Explanation of the prayer times

Sayyiduna Abu Sa'id al-Khudri (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Jibril led me in prayer. He offered the Zuhr prayer when the sun had passed its zenith, and the Asr prayer when the shadow had become equal to (the object's) length, the Maghrib prayer when the sun had set, the Isha prayer when the twilight had disappeared, and the Fajr prayer when true dawn had broken. Then, when he came the next day, he offered the Zuhr prayer when the shadow of everything was equal to its length, the Asr prayer when the shadow had become twice the length, the Maghrib prayer when the sun had set, the Isha prayer after one third of the night had passed, and the morning prayer when the sun was about to rise. Then he said: The time of prayer is between these two times."
Ahmad and al-Tabarani in al-Mu'jam al-Kabir recorded it. Its chain contains a narrator, Ibn Lahi'ah, and there is weakness in him.

Sayyiduna Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) told them: Sayyiduna Jibril (peace be upon him) came to him (peace and blessings be upon him) and led all the prayers at two different times, except that the case of the Maghrib prayer was different. (The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said:) He came to me and led me in the Zuhr prayer when my shadow was like the strap of my sandal. Then he came to me and led me in the Asr prayer when my shadow had become equal to my length. Then he came to me for the Maghrib prayer and led me in it when the sun had set. Then he came to me at Isha and led the prayer when the twilight had disappeared. Then he came to me for the Fajr prayer and led the prayer when true dawn had broken. When he came to me the next day, he led the Zuhr prayer when my shadow had become equal to my length. Then he came to me for the Asr prayer and led me in the prayer when my shadow had become twice my length. Then he came to me for the Maghrib prayer and led me in it when the sun had set; in this prayer he made no change from the first time. Then he came to me for the Isha prayer and led me in it when the first third of the night had passed. Then he offered the Fajr prayer in the light, until I could not see any star in the sky. Then he said: Between these two is the (appointed) time (of the prayers).
Al-Bazzar recorded it. Its chain contains a narrator, Umar bin Abd al-Rahman bin Usayd bin Abd al-Rahman bin Zayd bin al-Khattab, whom Ibn Abi Hatim mentioned, and he said: Abu Nu'aym and Abdullah bin Nafi' heard from him; I heard my father say that. Al-Bazzar's teacher is Ibrahim bin Nasr, and I have not found anyone who gives his biography. The rest of the narrators of this report have been declared trustworthy.

Sayyiduna Anas (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates: The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) would offer the Zuhr prayer when the sun had passed its zenith, and the Asr prayer when the sun was bright and clear, the Maghrib prayer when the sun had set, and Isha when the twilight had disappeared. As for the Fajr prayer, he would sometimes offer it when true dawn broke, and sometimes he would delay it a little.
Al-Bazzar recorded it. Its chain contains a narrator, Yusuf bin Khalid al-Samti, who is extremely da'if (weak).

Bayan (a narrator) narrates: I said to Sayyiduna Anas (may Allah be pleased with him): Narrate to me a hadith about the times of the Prophet's (peace and blessings be upon him) prayer. He said: The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) would offer the Zuhr prayer once the sun had passed its zenith, and he would offer the Asr prayer in the time between your first (that is, Zuhr) prayer and the Asr prayer. He would offer the Maghrib prayer after the sun had set, and the Isha prayer after the twilight had disappeared. He would offer the morning prayer after true dawn had broken, when the eyesight begins to see. So everything between these is (its) time, (the narrator is in doubt; perhaps the words are:) prayer (is offered).
Abu Ya'la recorded it in this way, without any addition, and its chain is hasan (good).

Sayyiduna al-Bara' bin Azib (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates: A man came to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) and asked him about the times of the prayers. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) gave an order to Sayyiduna Bilal (may Allah be pleased with him), and he both brought (the prayer) forward and delayed it. Then the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: Between these two is the (appointed) time (of the prayer).
Abu Ya'la recorded it. Its chain contains a female narrator, Hafsah bint Azib, and I have not found anyone who mentions her.

Sayyiduna Jabir bin Abdullah (may Allah be pleased with them both) narrates: A man asked the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) about the time of prayer. When the sun passed its zenith, Sayyiduna Bilal (may Allah be pleased with him) gave the call to prayer (adhan) for Zuhr. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) gave him the order, he called the iqamah for the prayer, and the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) offered the prayer. Then he gave the adhan for the Asr prayer at a time when we thought that a man's shadow had become longer than him. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) gave him the order, he called the iqamah for the prayer, and the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) offered the prayer. Then he gave the adhan for the Maghrib prayer when the sun had set. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) gave him the order, he called the iqamah for the prayer, and the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) offered the prayer. Then he gave the adhan for the Isha prayer when the whiteness of the day had departed, (the narrator says:) meaning the twilight. Then the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) gave him the order, he called the iqamah for the prayer, and the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) offered the prayer. Then he gave the adhan for the Fajr prayer when true dawn had broken. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) gave him the order, he called the iqamah for the prayer, and the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) offered the prayer. Then the next day Sayyiduna Bilal (may Allah be pleased with him) gave the adhan for the Zuhr prayer when the sun had passed its zenith, but the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) delayed this prayer until the shadow of everything became equal to its length. Then the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) gave him the order, he called the iqamah for the prayer, and the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) offered the prayer. Then he gave the adhan for the Asr prayer, and the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) delayed this prayer until the shadow of everything had become twice its length. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) gave him the order, he called the iqamah, and the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) offered the prayer. Then he gave the adhan for the Maghrib prayer when the sun had set, and the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) delayed this prayer until the whiteness of the day, that is, the twilight, as it appeared to us, was about to depart. Then the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) gave him the order, he called the iqamah for the prayer, and the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) offered the prayer. Then he gave the adhan for the Isha prayer when the twilight had disappeared. Then we slept, then we woke up, and this happened several times, until the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) came out to us and he (peace and blessings be upon him) said: No one among the people other than you is waiting for this prayer, and as long as you are waiting for the prayer, you will be counted as being in prayer. Had I not feared that I would put my Ummah to hardship, I would have commanded them to delay this prayer until half the night, or close to half the night. (The narrator says:) Then he gave the adhan for the Fajr prayer, and the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) delayed it until the sun was about to rise. Then the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) gave him the order, he called the iqamah for the prayer, and the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) offered the prayer. Then he (peace and blessings be upon him) said: The (appointed) time (of the prayers) is between these two.
Al-Tabarani recorded it in al-Mu'jam al-Awsat, and its chain is hasan (good).

Sayyiduna Abu Mas'ud al-Ansari (may Allah be pleased with him), (the narrator is in doubt; perhaps the words are:) Sayyiduna Bashir bin Abi Mas'ud al-Ansari (may Allah be pleased with him), both of whom had the honour of being Companions, narrates: Sayyiduna Jibril (peace be upon him) came to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) when the sun had passed its zenith, and said: O Sayyiduna Muhammad! Offer the Zuhr prayer. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) stood up, and he (peace and blessings be upon him) offered the Zuhr prayer. Then Sayyiduna Jibril (peace be upon him) came to him (peace and blessings be upon him) when the shadow of everything had become equal to it, and said: O Sayyiduna Muhammad! Offer the Asr prayer. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) stood up and offered the prayer. Then Sayyiduna Jibril came to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) when the sun had set, and said: O Sayyiduna Muhammad! Offer the Maghrib prayer. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) offered the prayer. Then he came to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) when the twilight, that is, the redness, had disappeared, and said: O Sayyiduna Muhammad! Get up and offer the Isha prayer. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) got up and offered the Isha prayer. Then he came to him when true dawn had broken and said: O Sayyiduna Muhammad! Get up and offer the morning prayer. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) stood up and offered the prayer. Then the next day he came to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) when the shadow of everything had become equal to its length, and said: O Sayyiduna Muhammad! Get up and offer the Zuhr prayer. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) got up and offered the Zuhr prayer. Then he came to him when the shadow of everything had become twice its length, and said: O Sayyiduna Muhammad! Offer the Asr prayer. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) got up and offered the Asr prayer. Then he came to him when the sun had set, (on both days) this is one and the same time, and said: O Sayyiduna Muhammad! Offer the Maghrib prayer. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) got up and offered the Maghrib prayer. Then he came to him when part of the night had passed, and said: O Sayyiduna Muhammad! Get up and offer the Isha prayer. Then he came to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) when the morning had become bright, and said: O Sayyiduna Muhammad! Offer the morning prayer. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) got up and offered the morning prayer. Then he said: Between these two is the (appointed) time (of the prayers). (Allamah al-Haythami says:) Its basis is in the Sahih, without a statement of the beginning and end of the time.
Al-Tabarani recorded it in al-Mu'jam al-Kabir. Its chain contains a narrator, Ayyub bin Utbah, whom Ali bin al-Madini, Muslim and a group declared da'if (weak), while according to one report Amr bin Ali declared him thiqah (trustworthy), and according to one report Yahya bin Ma'in also declared him thiqah, while according to other reports he declared him da'if. However, most of the hadith scholars declared him weak.

Mujahid narrates: I was leading the riding animal of my master, Sayyiduna Qays bin al-Sa'ib (may Allah be pleased with him). He asked: Has the sun passed its zenith? When I replied: Yes!, he offered the Zuhr prayer, and said: The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) also used to do the same. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) would offer the Asr prayer when the sun was bright and shining; the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) would offer the Maghrib prayer at the time when a fasting person would be in doubt whether the time to break his fast had come; and the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) would offer the morning prayer when the light covered the sky. Al-Tabarani recorded it in this way in al-Mu'jam al-Kabir, but in al-Mu'jam al-Awsat he recorded these additional words: "He (peace and blessings be upon him) would offer the Isha prayer late."
Its chain contains a narrator, Muslim al-Mula'i, from whom Shu'bah and Sufyan narrated, while the rest of the people, that is, Ahmad, Yahya bin Ma'in and a group, declared him da'if (weak).

Alqamah narrates: A man asked Sayyiduna Abdullah (may Allah be pleased with him) about the time of the Zuhr prayer. He said: From when a man's shadow is at his feet until the shadow of everything becomes equal to its length, (the time is) between these. The man asked him about the time of Asr, and he said: Offer this prayer while the sun is bright and shining. The man asked him about the time of Maghrib, and he said: When the sun has set.
Al-Tabarani recorded it in al-Mu'jam al-Kabir. Its chain contains a narrator, Abu Nu'aym Dirar bin Surad, who is da'if (weak).

Qatadah narrates: Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) used to say: Like the appointed time of Hajj, every prayer has an appointed time.
Al-Tabarani recorded it in al-Mu'jam al-Kabir. The narrator Qatadah did not hear from Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him). The narrators of this report have been declared trustworthy.