us, saying: Yazīd ibn Hārūn related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Malik ibn Abī Sulaymān informed us, on the authority of ʿAṭāʾ, who said: ʿUbayd ibn ʿUmayr used to read: "And guard over the prayers and the middle prayer and the afternoon prayer, and stand before Allah in devout obedience." * Ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: ʿUthmān ibn ʿUmar related to us, saying: Abū ʿĀmir related to us, on the authority of ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Qays, on the authority of Ibn Abī Rāfiʿ, on the authority of his father — who was a freedman of Ḥafṣa — who said: Ḥafṣa charged me to write a muṣḥaf and said: when you reach this verse, let me know, that I may dictate it to you as it was read to me. When I reached this verse: Waakt over de gebeden en het middelste gebed (Guard over the prayers and the middle prayer), I came to her, and she said: write "Guard over the prayers and the middle prayer and the afternoon prayer." Then I met Ubayy ibn Kaʿb or Zayd ibn Thābit, and I said: O Abū al-Mundhir, Ḥafṣa said such and such. He said: it is as she said; are we not most occupied at the time of the noon prayer with our water-bearing camels and our flocks?
And others said: no, the middle prayer is the sunset prayer (maghrib). Mention of who said that: 4263 — Aḥmad ibn Isḥāq related to us, saying: Abū Aḥmad related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Salām related to us, on the authority of Isḥāq ibn Abī Farwa, on the authority of a man, on the authority of Qabīṣa ibn Dhuʾayb, who said: the middle prayer is the sunset prayer (maghrib); do you not see that it is neither the shortest nor the longest of them, that it is not shortened while traveling, and that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ neither delayed it beyond its time nor brought it forward? Abū Jaʿfar said: Qabīṣa ibn Dhuʾayb based his statement "the middle" upon the meaning of intermediateness (al-tawassuṭ), which is a quality of something that maintains a balance between two extremes, like the man of medium stature, who is neither excessively tall nor too small of stature. Therefore he said: do you not see that it is neither the shortest nor the longest of them.
And others said: no, the middle prayer that Allah intended by His saying: Waakt over de gebeden en het middelste gebed (Guard over the prayers and the middle prayer) is the morning prayer (ghadāh). Mention of who said that: 4264 — Ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: ʿAffān related to us, saying: Hammām related to us, saying: Qatāda related to us, on the authority of Ṣāliḥ Abū al-Khalīl, on the authority of Jābir ibn Zayd, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, who said: the middle prayer is the dawn prayer (fajr). 4265 — Ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: Ibn Abī ʿAdī and ʿAbd al-Wahhāb and Muḥammad ibn Jaʿfar related to us, on the authority of ʿAwf, on the authority of Abū Rajāʾ, who said: I prayed the morning prayer (ghadāh) with Ibn ʿAbbās in the mosque of Basra, and he performed the qunūt with us before the bowing (rukūʿ) and said: this is the middle prayer concerning which Allah has said: en staat voor Allah in deemoedige gehoorzaamheid (and stand before Allah in devout obedience). * Yaʿqūb related to me, saying: Ibn ʿUlayya related to us, on the authority of ʿAwf, on the authority of Abū Rajāʾ al-ʿUṭāridī, who said: I prayed behind Ibn ʿAbbās — and he mentioned something similar. * ʿAbbād ibn Yaʿqūb al-Asadī related to us, saying: Sharīk related to us, on the authority of ʿAwf al-Aʿrābī, on the authority of Abū Rajāʾ al-ʿUṭāridī, who said: I prayed behind Ibn ʿAbbās the dawn prayer (fajr), and he performed the qunūt in it and raised his hands, and then said: this is the middle prayer at which Allah has commanded us to stand in devout obedience. * Abū Kurayb related to us, saying: Hushaym related to us, saying: ʿAwf informed us, on the authority of Abū Rajāʾ, who said: Ibn ʿAbbās prayed with us the dawn prayer (fajr), and when he had finished, he said: indeed, Allah has said in His Book: Waakt over de gebeden en het middelste gebed (Guard over the prayers and the middle prayer) — this then is the middle prayer. * Abū Kurayb related to us, saying: Marwān — that is to say Ibn Muʿāwiya — related to us, on the authority of ʿAwf, on the authority of Abū Rajāʾ al-ʿUṭāridī, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, something similar. * Ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Wahhāb related to us, saying: ʿAwf related to us, on the authority of Abū al-Minhāl, on the authority of Abū al-ʿĀliya, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, that he prayed the morning prayer (ghadāh) in the mosque of Basra, and performed the qunūt before the bowing and said: this is the middle prayer that Allah has mentioned: Waakt over de gebeden en het middelste gebed en staat voor Allah in deemoedige gehoorzaamheid (Guard over the prayers and the middle prayer and stand before Allah in devout obedience). 4266 — Muḥammad ibn al-Muthannā related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Wahhāb related to us, saying: al-Muhājir related to us, on the authority of Abū al-ʿĀliya, who said: I asked Ibn ʿAbbās here in Basra — and his thigh was indeed touching mine — and I said: O so-and-so, tell me about the middle prayer that Allah has mentioned in the Qurʾān; will you not tell me which prayer it is? This was at the time when they were turning away from the morning prayer (ghadāh). He said: have you not prayed the sunset prayer (maghrib) and the last night prayer (ʿishāʾ al-ākhira)? I said: yes. He said: and have you then prayed this? He said: and you then perform the first prayer (ẓuhr) and the afternoon prayer (ʿaṣr)? I said: yes. He said: then it is this prayer. 4267 — Muḥammad ibn ʿĪsā al-Dāmaghānī related to us, saying: Ibn al-Mubārak informed us, saying: al-Rabīʿ ibn Anas informed us, on the authority of Abū al-ʿĀliya, who said: I prayed behind ʿAbd Allāh ibn Qays in Basra in the time of ʿUmar the morning prayer (ghadāh). He said: then I said to a man of the companions of the Prophet ﷺ next to me: what is the middle prayer? He said: this prayer. 4268 — Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: al-Ḥajjāj related to us, saying: Ḥammād related to us, saying: ʿAwf informed us, on the authority of Khilās ibn ʿAmr, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, that he prayed the dawn prayer (fajr) and performed the qunūt before the bowing and raised his two fingers, and said: this is the middle prayer. 4269 — It was related to me about ʿAmmār ibn al-Ḥasan, saying: Ibn Abī Jaʿfar related to us, on the authority of his father, on the authority of al-Rabīʿ, on the authority of Abū al-ʿĀliya, that he prayed with the companions of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ the morning prayer (ghadāh), and when they had finished, he said: I said to them: which of them is the middle prayer? They said: that which you prayed before it. 4270 — Ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: Ibn ʿUthma related to us, saying: Saʿīd ibn Bishr related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, on the authority of Jābir ibn ʿAbd Allāh, who said: the middle prayer is the morning prayer (ṣubḥ). 4271 — Mujāhid ibn Mūsā related to us, saying: Yazīd ibn Hārūn related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Malik ibn Abī Sulaymān informed us, saying: ʿAṭāʾ was of the opinion that the middle prayer is the morning prayer (ghadāh). 4272 — Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Yaḥyā ibn Wāḍiḥ related to us, saying: al-Ḥusayn ibn Wāqid related to us, on the authority of Yazīd al-Naḥwī, on the authority of ʿIkrima, concerning His saying: en het middelste gebed (and the middle prayer) — he said: the morning prayer (ghadāh). 4273 — Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr related to me, saying: Abū ʿĀṣim related to us, on the authority of ʿĪsā, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning Allah's saying, exalted be His mention: Waakt over de gebeden en het middelste gebed (Guard over the prayers and the middle prayer) — he said: the morning prayer (ṣubḥ). * Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Abū Ḥudhayfa related to us, saying: Shibl related to us, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, in the same manner. 4274 — It was related to me about ʿAmmār ibn al-Ḥasan, saying: Ibn Abī Jaʿfar related to us, on the authority of his father, on the authority of Ḥuṣayn, on the authority of ʿAbd Allāh ibn Shaddād ibn al-Hād, who said: the middle prayer is the morning prayer (ghadāh). 4275 — It was related to me about ʿAmmār, saying: Ibn Abī Jaʿfar related to us, on the authority of his father, on the authority of al-Rabīʿ, concerning His saying: Waakt over de gebeden en het middelste gebed (Guard over the prayers and the middle prayer) — he said: the middle prayer is the morning prayer (ghadāh).
And the basis of those who held this view is that Allah, exalted be His mention, said: Waakt over de gebeden en het middelste gebed en staat voor Allah in deemoedige gehoorzaamheid (qānitīn) (Guard over the prayers and the middle prayer and stand before Allah in devout obedience (qānitīn)) — in the meaning of: and stand therein before Allah in devout obedience. He said: there is no prescribed prayer of the five prayers in which the qunūt occurs except the morning prayer (ṣubḥ), and thus it is known from this that it is this prayer and no other.
And others said: it is one of the five prayers, but we do not know it precisely. Mention of who said that: 4276 — Yūnus ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Hishām ibn Saʿd related to me, saying: we were with Nāfiʿ, and with us was Rajāʾ ibn Ḥaywa, and Rajāʾ said to us: ask Nāfiʿ about the middle prayer! We asked him, and he said: a man asked ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿUmar about that, and he said: it is among them, so guard over them all. 4277 — Aḥmad ibn Isḥāq related to us, saying: Abū Aḥmad related to us, on the authority of Qays ibn al-Rabīʿ, on the authority of Nusayr ibn Dhuʿlūq, on the authority of Abū Fuṭayma, who said: I asked al-Rabīʿ ibn Khuthaym about the middle prayer. He said: do you think that, if you knew it, you would guard over it but neglect the rest? I said: no. He said: well then, if you guard over them all, then you have also guarded over it. 4278 — Ibn Bashshār and Ibn al-Muthannā related to us, they said: Muḥammad ibn Jaʿfar related to us, saying: Shuʿba related to us, saying: I heard Qatāda relate, on the authority of Saʿīd ibn al-Musayyab, who said: the companions of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ were like this concerning it — that is to say: differing about the middle prayer — and he interlaced his fingers.
And the correct word concerning this is that which finds support in the narrations of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ which we have mentioned earlier in its interpretation, namely that it is the afternoon prayer (ʿaṣr). And that to which Allah, exalted be His mention, has urged thereby is equal to that which is related about the Messenger of Allah ﷺ concerning the urging toward it. Such as: 4279 — Aḥmad ibn Muḥammad ibn Ḥabīb al-Ṭūsī related to me about this, saying: Yaʿqūb ibn Ibrāhīm related to us, saying: my father related to us, on the authority of Muḥammad ibn Isḥāq, saying: Yazīd ibn Abī Ḥabīb related to me, on the authority of Jabr ibn Nuʿaym al-Ḥaḍramī, on the authority of ʿAbd Allāh ibn Hubayra al-Nasāʾī — and he was trustworthy — on the authority of Abū Tamīm al-Jayshānī, on the authority of Abū Baṣra al-Ghifārī, who said: the Messenger of Allah ﷺ led us in the afternoon prayer (ʿaṣr), and when he had finished, he said: "Indeed, this prayer was prescribed for those who were before you, but they were negligent in it and abandoned it. Whoever of you performs it, his reward is doubled, and there is no prayer after it until the witness appears." And the witness is the star. 4280 — ʿAlī ibn Dāwūd related to me, saying: ʿAbd Allāh ibn Ṣāliḥ related to us, saying: al-Layth related to me, saying: Jabr ibn Nuʿaym related to me, on the authority of Ibn Hubayra, on the authority of Abū Tamīm al-Jayshānī, that Abū Baṣra al-Ghifārī said: the Messenger of Allah ﷺ led us in the afternoon prayer (ʿaṣr) at al-Mughammis, and he said: "Indeed, this prayer was prescribed for those who were before you, but they neglected it and abandoned it. Whoever of you guards over it, his reward is given to him twice." And he ﷺ said: "Perform the prayer early on a cloudy day, for whoever misses the afternoon prayer, his work is lost." 4281 — Abū Kurayb related that to us, saying: Wakīʿ related to us; and Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿAbd al-Ḥakam related to me, saying: Ayyūb ibn Suwayd related to us, on the authority of Abū Qilāba, on the authority of Abū al-Muhājir, on the authority of Burayda, on the authority of the Prophet ﷺ. And he said: "Whoever misses the afternoon prayer (ʿaṣr), it is as though his family and his property were taken from him." And he ﷺ said: "Whoever prays before sunrise and before sunset will not enter the Fire."
Thus he ﷺ urged toward guarding over it with an urging such as he did not urge toward any other prayer, even though guarding over them all is obligatory. By this it became clear that that to which Allah urged through the urging toward guarding over it — after the command toward it had encompassed all the prescribed prayers — is that in which His Prophet ﷺ followed Him, so that he set it apart from the urging with something with which he set apart no other prayer, and warned his community against neglecting it, lest there befall them what befell the communities before them — whose situation has been described — and promised them for guarding over it double the reward of what He promised for the rest of the prayers. And I suppose that it was thus because Allah, exalted be His mention, has made the night for rest, and the people — kept from their occupations by the seeking of livelihood and by being engaged in the means of acquisition — have come to rest, except for a small portion of them, and are mindful of guarding over the obligations of Allah and the performance of the prescribed prayers. So it is also with the morning prayer (ṣubḥ), for that is a time at which few people occupy themselves with acquisition, and guarding over it does not weigh heavily upon them.
As for the noon prayer (ẓuhr): its time is the time of the people's siesta and their rest from their occupations during the hours of intense heat and the long hours of the day, and the time of the bodies coming to rest during the cold and on the winter days. And the well-known times at which the people occupy themselves with their occupations and their acquisitions and exert themselves for that which they cannot do without in seeking their food are two times of the day: one is the beginning of the day, after sunrise until the time of the midday heat. And Allah, exalted be His mention, has lightened for His servants therein the burden of their obligation at that time, and the heaviness of what would keep them from their striving after their occupations and acquisitions, even though He has urged them in His Book and through the tongue of His Messenger at that time toward a prayer and promised them for it abundant reward, without making it obligatory upon them — and that is the forenoon prayer (ḍuḥā). And the other of them is the end of the day, and that is after the people have cooled down, when it becomes possible to occupy oneself with occupations and to seek livelihood, in summer and winter, until the time of the disappearance of the sun. And He prescribed for them therein the afternoon prayer (ʿaṣr), and then urged toward guarding over it, lest they neglect it, because of what He knew of His servants' preference for the means of their perishable world and the seeking of their livelihood therein over the means of their coming hereafter — through that with which He urged them toward it in His Book and through the tongue of His Messenger ﷺ, and promised them for guarding over it abundant reward, a part of which I have mentioned in this book of ours. And we shall mention the rest of it in our larger book, if Allah wills, in the book of the rulings of the religious laws.
And it was called only "the middle" (al-wusṭā) because of its middle position among the five prescribed prayers, for before it are two prayers and after it two prayers, and it is the middlemost of them in between. And "al-wusṭā" is the feminine elative form (fuʿlā) of the saying of one who says: "wasaṭtu al-qawma, asiṭuhum, siṭatan wa-wusūṭan" — when you have entered into their midst. And one says for the masculine of it: "he is our middle one (awsaṭunā)", and for the feminine: "she is our middle one (wusṭānā)".
en staat voor Allah in deemoedige gehoorzaamheid (and stand before Allah in devout obedience)
The statement concerning the interpretation of His saying, the Exalted: en staat voor Allah in deemoedige gehoorzaamheid (qānitīn) (and stand before Allah in devout obedience (qānitīn)). The authorities of interpretation differed concerning the meaning of His saying qānitīn . Some said: the meaning of qunūt is obedience, and the meaning of it is: and stand before Allah in your prayer, obedient to Him in what He has commanded you and forbidden you therein. Mention of who said that: 4282 — ʿAlī ibn Saʿīd al-Kindī related to me, saying: ʿAbd Allāh ibn al-Mubārak related to us, on the authority of Ibn ʿAwn, on the authority of al-Shaʿbī, concerning His saying: en staat voor Allah in deemoedige gehoorzaamheid (and stand before Allah in devout obedience) — he said: obedient. * Abū al-Sāʾib Salm ibn Junāda related to me, saying: Ibn Idrīs related to us, on the authority of Ibn ʿAwn, on the authority of al-Shaʿbī, in the same manner. 4283 — Ibn Ḥumayd related to me, saying: Yaḥyā ibn Wāḍiḥ related to us, saying: Abū al-Munīb related to us, on the authority of Jābir ibn Zayd: en staat voor Allah in deemoedige gehoorzaamheid (and stand before Allah in devout obedience) — he says: obedient. 4284 — Abū al-Sāʾib related to me, saying: Ibn Idrīs related to us, on the authority of ʿUthmān ibn al-Aswad, on the authority of ʿAṭāʾ: en staat voor Allah in deemoedige gehoorzaamheid (and stand before Allah in devout obedience) — he said: obedient. 4285 — Aḥmad ibn ʿAbda al-Ḥimṣī related to us, saying: Abū ʿAwāna related to us, on the authority of Ibn Bishr, on the authority of Saʿīd ibn Jubayr, concerning His saying: en staat voor Allah in deemoedige gehoorzaamheid (and stand before Allah in devout obedience) — he said: obedient. * Muḥammad ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Raḥmān related to us, saying: Sufyān related to us, on the authority of al-Rabīʿ ibn Abī Rāshid, on the authority of Saʿīd ibn Jubayr, that he was asked about the qunūt, and he said: the qunūt is obedience. 4286 — Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Yaḥyā ibn Wāḍiḥ related to us, saying: ʿUbayd ibn Sulaymān related to us, on the authority of al-Ḍaḥḥāk, who said: the qunūt that Allah has mentioned in the Qurʾān, by it is meant only obedience. 4287 — Yaḥyā ibn Abī Ṭālib related to me, saying: Yazīd ibn Hārūn informed us, saying: Juwaybir informed us, on the authority of al-Ḍaḥḥāk: en staat voor Allah in deemoedige gehoorzaamheid (and stand before Allah in devout obedience) — he said: indeed, the people of every religion stand before Allah disobedient; so stand, obedient, before Allah. 4288 — Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Isḥāq related to us, saying: Abū Zuhayr related to us, on the authority of Juwaybir, on the authority of al-Ḍaḥḥāk, concerning His saying: en staat voor Allah in deemoedige gehoorzaamheid (and stand before Allah in devout obedience) — he said: stand before Allah obedient in everything, and obey Him in your prayer. * It was related to me about al-Ḥusayn ibn al-Faraj, saying: I heard Abū Muʿādh say: ʿUbayd informed us, saying: I heard al-Ḍaḥḥāk say: en staat voor Allah in deemoedige gehoorzaamheid (and stand before Allah in devout obedience) — the qunūt is obedience; he says: every adherent of a religion has a prayer, and they stand in their prayer before Allah disobedient; so stand, obedient, before Allah. 4289 — Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: ʿAbd Allāh ibn Ṣāliḥ related to us, saying: Muʿāwiya ibn Ṣāliḥ related to me, on the authority of ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭalḥa, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning His saying: qānitīn — he says: obedient. * Muḥammad ibn Saʿd related to me, saying: my father related to me, saying: my uncle related to me, saying: my father related to me, on the authority of his father, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning His saying: en staat voor Allah in deemoedige gehoorzaamheid (and stand before Allah in devout obedience) — he said: obedient. 4290 — Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: al-Ḥimmānī related to us, saying: Sharīk related to me, on the authority of Sālim, on the authority of Saʿīd: en staat voor Allah in deemoedige gehoorzaamheid (and stand before Allah in devout obedience) — he says: obedient. 4291 — ʿImrān ibn Bakkār al-Kalāʿī related to me, saying: Khaṭṭāb ibn ʿUthmān related to us, saying: Abū Rawḥ ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Sinān al-Sakūnī, a man from Ḥimṣ whom I met in Armenia, related to us, saying: I heard al-Ḥasan ibn Abī al-Ḥasan say concerning His saying: en staat voor Allah in deemoedige gehoorzaamheid (and stand before Allah in devout obedience) — he said: obedient. 4292 — Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr related to me, saying: Abū ʿĀṣim related to us, on the authority of ʿĪsā, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning Allah's saying: en staat voor Allah in deemoedige gehoorzaamheid (and stand before Allah in devout obedience) — he said: obedient. * Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Abū Ḥudhayfa related to us, saying: Shibl related to us, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, in the same manner. 4293 — Bishr ibn Muʿādh related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning His saying: en staat voor Allah in deemoedige gehoorzaamheid (and stand before Allah in devout obedience) — he says: obedient. 4294 — Aḥmad ibn Isḥāq related to us, saying: Abū Aḥmad al-Zubayrī related to us, saying: Fuḍayl ibn Marzūq related to us, on the authority of ʿAṭiyya, who said: they used to command their needs in the prayer, until it was revealed: en staat voor Allah in deemoedige gehoorzaamheid (and stand before Allah in devout obedience), whereupon they refrained from speaking. He said: qānitīn means: obedient. * Muḥammad ibn ʿUmāra al-Asadī related to me, saying: ʿUbayd Allāh ibn Mūsā related to us, saying: Fuḍayl informed us, on the authority of ʿAṭiyya, concerning His saying: en staat voor Allah in deemoedige gehoorzaamheid (and stand before Allah in devout obedience) — he said: they used to speak about their needs in the prayer, until it was revealed: en staat voor Allah in deemoedige gehoorzaamheid (and stand before Allah in devout obedience), whereupon they refrained from speaking in the prayer. 4295 — Al-Qāsim related to us, saying: al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Ḥajjāj related to me, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj, who said: Ibn ʿAbbās said concerning His saying: en staat voor Allah in deemoedige gehoorzaamheid (and stand before Allah in devout obedience) — he said: there was a religious people who stood therein disobedient; so stand you, obedient, before Allah. 4296 — Al-Rabīʿ ibn Sulaymān related to us, saying: Asad ibn Mūsā related to us, saying: Ibn Lahīʿa related to us, saying: Darrāj related to us, on the authority of Abū al-Haytham, on the authority of Abū Saʿīd, on the authority of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, that he said: "Every word in the Qurʾān in which the qunūt occurs, that is only obedience." 4297 — Al-ʿAbbās ibn al-Walīd related to us, saying: my father informed me, saying: Saʿīd ibn ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz related to us, saying: the qunūt is obedience to Allah; Allah, exalted be His mention, says: en staat voor Allah in deemoedige gehoorzaamheid (and stand before Allah in devout obedience) — obedient. 4298 — Saʿīd ibn al-Rabīʿ related to us, saying: Sufyān related to us, saying: Ibn Ṭāwūs said: my father used to say: the qunūt is obedience to Allah.
And others said: the qunūt in this verse is silence. And they said: the interpretation of the verse is: stand before Allah, silent about that which Allah has forbidden you to speak in your prayer. Mention of who said that: 4299 — Mūsā ibn Hārūn related to me, saying: ʿAmr related to us, saying: Asbāṭ related to us, on the authority of al-Suddī: en staat voor Allah in deemoedige gehoorzaamheid (and stand before Allah in devout obedience) — the qunūt in this verse is silence. 4300 — Mūsā related to me, saying: ʿAmr related to us, saying: Asbāṭ related to us, on the authority of al-Suddī, in a report which he mentioned, on the authority of Murra, on the authority of Ibn Masʿūd, who said: we used to stand in the prayer and speak, and the man would ask his companion about his need, and he would inform him, and they would answer his greeting when he gave the salām. Until I came and gave the salām, and they did not answer my greeting, and that weighed heavily upon me. When the Prophet ﷺ had completed his prayer, he said: "Indeed, nothing prevented me from answering your greeting except that we have been commanded to stand in devout obedience (qānitīn) and not to speak in the prayer." And the qunūt is silence. * Muḥammad ibn ʿUbayd al-Muḥāribī related to me, saying: al-Ḥakam ibn Ẓuhayr related to us, on the authority of ʿĀṣim, on the authority of Zirr, on the authority of ʿAbd Allāh, who said: we used to speak in the prayer, and I gave the salām to the Prophet ﷺ, and he did not answer me. When he had finished, he said: "Allah has just decreed that you shall not speak in the prayer." And this verse was revealed: en staat voor Allah in deemoedige gehoorzaamheid (and stand before Allah in devout obedience). 4301 — ʿAbd al-Ḥamīd ibn Bayān al-Sukkarī related to us, saying: Muḥammad ibn Yazīd informed us; and Abū Kurayb related to us, saying: Ibn Abī Zāʾida and Ibn Numayr and Wakīʿ and Yaʿlā ibn ʿUbayd related to us together, on the authority of Ismāʿīl ibn Abī Khālid, on the authority of al-Ḥārith ibn Shibl, on the authority of Abū ʿAmr al-Shaybānī, on the authority of Zayd ibn Arqam, who said: we used to speak in the prayer in the time of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ — one of us would address his companion about a need — until this verse was revealed: Waakt over de gebeden en het middelste gebed en staat voor Allah in deemoedige gehoorzaamheid (Guard over the prayers and the middle prayer and stand before Allah in devout obedience), whereupon we were commanded to be silent. 4302 — Hannād ibn al-Sarī related to us, saying: Abū al-Aḥwaṣ related to us, on the authority of Simāk, on the authority of ʿIkrima, concerning His saying: en staat voor Allah in deemoedige gehoorzaamheid (and stand before Allah in devout obedience) — he said: they used to speak in the prayer; the servant of a man would come to him while he was in the prayer, and he would speak with him about his need, and so speaking was forbidden to them. 4303 — Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Hārūn ibn al-Mughīra related to us, on the authority of ʿAnbasa, on the authority of al-Zubayr ibn ʿAdī, on the authority of Kulthūm ibn al-Muṣṭaliq, on the authority of ʿAbd Allāh ibn Masʿūd, who said: indeed, the Prophet ﷺ had accustomed me to answer my greeting in the prayer. One day I came to him and gave the salām, and he did not answer me and said: "Indeed, Allah brings forth in His decree what He wills, and He has brought forth for you in the prayer that no one speaks except with the remembrance of Allah and what is fitting of glorification and exaltation — and stand before Allah in devout obedience", ﷺ. 4304 — Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Ibn Zayd said concerning His saying: en staat voor Allah in deemoedige gehoorzaamheid (and stand before Allah in devout obedience) — he said: when you stand in the prayer, be silent and speak with no one until you have finished it. He said: and the qānit is the one praying who does not speak.
And others said: the qunūt in this verse is the bowing in the prayer (rukūʿ) and the humility therein. And they said in the interpretation of the verse: and stand before Allah in your prayer, humble, with lowered wings, neither indifferent nor playing. Mention of who said that: 4305 — Salm ibn Junāda related to me, saying: Ibn Idrīs related to us, on the authority of Layth, on the authority of Mujāhid: en staat voor Allah in deemoedige gehoorzaamheid (and stand before Allah in devout obedience) — he said: among the qunūt is the prolonging of the bowing, the lowering of the gaze, the bowing of the wing, and the humility out of awe of Allah. The scholars, when one of them stood to pray, feared the Most Merciful so greatly that he did not look about him, nor stir the pebbles, nor play with anything, nor impress upon himself any of the affairs of this world, except out of forgetfulness. * Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Jarīr related to us, on the authority of Layth, on the authority of Mujāhid, something similar, except that he said: among the qunūt is the stillness and the humility. 4306 — Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Ḥakkām related to us, on the authority of ʿAnbasa, on the authority of Layth, on the authority of Mujāhid: en staat voor Allah in deemoedige gehoorzaamheid (and stand before Allah in devout obedience)
