Tafseer of The Women · An-Nisaa · 4:102
And when you are among them and lead them in prayer, let a group of them stand [in prayer] with you and let them carry their arms. And when they have prostrated, let them be [in position] behind you and have the other group come forward which has not [yet] prayed and let them pray with you, taking precaution and carrying their arms. Those who disbelieve wish that you would neglect your weapons and your baggage so they could come down upon you in one [single] attack. But there is no blame upon you, if you are troubled by rain or are ill, for putting down your arms, but take precaution. Indeed, Allah has prepared for the disbelievers a humiliating punishment.
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.
وإذا كنت فيهم فأقمت لهم الصلاة فلتقم طائفة منهم معك وليأخذوا أسلحتهم فإذا سجدوا فليكونوا من ورائكم ولتأت طائفة أخرى لم يصلوا فليصلوا معك وليأخذوا حذرهم وأسلحتهم (And when you are among them and lead them in the prayer, let a group of them stand with you, and let them take their weapons. And when they prostrate, let them be behind you, and let another group that has not yet prayed come, and let them pray with you and be on their guard and take their weapons.)
The statement concerning the interpretation of the word of the Exalted: وإذا كنت فيهم فأقمت لهم الصلاة فلتقم طائفة منهم معك وليأخذوا أسلحتهم فإذا سجدوا فليكونوا من ورائكم ولتأت طائفة أخرى لم يصلوا فليصلوا معك وليأخذوا حذرهم وأسلحتهم . By this He, exalted is His praise, means: and when you, O Muḥammad, are among those of your companions who travel through the land and who fear that their enemy will bring them into trial, فأقمت لهم الصلاة (and you perform the prayer for them), He says: and you perform the prayer for them with its prescribed limits, its bowings (rukūʿ) and its prostrations (sujūd), and you do not shorten it in the manner of shortening that I have permitted them to apply in the state in which they meet their enemy and the one advances against the other, namely the omission of observing its limits, its bowings, its prostrations and the rest of its obligations. فلتقم طائفة منهم معك (then let a group of them stand with you), that is: let a detachment of your companions, among whom you are, stand with you in your prayer, and let the rest stand facing the enemy. And mention of what the remaining groups, who do not pray with the Prophet ﷺ, ought to do has been omitted, because the wording mentioned indicates what is meant by it, and what is mentioned suffices to dispense with mentioning what is omitted.
وليأخذوا أسلحتهم (and let them take their weapons). The scholars of interpretation differed concerning the group that is commanded to take the weapons. Some of them said: it is the group that prayed with the Messenger of Allah ﷺ. He said: and the meaning of the wording is: وليأخذوا (and let them take), that is: and let the group that prays with you take from their ranks أسلحتهم (their weapons). And the weapon they were commanded to take, they carried with them during their prayer, such as the sword that one of them girds on, and the knife and the dagger that he binds to his coat of mail and to the clothing he is wearing, and the like of his weaponry.
And others said: no, the group that was commanded among them to take the weapons is the group that stood facing the enemy and did not pray with the Messenger of Allah ﷺ. And that is the statement of Ibn ʿAbbās.
8179 - Al-Muthannā related this to me, he said: Abū Ṣāliḥ related to us, Muʿāwiya related to me, on the authority of ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭalḥa, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās: فإذا سجدوا (and when they prostrate), He says: and when the group that has stood up with you in your prayer and follows your prayer has prostrated and completed its prostration. فليكونوا من ورائكم (let them be behind you), He says: let them, after completing their prostration, come to stand behind you, facing the enemy in the place where the remaining groups are who have not prayed with you and have not entered with you into your prayer.
Then the scholars of interpretation differed concerning the interpretation of His word: فإذا سجدوا فليكونوا من ورائكم (and when they prostrate, let them be behind you). Some said: its interpretation is: and when they have prayed and completed their prayer, let them be behind you. Then the proponents of this statement differed among themselves. Some of them said: when this group has prayed one rakʿa with the imām, it ends the prayer with the taslīm and turns away from its prayer until it reaches the position of its companions, facing the enemy, and there is no make-up obligation (qaḍāʾ) upon it. And they are the ones who said: Allah meant by His word فليس عليكم جناح أن تقصروا من الصلاة (then there is no blame upon you if you shorten the prayer): that you make it, when you fear that those who disbelieve will bring you into trial, into one rakʿa. And they transmitted from the Prophet ﷺ that he prayed the prayer of fear (ṣalāt al-khawf) with one group of one rakʿa without their making it up, and with another group one rakʿa without their making it up. And we have already mentioned something of this in what preceded, and in what we have mentioned there is sufficiency, so that it is superfluous to mention in full everything that exists concerning this.
And others of them said: no, it was obligatory for this group, whom Allah commanded to stand up with His Prophet when he wished to perform the prayer with them in the state of fear of the enemy, that when it had finished its rakʿa which Allah commanded it to pray with the Prophet ﷺ as He commanded it in His Book, it remained standing in its place where it had prayed with the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, and prayed for itself the rest of its prayer and performed the taslīm, and went to the ranks of its companions. And it was obligatory for the Prophet ﷺ to remain standing in his place until the group that had prayed the first rakʿa with him had finished the rest of its prayer, if the prayer it had prayed with him was among those whose number may be shortened from the obligation that rests upon those who reside in safety, and it went to the ranks of its companions; and the other group, which had stood facing its enemy, came, and he prayed with it another rakʿa of its prayer.
Then they differ concerning the ruling of this second group. A faction of the proponents of this statement said: it was obligatory for the Prophet ﷺ, when he had finished his two rakʿas and raised his head from his prostration of his second rakʿa, to sit for the tashahhud; and it was obligatory for the group that had prayed the second rakʿa with him and had not made up the first rakʿa with him on account of their being occupied with the enemy, to stand up and make up the missed rakʿa with the Prophet ﷺ; and it was obligatory for the Prophet ﷺ to wait for it while sitting in his tashahhud until this group had finished its missed rakʿa and performed the tashahhud, and then he performed the taslīm with them. And another faction of them said: no, it was obligatory for the group that had not made up the first rakʿa with him, when the Prophet ﷺ sat for the tashahhud, to sit with him for the tashahhud and to perform the tashahhud with his tashahhud; and when the Prophet ﷺ had finished his tashahhud, he performed the taslīm, and then the group that had prayed the second rakʿa with him stood up at that moment and made up its missed rakʿa. And each of those whose statement we have mentioned transmitted from the Messenger of Allah ﷺ reports that he did as he said.
Mention of who said: the Prophet ﷺ waited for the two groups until they had both made up their prayer, and he did not leave his prayer until after the two groups had finished their prayer:
8180 - Yūnus ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to me, he said: Ibn Wahb informed us, he said: Mālik informed us, on the authority of Yazīd ibn Rūmān, on the authority of Ṣāliḥ ibn Khawwāt, from someone who prayed the prayer of fear with the Prophet ﷺ on the day of Dhāt al-Riqāʿ: that a group lined up with the Messenger of Allah ﷺ and a group stood facing the enemy; and he prayed with those who were with him one rakʿa, then he remained standing and they completed for themselves; then the other group came and he prayed with them, then he remained seated, and they completed for themselves, and then he performed the taslīm with them.
8181 - Muḥammad ibn al-Muthannā related to me, he said: ʿUbayd Allāh ibn Muʿādh related to me, he said: my father related to us, he said: Shuʿba related to us, on the authority of ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn al-Qāsim, on the authority of his father, on the authority of Ṣāliḥ ibn Khawwāt, on the authority of Sahl ibn Abī Ḥathma, he said: the Prophet prayed with his companions in fear, and he stationed them behind him in two rows; he prayed with those who were beside him one rakʿa, then he stood up and remained continuously standing until those who were behind him prayed one rakʿa; then he advanced and those who had been in front of them went to the rear, and he prayed with them one rakʿa, then he sat until those who had remained behind prayed one rakʿa, then he performed the taslīm.
* - Sufyān ibn Wakīʿ related to us, he said: Rawḥ related to us, he said: Shuʿba related to us, on the authority of ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn al-Qāsim, on the authority of his father, on the authority of Ṣāliḥ ibn Khawwāt, on the authority of Sahl ibn Abī Ḥathma, on the authority of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ that he said concerning the prayer of fear: "A group stands in front of the imām and a group behind him; he prays with those behind him one rakʿa and two prostrations, then he remains seated in his place until they complete one rakʿa and two prostrations; then they move to the position of their companions, and then those move to the position of these, and he prays with them one rakʿa and two prostrations, then he remains seated in his place until they pray one rakʿa and two prostrations, then he performs the taslīm."
Mention of who said: the second group remained seated with the Prophet ﷺ until the Prophet ﷺ had finished his prayer, and then it made up what still remained of it:
8182 - Ibn Bashshār related to us, he said: ʿAbd al-Wahhāb related to us, he said: I heard Yaḥyā ibn Saʿīd, he said: I heard al-Qāsim, he said: Ṣāliḥ ibn Khawwāt ibn Jubayr related to me that Sahl ibn Abī Ḥathma told him: that the prayer of fear consists of the imām standing toward the qibla and praying, and with him is a group of his companions, and another group is facing the enemy; and he prays, and the imām bows with those who are with him and prostrates and then stands up; and when he stands erect, those behind him bow for themselves one rakʿa and two prostrations, then they perform the taslīm and turn away, while the imām is standing, and they go to stand facing the enemy, and the others draw near and perform the takbīr in the place of the imām, and the imām bows with them and prostrates, then he performs the taslīm, and they stand up and bow for themselves one rakʿa and two prostrations, then they perform the taslīm.
* - Ibn Bashshār related to us, he said: Yazīd ibn Hārūn related to us, he said: Yaḥyā ibn Saʿīd informed us, on the authority of al-Qāsim ibn Muḥammad, that Ṣāliḥ ibn Khawwāt informed him on the authority of Sahl ibn Abī Ḥathma concerning the prayer of fear, then he mentioned something similar.
* - Ibn Bashshār related to us, he said: Yaḥyā ibn Saʿīd related to us, and he asked him about it, he said: Yaḥyā ibn Saʿīd al-Anṣārī related to us, on the authority of al-Qāsim ibn Muḥammad, on the authority of Ṣāliḥ, on the authority of Sahl ibn Abī Ḥathma concerning the prayer of fear, he said: the imām stands with his face toward the qibla, and a group of them stands with him and a group on the side of the enemy with their faces toward the enemy; and he bows with them one rakʿa, then they bow for themselves and prostrate twice in their place, and they go to the position of those others, and those others come, and he bows with them one rakʿa and prostrates twice; thus there are for him two rakʿas and for them one; then they bow one rakʿa and prostrate twice.
* - Bundār said: I asked Yaḥyā ibn Saʿīd about this report, and he related it to me on the authority of Shuʿba, on the authority of ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn al-Qāsim, on the authority of his father, on the authority of Ṣāliḥ ibn Khawwāt, on the authority of Sahl ibn Abī Ḥathma, on the authority of the Prophet ﷺ, the same as the report of Yaḥyā ibn Saʿīd, and he said to me: write it beside it, for I do not know it by heart, but it is identical to the report of Yaḥyā ibn Saʿīd.
8183 - Naṣr ibn ʿAlī related to us, he said: ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to us, he said: ʿUbayd Allāh related to us, on the authority of al-Qāsim ibn Maʿqid [sic] ibn Abī Bakr, on the authority of Ṣāliḥ ibn Khawwāt: that the imām stands up and stations himself in two rows, a group facing the enemy and a group behind the imām, and the imām prays with those behind him one rakʿa, then they stand up and pray for themselves one rakʿa, then they perform the taslīm, then they go away and station themselves, and the others come and he prays with them one rakʿa, then he performs the taslīm and they stand up and pray for themselves one rakʿa.
8184 - Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to us, he said: Muʿtamir ibn Sulaymān related to us, he said: I heard ʿUbayd Allāh, on the authority of al-Qāsim ibn Muḥammad, on the authority of Ṣāliḥ ibn Khawwāt, on the authority of a man of the companions of the Prophet ﷺ that he said: the prayer of fear consists of a group standing behind the imām and a group facing the enemy, and the imām prays with those behind him one rakʿa, and he remains standing, and the people pray therein another rakʿa, then they perform the taslīm and go to their companions, and their companions come while the imām is standing, and he prays with them one rakʿa, then he performs the taslīm, then they stand up and pray therein another rakʿa, then they turn away. ʿUbayd Allāh said: I have heard, concerning what we relate about the prayer of fear, nothing more beautiful in my eyes than this.
8185 - Al-Muthannā related to me, he said: Abū Ṣāliḥ related to us, he said: Muʿāwiya related to me, on the authority of ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭalḥa, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning His word: وإذا كنت فيهم فأقمت لهم الصلاة فلتقم طائفة منهم معك (and when you are among them and lead them in the prayer, let a group of them stand with you): this is during the prayer in fear: the imām stands up and with him stands a group of them, and a group takes their weapons and stations itself facing the enemy; and the imām prays with those who are with him one rakʿa, then he sits in his position, and the people stand up and pray for themselves the second rakʿa while the imām is seated, then they turn away until they come to their companions, and they go to stand in their place, then the others draw near and the imām prays with them the second rakʿa, then he performs the taslīm, and the people stand up and pray for themselves the second rakʿa; thus did the Messenger of Allah ﷺ pray on the day of Baṭn Nakhla.
And others said: no, the interpretation of His word: فإذا سجدوا فليكونوا من ورائكم (and when they prostrate, let them be behind you) is: and when the group that has stood up with the Prophet ﷺ when he entered into his prayer prostrates, and has performed with him in his prayer the second prostration of its first rakʿa, let them be behind you, that is: behind you, O Muḥammad, and behind your companions who have not yet prayed, facing the enemy. They said: and this group did not perform the taslīm after its rakʿa when it had finished the two prostrations of its rakʿa which it had prayed with the Prophet ﷺ, but it went to the standing-place of its companions facing the enemy while the rest of its prayer still rested upon it. They said: and the other group, which had stood facing the enemy, came until it entered with the Prophet ﷺ into the rest of his prayer, and the Prophet ﷺ prayed with them the rakʿa that still remained upon him. They said: and that is the meaning of the word of Allah, mighty is His mention: ولتأت طائفة أخرى لم يصلوا فليصلوا معك وليأخذوا حذرهم وأسلحتهم (and let another group that has not yet prayed come, and let them pray with you and be on their guard and take their weapons).
Then the proponents of this statement differed concerning the manner in which each of these two groups made up what still remained of its prayer after the end of the prayer of the Prophet ﷺ and his taslīm out of his prayer, according to the statement of the proponents of this statement and the proponents of this interpretation. Some of them said: the second group, which had prayed with the Prophet ﷺ the second rakʿa of its prayer, stood up when the Prophet ﷺ performed the taslīm out of his prayer and made up what had escaped it of its prayer with the Prophet ﷺ, in its place, after the end of the prayer of the Prophet ﷺ; and the group that had prayed with the Prophet ﷺ the first rakʿa stood facing the enemy and had not yet completed its prayer; and when it had finished the rest of its prayer that had escaped it with the Prophet ﷺ, it went to the ranks of its companions facing the enemy, and the first group, which had prayed with the Messenger of Allah ﷺ the first rakʿa, came to its place where it had prayed behind the Messenger of Allah ﷺ and made up the rest of its prayer.
Mention of the transmission of that:
8186 - Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd al-Malik ibn Abī al-Shawārib related to us, he said: ʿAbd al-Wāḥid ibn Ziyād related to us, he said: Khuṣayf related to us, he said: Abū ʿUbayda ibn ʿAbd Allāh related to us, he said: ʿAbd Allāh said: the Messenger of Allah ﷺ prayed the prayer of fear with us; a group of us stood behind him and a group facing - or toward - the enemy. And the Prophet ﷺ prayed with those behind him one rakʿa, then they withdrew and went to the position of their companions, and the others came and stationed themselves behind the Prophet ﷺ, and the Messenger of Allah ﷺ prayed with them one rakʿa, then the Messenger of Allah performed the taslīm, then these stood up and prayed for themselves one rakʿa, then they went away and stood in the position of their companions, facing the enemy, and the others returned to their place and prayed for themselves one rakʿa.
* - Ibn al-Muthannā related to us, he said: Ibn Fuḍayl related to us, he said: Khuṣayf related to us, on the authority of Abū ʿUbayda, on the authority of ʿAbd Allāh, he said: the Messenger of Allah ﷺ prayed the prayer of fear with us, and he mentioned something similar.
* - Tamīm ibn al-Muntaṣir related to us, he said: Isḥāq informed us, he said: Sharīk informed us, on the authority of Khuṣayf, on the authority of Abū ʿUbayda, on the authority of his father, on the authority of the Prophet ﷺ, something similar.
And others said: no, the second group, which had prayed with the Messenger of Allah ﷺ the second rakʿa, did not make up the rest of its prayer after the Messenger of Allah ﷺ performed the taslīm out of his prayer, but it went away before it made up the rest of its prayer, and stationed itself in the standing-place of its companions who had prayed with the Messenger of Allah ﷺ the first rakʿa, and the first group came to its standing-place where it had prayed its first rakʿa with the Messenger of Allah and made up its rakʿa that still remained upon it of its prayer. Some of them said: it made up that rakʿa without recitation. And others said: no, it made it up with recitation; and when it had made up its remaining rakʿa there and performed the taslīm, it went to the ranks of its companions facing the enemy, and the group that had prayed with the Messenger of Allah ﷺ the second rakʿa came to its place where it had prayed with the Messenger of Allah the second rakʿa of the prayer of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, and made up the second rakʿa of its prayer with recitation; and when it had finished and performed the taslīm, it turned away to its companions.
Mention of who said that:
8187 - Al-Ḥārith related to me, he said: ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz related to us, he said: Sufyān related to us, on the authority of Ḥammād, on the authority of Ibrāhīm concerning the prayer of fear, he said: he stations one row behind himself and one row facing the enemy, not in his place of prayer, and he prays with the row behind him one rakʿa, then they go to the ranks of those others, and those others who stood facing the enemy come, and he prays with them one rakʿa, then he performs the taslīm over them, while he himself has prayed two rakʿas and each row has prayed one rakʿa; then these over whom he has performed the taslīm go to the ranks of those others who stood facing the enemy, and they go to stand in their place, and those others come and make up the rakʿa, then they go away and go to stand in the place of those others who stood facing the enemy, and those others come and pray one rakʿa. Sufyān said: thus there are for every person two rakʿas, two rakʿas.
* - Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, he said: Mihrān related to us, and ʿAlī related to me, he said: Zayd related to us, both on the authority of Sufyān, he said: Ibrāhīm said concerning the prayer of fear, and he mentioned something similar.
8188 - Al-Ḥārith related to me, he said: ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz related to us, he said: Sufyān related to us, on the authority of Manṣūr, on the authority of ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb, something similar.
And others said: no, each of the two groups makes up its prayer in the manner that is possible for it, without letting anything of it be lost.
Mention of who said that:
8189 - Yaʿqūb ibn Ibrāhīm related to me, he said: Ibn ʿUlayya related to us, on the authority of Yūnus ibn ʿUbayd, on the authority of al-Ḥasan: that Abū Mūsā al-Ashʿarī prayed the prayer of fear with his companions at Iṣbahān when he was fighting that city; he said: he prayed with a group of the people one rakʿa, while a group kept watch, and these with whom he had prayed one rakʿa withdrew and the others came behind them, and they went to stand in their place, and he prayed with them one rakʿa, then he performed the taslīm, and each group stood up and prayed one rakʿa.
* - ʿImrān ibn Mūsā al-Qazzāz related to us, he said: ʿAbd al-Wārith related to us, he said: Yūnus related to us, on the authority of al-Ḥasan, on the authority of Abū Mūsā, something similar.
8190 - Muḥammad ibn Bashshār related to us, he said: Muʿādh ibn Hishām related to us, he said: my father related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, on the authority of Abū al-ʿĀliya and Yūnus ibn Jubayr, they both said: Abū Mūsā al-Ashʿarī prayed with his companions at Iṣbahān, and there was that day with them no fear, but he wished to teach them their prayer; and he stationed them in two rows, a row behind himself and a row facing the enemy, turned toward their enemy; and he prayed with those who were beside him one rakʿa, then they went to the ranks of their companions, and those others came and he stationed them behind himself, and he prayed with them one rakʿa, then he performed the taslīm, and these made up one rakʿa and those others one rakʿa, then they performed the taslīm over one another; thus there were for the imām two rakʿas in congregation and for them each one rakʿa.
* - Ibn Bashshār related to us, he said: Ibn Abī ʿAdī related to us, on the authority of Saʿīd, on the authority of Qatāda, on the authority of Abū al-ʿĀliya, on the authority of Abū Mūsā, the same.
8191 - Yaʿqūb ibn Ibrāhīm related to us, he said: Ibn ʿUlayya related to us, on the authority of Ayyūb, on the authority of Nāfiʿ, on the authority of Ibn ʿUmar that he said concerning the prayer of fear: a group of the people prays one rakʿa while a group keeps watch, then these with whom he had prayed one rakʿa go away until they stand in the place of their companions, then those others come and he prays with them one rakʿa, then he performs the taslīm, and each group stands up and prays one rakʿa.
* - Naṣr ibn ʿAlī related to us, he said: ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to us, he said: ʿUbayd Allāh related to us, on the authority of Nāfiʿ, on the authority of Ibn ʿUmar, something similar.
* - ʿImrān ibn Bakkār al-Kalāʿī related to me, he said: Yaḥyā ibn Ṣāliḥ related to us, he said: Ibn ʿAyyāsh related to us, he said: ʿUbayd Allāh related to us, on the authority of Nāfiʿ, on the authority of Ibn ʿUmar, that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ prayed the prayer of fear, and he mentioned something similar.
* - Saʿīd ibn Yaḥyā al-Umawī related to us, he said: my father related to us, he said: Ibn Jurayj related to us, he said: al-Zuhrī informed me, on the authority of Sālim, on the authority of Ibn ʿUmar that he used to relate: that he prayed with the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, then he mentioned something similar.
* - Ibn Wakīʿ related to us, he said: Ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to us, on the authority of Maʿmar, on the authority of al-Zuhrī, on the authority of Sālim, on the authority of Ibn ʿUmar, on the authority of the Prophet ﷺ, something similar.
* - Ibn Wakīʿ related to us, he said: Jarīr related to us, on the authority of ʿAbd Allāh ibn Nāfiʿ, on the authority of Nāfiʿ, on the authority of Ibn ʿUmar, he said: the Prophet ﷺ said concerning the prayer of fear: "The commander and a group of the people stand up and they perform one prostration, and a group of them is between them and the enemy", then he mentioned something similar.
* - Muḥammad ibn Hārūn al-Ḥarbī related to us, he said: Abū al-Mughīra al-Ḥimṣī related to us, he said: al-Awzāʿī related to us, on the authority of Ayyūb ibn Mūsā, on the authority of Nāfiʿ, on the authority of Ibn ʿUmar, that the Prophet ﷺ prayed the prayer of fear with one of the two groups one rakʿa, then he mentioned something similar.
8192 - Muḥammad ibn Saʿd related to me, he said: my father related to me, he said: my uncle related to me, he said: my father related to me, on the authority of his father, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning His word: وإذا كنت فيهم فأقمت لهم الصلاة (and when you are among them and lead them in the prayer) ... up to His word: فليصلوا معك (and let them pray with you): a group of them took the weapons and directed themselves against the enemy, and the other group prayed with the imām one rakʿa, then they took their weapons and directed themselves against the enemy, and their companions returned and prayed with the imām one rakʿa; thus there were for the imām two rakʿas and for the rest of the people one single rakʿa, then they made up another rakʿa, and that is the completion of the prayer.
And others said: no, this verse was revealed concerning the prayer of fear, while the enemy that day was on the side of the qibla, between the Muslims and the qibla; and the prayer that the Prophet ﷺ prayed with them that day was the prayer of fear, since the enemy was between the imām and the qibla.
Mention of the transmitted reports concerning that:
8193 - Abū Kurayb related to us, he said: Yūnus ibn Bukayr related to me, on the authority of al-Naḍr Abū ʿUmar, on the authority of ʿIkrima, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, he said: the Messenger of Allah ﷺ went out on an expedition, and he met the polytheists (mushrikīn) at ʿUsfān; and when he prayed the noon prayer (ẓuhr) and they saw him and his companions bowing and prostrating, they said to one another that day: this was an opportunity for you; had you fallen upon them, they would not have known of you until you overwhelmed them. A speaker among them said: but they have yet another prayer that is dearer to them than their families and their possessions, so make yourselves ready until you fall upon them during it! Then Allah, mighty and exalted, revealed to His Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him: وإذا كنت فيهم فأقمت لهم الصلاة (and when you are among them and lead them in the prayer) ... to the end of the verse, and He made known to him what the polytheists had plotted. And when the Messenger of Allah ﷺ prayed the afternoon prayer (ʿaṣr), while they were facing him in the direction of the qibla, he stationed the Muslims behind him in two rows; and the Messenger of Allah ﷺ performed the takbīr, and they all performed the takbīr, then he bowed and they all bowed with him; and when he prostrated, the row that was beside him prostrated with him, and the row behind them remained standing, facing the enemy; and when the Messenger of Allah ﷺ had finished his prostration and stood up, the second row prostrated, then they stood up, and those who were beside the Messenger of Allah ﷺ went to the rear and the others came forward, so that they were beside the Messenger of Allah ﷺ; and when he bowed, they all bowed with him, then he raised up and they raised up with him, then he prostrated and those who were beside him prostrated with him, and the second row remained standing, facing the enemy; and when the Messenger of Allah ﷺ had finished his prostration and those who were beside him sat down, the rearmost row prostrated, then they sat down, and they all performed the tashahhud with the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, and when the Messenger of Allah ﷺ performed the taslīm, he performed the taslīm over them all. And when the polytheists looked at them, while some of them prostrated and others stood watching, they said: someone has informed them of what we intended!
8194 - Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, he said: al-Ḥakam ibn Bashīr related to us, he said: ʿUmar ibn Dharr related to us, he said: Mujāhid related to me, he said: the Prophet was at ʿUsfān, and the polytheists at Ḍajnān, by the water that borders Mecca; and when the Prophet ﷺ prayed the noon prayer (ẓuhr) and they saw him prostrating and the people prostrating, they said: when he prays a prayer after this, we shall fall upon him! And Allah warned him of that, and the Prophet ﷺ stood up in the prayer, and he performed the takbīr and the people performed the takbīr with him, and he mentioned something similar.
8195 - ʿImrān ibn Bakkār related to me, he said: Yaḥyā ibn Ṣāliḥ related to us, he said: Ibn ʿAyyāsh related to us, he said: ʿUbayd Allāh ibn ʿUmar informed me, on the authority of Abū al-Zubayr, on the authority of Jābir ibn ʿAbd Allāh, he said: I was with the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, and we met the polytheists at Nakhl, and they were between us and the qibla; and when the noon prayer (ẓuhr) came, the Messenger of Allah ﷺ prayed with us while we were all together, and when we had finished, the polytheists incited one another and said: would that we had thrown ourselves upon them while they prayed! And one of them said: but they have a prayer for which they wait, which is coming now, that is dearer to them than their sons, so when they pray, throw yourselves upon them! He said: and Jibrīl came to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ with the report and taught him how he should pray; and when the afternoon prayer (ʿaṣr) came, the Prophet of Allah ﷺ stood up on the side of the enemy, and we stood behind him in two rows, and the Prophet of Allah performed the takbīr and we all performed the takbīr with him, then he mentioned something similar.
* - Muḥammad ibn Maʿmar related to me, he said: Ḥammād ibn Masʿada related to us, on the authority of Hishām ibn Abī ʿAbd Allāh, on the authority of Abū al-Zubayr, on the authority of Jābir, on the authority of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, something similar.
* - Muʾammal ibn Hishām related to us, he said: Ismāʿīl ibn Ibrāhīm related to us, on the authority of Hishām, on the authority of Abū al-Zubayr, on the authority of Jābir, he said: we were with the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, and he mentioned something similar.
8196 - ʿAmr ibn ʿAbd al-Ḥamīd related to us, he said: ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz ibn ʿAbd al-Ṣamad related to us, on the authority of Manṣūr, on the authority of Mujāhid, on the authority of Abū ʿAyyāsh al-Zuraqī, he said: we were with the Messenger of Allah ﷺ at ʿUsfān, and the Messenger of Allah ﷺ prayed with us the noon prayer (ẓuhr), and over the polytheists stood Khālid ibn al-Walīd; and the polytheists said: we have caught them unawares! And we have caught them in heedlessness! Then Allah revealed the prayer of fear between the ẓuhr and the ʿaṣr, and the Messenger of Allah ﷺ prayed with us the afternoon prayer (ʿaṣr), that is in two detachments: a detachment prays with the Prophet ﷺ, and a detachment prays behind them and keeps watch over them; then he performed the takbīr and they all performed the takbīr and all bowed, then he prostrated with those who were beside the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, then he stood up and the others came forward and prostrated, then he stood up and bowed with them all, then he prostrated with those who were beside him until these went to the rear and stood in the ranks of their companions, then the others came forward and prostrated, then he performed the taslīm over them; thus there were for them all two rakʿas with their imām. And he prayed yet another time in the land of the Banū Sulaym.
Abū Jaʿfar said: now consider the verse according to the statement of these who made this claim and transmitted this report: and when you, O Muḥammad, are among them, that is among your companions, in fear, and you perform the prayer for them, let a group of them stand with you, that is of those who have entered with you into your prayer; فإذا سجدوا (and when they prostrate), He says: and when this group has prostrated with your prostration and has raised its head from its prostration, فليكونوا من ورائكم (let them be behind you), He says: let them come behind you, behind the group that guarded you and them, when it has prostrated with them and they have prostrated with you. ولتأت طائفة أخرى لم يصلوا (and let another group that has not yet prayed come), that is the guarding group that had prayed with him, except that it had not prostrated with his prostration; and the meaning of His word: لم يصلوا (they have not prayed) is, according to the opinion of these: they have not prostrated with your prostration; فليصلوا معك (and let them pray with you), He says: let them prostrate with your prostration when you prostrate, and let those who had prostrated with your prostration in the first rakʿa guard you and them. وليأخذوا حذرهم وأسلحتهم (and let them be on their guard and take their weapons), that is the guarding group.
And the most fitting of the statements we have mentioned concerning the interpretation of the verse is the statement of him who said that its meaning is: and when the group that has stood up with you in its prayer prostrates, فليكونوا من ورائكم (let them be behind you), that is behind you and behind those who enter with you into your prayer of those who have not prayed the first rakʿa with you, facing the enemy, after it has finished the rest of its prayer; ولتأت طائفة أخرى (and let another group come), and that is the group that stood facing the enemy and had not prayed, that is: they did not pray the first rakʿa with you; فليصلوا معك (and let them pray with you), He says: let them pray with you the rakʿa that still remained upon you. وليأخذوا حذرهم وأسلحتهم (and let them be on their guard and take their weapons) for the battle against their enemy after they have finished their prayer; and that is in conformity with the report that has been transmitted from the Messenger of Allah ﷺ that he did it on the day of Dhāt al-Riqāʿ, and the report that Sahl ibn Abī Ḥathma transmitted.
And we have said only that this is the most fitting for the interpretation of the verse, because Allah, mighty is His mention, said: وإذا كنت فيهم فأقمت لهم الصلاة (and when you are among them and lead them in the prayer), and we have demonstrated that the performing of it is its completion with its bowing and its prostration, and we have thereby demonstrated that His word: فليس عليكم جناح أن تقصروا من الصلاة إن خفتم أن يفتنكم الذين كفروا (then there is no blame upon you if you shorten the prayer, if you fear that those who disbelieve will bring you into trial) is only a permission to shorten its bowing and its prostration in the state of severe fear. And if that is correct, it is clear that there is no ground for the interpretation of him who interprets it in such a way that the first group, when it has prostrated with the imām, has already ended its prayer, on account of His word: فإذا سجدوا فليكونوا من ورائكم (and when they prostrate, let them be behind you), because of the possibility that this encompasses the meanings I mentioned earlier, and because there is in the verse no indication that by the shortening mentioned in the verse before it, the shortening of the number of rakʿas is meant. And since there is no ground for that, the statement of him who said: by it was meant the advancing forward and going to the rear in the prayer, in the manner of the prayer of the Prophet ﷺ at ʿUsfān, is even more far removed. And that is because Allah, exalted is His praise, says: ولتأت طائفة أخرى لم يصلوا فليصلوا معك (and let another group that has not yet prayed come, and let them pray with you), while both groups had prayed the first rakʿa with the Prophet ﷺ in his prayer at ʿUsfān, and it is impossible that the one who had prayed with the Prophet ﷺ is the one who had not prayed with him. And if someone supposes that by His word: لم يصلوا (they have not prayed) is meant: they have not prostrated, then that is not the obvious and understandable meaning from the meanings of the prayer; and the meanings of the word of Allah, exalted is His praise, are directed only to the most obvious and best-known of their aspects, so long as nothing that requires submission prevents that.
And since that is so, and there is in the verse no command from Allah, mighty is His mention, to the first group to postpone the making-up of what still rests upon it of its prayer until the end of the prayer of the imām, and there is no harm to the Muslims who stand facing the enemy in its being occupied with the making-up of that, there is no meaning in commanding it to postpone that and to turn away from its place before it has made up the rest of its prayer. Except that, although the matter is so, we are of the opinion that whoever of the imāms prays it thus and his prayer conforms to one of the manners we have mentioned from the Messenger of Allah ﷺ that he prayed it, his prayer suffices for him and is complete, on account of the soundness of the reports concerning all of this from the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, and because it belongs to the matters that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ taught his community and then permitted them to act according to whichever of them they wished.
ود الذين كفروا لو تغفلون عن أسلحتكم وأمتعتكم فيميلون عليكم ميلة واحدة (Those who disbelieve wish that you would be heedless of your weapons and your possessions, so that they might fall upon you in a single attack.)
And as for His word: ود الذين كفروا لو تغفلون عن أسلحتكم وأمتعتكم (those who disbelieve wish that you would be heedless of your weapons and your possessions), this means: those who disbelieve (kāfir) in Allah wish that you would be heedless of your weapons and your possessions, that is: that you would occupy yourselves with your prayer and neglect your weapons, with which you fight them, and your possessions, with which you have your progress on your journeys, so that you would become careless of them. فيميلون عليكم ميلة واحدة (so that they might fall upon you in a single attack), He says: so that they might fall upon you while you are distracted by your prayer from your weapons and your possessions, all at once, and thus catch you unawares and kill you and plunder your encampment. He, exalted is His praise, says: so do not do that after this, that you all occupy yourselves with your prayer when your prayer overtakes you while you stand facing the enemy, so that you give your enemy power over yourselves and your weapons and your possessions; but perform the prayer in the manner that I have set forth for you, and take against your enemy your vigilance and your weapons.
ولا جناح عليكم إن كان بكم أذى من مطر أو كنتم مرضى أن تضعوا أسلحتكم وخذوا حذركم (And there is no blame upon you, if you suffer harm from rain or if you are sick, that you lay down your weapons; and be on your guard.)
The statement concerning the interpretation of the word of the Exalted: ولا جناح عليكم إن كان بكم أذى من مطر أو كنتم مرضى أن تضعوا أسلحتكم وخذوا حذركم . He, exalted is His praise, means by His word: ولا جناح عليكم (and there is no blame upon you): and there is no objection upon you and no sin, إن كان بكم أذى من مطر (if you suffer harm from rain), He says: if you are stricken by rain that falls upon you while you stand facing your enemy. أو كنتم مرضى (or if you are sick), He says: wounded or weak. أن تضعوا أسلحتكم (that you lay down your weapons), if you are too weak to carry them; but if you lay down your weapons on account of the harm of rain or sickness, then take against your enemy your vigilance, He says: be on your guard against them, lest they fall upon you while you are careless and unconcerned about them. And it has been mentioned that His word: أو كنتم مرضى (or if you are sick) was revealed concerning ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn ʿAwf, who was wounded.
Mention of who said that:
8197 - Al-ʿAbbās ibn Muḥammad related to us, he said: Ḥajjāj related to us, he said: Ibn Jurayj said: Yaʿlā ibn Muslim informed me, on the authority of Saʿīd ibn Jubayr, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās: إن كان بكم أذى من مطر أو كنتم مرضى (if you suffer harm from rain or if you are sick): ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn ʿAwf was wounded.
إن الله أعد للكافرين عذابا مهينا (Verily, Allah has prepared for the disbelievers a humiliating punishment.)
إن الله أعد للكافرين عذابا مهينا (verily, Allah has prepared for the disbelievers a humiliating punishment), by this He means: He has prepared for them a disgracing punishment (ʿadhāb), in which they will abide forever and from which they will not escape, and that is the punishment of Hell (jahannam).