In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah.
A Summary of the Prophetic biography (Seerah).
The descent of revelation to clarify the prayer times.
Imam al-Qurtubi said:
There is no disagreement that Jibril, peace be upon him,
descended on the morning of the night of the Isra' at midday.
He taught the Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him,
the prayer and its prescribed times.
Al-Hafiz Ibn Kathir said:
When the night of the Isra' occurred,
a year and a half before the Hijrah,
Allah enjoined upon His Messenger, peace be upon him,
the five daily prayers.
He detailed their conditions and essential pillars,
and everything related to them thereafter,
gradually.
And Allah knows best.
The two Shaykhs (al-Bukhari and Muslim) narrated in their Sahih collections,
on the authority of Ibn Shihab, that ‘Umar Ibn ‘Abd al-‘Aziz
delayed the prayer one day.
‘Urwah Ibn al-Zubayr entered upon him,
and informed him that al-Mughirah Ibn Shu‘bah
had delayed the prayer one day while he was in Iraq.
Abu Mas‘ud al-Ansari entered upon him,
and said, "What is this, O Mughirah?
Do you not know that Jibril, may the blessings and peace of Allah be upon him,
descended and prayed,
and the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, prayed;
then he prayed,
and the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, prayed;
then he prayed,
and the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, prayed;
then he prayed,
and the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, prayed;
then he prayed,
and he, peace be upon him, prayed."
Then he said,
"I have been commanded to do this."
Imam Ahmad narrated in his Musnad,
and al-Hakim in his Mustadrak with a sound chain of narration,
on the authority of Jabir Ibn ‘Abdullah al-Ansari, may Allah be pleased with him, who said:
Jibril came to the Prophet, peace be upon him, when the sun had passed its zenith,
and said, "Rise, O Muhammad, and pray Dhuhr."
So he rose and prayed Dhuhr when the sun had passed its zenith.
Then he waited until a man’s shadow was equal to his height for ‘Asr.
He came and said, "Rise, O Muhammad, and pray ‘Asr."
So he rose and prayed ‘Asr.
Then he waited until the sun had set and said,
"Rise and pray Maghrib."
So he rose and prayed it exactly when the sun had set.
Then he waited until the twilight had vanished.
He came to him and said, "Rise and pray ‘Isha'."
So he rose and prayed it.
Then he came to him when the dawn broke for the morning prayer,
and said, "Rise, O Muhammad, and pray."
So he rose and prayed the morning prayer.
Then he came to him the next day when a man’s shadow was equal to his height,
and said, "Rise, O Muhammad, and pray Dhuhr."
So he rose and prayed Dhuhr.
Then he came to him when a man’s shadow was twice his height,
and said, "Rise, O Muhammad, and pray ‘Asr."
So he rose and prayed ‘Asr.
Then he came to him for Maghrib when the sun had set,
at the same time, not deviating from it,
and said, "Rise and pray Maghrib."
So he prayed Maghrib.
Then he came to him for ‘Isha' when the first third of the night had passed,
and said, "Rise and pray."
So he prayed ‘Isha'.
Then he came to him for the morning prayer when the dawn was very bright,
and said, "Rise and pray the morning prayer."
Then he said, "Everything between these two times is a valid time."
A Summary of the Prophetic biography (Seerah).
Authored by Shaykh Musa Ibn Rashid al-‘Azimi,
and presented by the Mawaddah Association in the Kingdom of Bahrain.
If the longing of the worlds for one another grows long,
the longing for you has no fathomable limit.
May Allah send blessings upon you as long as the call to prayer is raised,
and lips move with the remainder of the remembrance.