Ibn Hibban

Sayyiduna Abu Basrah Ghifari (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates: The Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) led us in the ‘Asr prayer and said: “Indeed, this prayer was also presented to the people before you, but they were negligent regarding it and abandoned it. Whoever among them performed this prayer was given double the reward for it, and after this prayer, no prayer is to be performed until the ‘Shahid’ (star) appears.” The narrator says: By ‘Shahid’ is meant a star. (Imam Ibn Hibban, may Allah have mercy on him, says:) The Arabs call the star ‘Thurayya’, but by this statement, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) did not mean that the time for Maghrib does not begin until ‘Thurayya’ (the star) appears. The reason is that Thurayya appears when the horizon has become dark and the ether has changed. In my view, its meaning is that the first star to appear among the subordinate stars of Thurayya is ‘Shahid’. The subordinate stars of Thurayya are: Kaf Khadhib, Kaf Jazma’, Mabid, Ma’sim, Mirfaq, Ibrah Mirfaq, ‘Ayyuq, Rajul ‘Ayyuq, A’lam, Dhiqah, Qilas. Among these, except for ‘Ayyuq, none of the stars are bright; only it (‘Ayyuq) is a red and bright star, which appears uniquely on the body of Thurayya towards the north. And it appears at sunset. When a person’s eyesight is slightly sharp, he can see ‘Ayyuq at sunset. This is the star upon whose appearance it becomes permissible to perform the Maghrib prayer (i.e., the time for this prayer begins).