Page 62 - Quick Grasp of Faith 1

60 QUICK GRASP OF FAITH - 1

So be steadfast in the face of what they say and glorify
your Lord with praise before the rising of the sun and
before its setting. And glorify Him during part of the
night and at both ends of the day, so that hopefully you
will be pleased. (Surah Ta Ha: 130)
Our Prophet (saas), who best understood and comment-
ed on the Qur’an through the revelation and inspiration of
Allah, also described the timings of the five prayers in the day.
One of the hadiths in which the timings of the prayer are
revealed is that reported by 'Abdullah b. 'Amr:
The time of the noon prayer is when the sun passes the
meridian and a man's shadow is the same (length) as his
height, (and it lasts) as long as the time for the afternoon
prayer has not come; the time for the afternoon prayer
is as long as the sun has not become pale; the time of
the evening prayer is as long as the twilight has not
ended; the time of the night prayer is up to the middle of
the average night and the time of the morning prayer is
from the appearance of dawn, as long as the sun has
not risen. (Sahih Muslim)
Both the verses of the Qur’an and the sound hadiths of
our Prophet (saas), as well as statements by Islamic scholars,
show that there are five timings for the prayer and that there
can be no debate over this.
The five daily prayers, with their fards (obligatory), wajibs
(compulsory) and sunnahs, consist of 40 rakats (units), as fol-
lows:
- Salat al-fajr (morning prayer): sunnah prayer consisting
of 2 rakats, fard prayer consisting of 2 rakats