Praying Fajr early

It is narrated from Sayyidah Aishah (may Allah be pleased with her) that believing women used to attend the Fajr prayer with the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), wrapped in their sheets. Then, after finishing the prayer, they would return to their homes, and no one could recognize them because of the darkness.

It is narrated from Sayyidah Aishah (may Allah be pleased with her) that believing women used to offer the Fajr prayer with the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), wrapped in their sheets; then they would return to their homes, and no one could recognize them because of the darkness.

It is narrated from the Mother of the Believers, Sayyidah Aishah (may Allah be pleased with her), that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) would offer the morning prayer, and when the women finished the prayer and went home, they were wrapped in their large sheets and could not be recognised because of the darkness.

It is narrated from Sayyidah Aishah (may Allah be pleased with her) that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) would lead the Fajr prayer; then, when he (peace and blessings be upon him) finished the prayer, the women of the believers were wrapped in their large sheets and could not be recognised because of the darkness.

Sayyar bin Salamah (may Allah have mercy on him) said: I went with my father to Sayyiduna Abu Barzah al-Aslami (may Allah be pleased with him). My father said to him: Tell us at what times the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) used to offer the obligatory prayers. Then he mentioned the complete hadith and said: When he (peace and blessings be upon him) finished the Fajr prayer with the salam, each man could recognise the one beside him, and he (peace and blessings be upon him) used to recite from sixty to a hundred verses in Fajr.

Muhammad bin Amr bin Hasan (may Allah have mercy on him) said: Al-Hajjaj used to delay the prayer. I asked Sayyiduna Jabir bin Abdullah (may Allah be pleased with him) and he said: The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) would offer the Zuhr prayer when the sun had passed the meridian, and he would offer the Asr prayer while the sun was still bright, and he would offer the Maghrib prayer when the sun had set. As for the Isha prayer, when he saw that the people were few, he would delay it, and when the people were many, he would lead it early. And he would offer the morning prayer while it was still dark.

Abu Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), and then he mentioned the complete hadith, in which he also said: "He (peace and blessings be upon him) offered the morning prayer in the darkness, then one day he offered it when it had become fully light, and then he never again offered it in the light until Allah Almighty took his (peace and blessings be upon him) soul."

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Anas bin Malik (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) and Sayyiduna Zayd bin Thabit (may Allah be pleased with him) ate the pre-dawn meal (suhur). When he (peace and blessings be upon him) had finished the suhur, the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) stood up for the prayer and prayed. (Qatadah said:) I asked Anas (may Allah be pleased with him): How long was there between their finishing the suhur and their beginning the prayer? That is, how long after finishing the suhur did he begin the prayer? Anas (may Allah be pleased with him) said: As long as it takes a man to recite fifty verses.

(a) Qatadah narrates from Sayyiduna Anas bin Malik (may Allah be pleased with him) that Zayd bin Thabit (may Allah be pleased with him) told him: I ate the pre-dawn meal (suhur) with the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), then I went out for the prayer. Anas (may Allah be pleased with him) said: I asked Zayd (may Allah be pleased with him): How long was there between the suhur and the prayer? He said: As long as it takes a man to recite fifty or sixty verses.
(b) Imam al-Bukhari (may Allah have mercy on him) narrated this report from Hammam through Amr bin Asim, except that it uses plural wording, that is: they ate the suhur with the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), then stood up for the prayer.

It is narrated from Abu Hazim that he heard Sayyiduna Sahl bin Sa'd (may Allah be pleased with him) say: I would eat the pre-dawn meal (suhur) with my family, and then I would be in a hurry to offer the morning prayer behind the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him).

(a) It is narrated from Mughith bin Sumayy: I offered the Fajr prayer with Abdullah bin al-Zubayr (may Allah be pleased with him). He offered the prayer in the darkness, whereas he used to offer it in the light. When he finished with the salam, I asked Abdullah bin Umar (may Allah be pleased with him): What kind of prayer is this? Abdullah bin Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) was beside me. He said: "This was the prayer of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) and Umar (may Allah be pleased with him)." Then, when Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) was martyred, Uthman (may Allah be pleased with him) began to offer it when it had become light.
(b) Abu Isa al-Tirmidhi (may Allah have mercy on him) says in Kitab al-Ilal that Muhammad bin Isma'il al-Bukhari (may Allah have mercy on him) said: The hadith of al-Awza'i, transmitted from Nahik bin Yarim, about offering Fajr in the darkness, is a hasan (good) hadith.

It is narrated from al-Harith bin Umar al-Hudhali that Umar bin al-Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him) wrote a letter to Abu Musa al-Ash'ari (may Allah be pleased with him): I am writing to you about the prayer, and it is the most important of all the matters of the religion. I saw how the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) used to pray. Of that, I remembered what I remembered and forgot what I forgot. He led the Zuhr prayer at midday, offered the Asr prayer while the sun was still clear and bright, offered the Maghrib prayer at the time when the fasting person breaks his fast, would offer the Isha prayer as long as there was no fear of the people falling asleep, and would offer the morning prayer in the darkness, and he prolonged the recitation in it.

It is narrated from Amr bin Maymun al-Awdi (may Allah have mercy on him): I offered the Fajr prayer with Umar bin al-Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him) (at such a time) that if my son had been three cubits away from me, I would not have recognised him (because of the darkness) unless he spoke.

It is narrated from Habban bin al-Harith: I came to Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) while he was encamped at Dayr Abi Musa, and he was eating. He said to me: Eat. I said: I intend to fast. He said: I too intend to fast. So I came closer and began to eat. When he had finished, he said: O Ibn al-Tayyah, call the iqamah for the prayer.

(a) It is narrated from Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) that Abdullah bin Mas'ud used to lead us in the morning prayer when the dawn broke, and lead the Maghrib prayer when the sun set, and then he would say: This is our prayer as it used to be with the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him).
(b) It is narrated from al-Furafisah bin Umayr: I memorised Surah Yusuf from hearing the recitation of Sayyiduna Uthman (may Allah be pleased with him), because he used to recite it very often in the morning prayer.

(a) It is narrated from Yahya bin Sa'id and Rabi'ah (may Allah have mercy on them both) that al-Furafisah bin Umayr (may Allah have mercy on him) said, and then he mentioned the complete hadith.
(b) This hadith is evidence that he used to begin the prayer in the darkness.