Tirmidhi

520. Commentary:

➊ Several similar narrations have already been mentioned. The generality (ijmal) of one hadith can be resolved by the detail (tafsil) of another.

➋ There is no disagreement regarding the initial time of the Maghrib prayer: it is at sunset, and its final time is the disappearance of the twilight.

➌ Acquiring knowledge of the essential matters of the religion is obligatory (fard) upon every Muslim; therefore, one should learn them with great diligence and eagerness.

➍ This hadith establishes that every prayer has an optimal (afdal) time and a permissible (jawaz) or chosen time.

➎ Practical demonstration is the most eloquent example of clarification.

➏ In view of a legitimate (shar‘i) benefit, it is permissible to delay the prayer from its initial time.

Hadith Commentary:
Vocabulary of the Hadith:
(1)
أَبْرَدَ:
He performed (the prayer) at a cooler time.
(2)
أَنْعَمَ أَن يُبْرٍدَ:
He made it thoroughly cool.

Benefits and Issues:
In order to explain to the questioner the beginning and end, the earliest and latest times of the prayers, the Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) demonstrated through action rather than merely verbal instruction and explanation. Therefore, he (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) said to him: "Join us for the five prayers over these two days." Then, on the first day, he performed each prayer at its earliest time, and on the second day, he delayed them to the permissible extent. After that, he said to him: "Perform the prayers within those times in which you have seen me pray." And on the second day as well, the Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) performed the prayers at their recommended times.

Hadith Gloss:
Vocabulary of the Hadith:
(1)
Ghalas:
The last darkness of the night,
when the whiteness of dawn has already begun.

(2)
Wajabat al-shams:
The sun has set.

(3)
Waqa‘a al-shafaq:
The twilight has disappeared.

(4)
Nawwara bi’l-subh:
He made the morning bright,
led the prayer when the light had spread.

Commentary:

➊
For the teaching of the prayer times, the Messenger of Allah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam practically demonstrated by performing the prayers at both the earliest and latest times.
This clarifies the importance of practical example in teaching.

➋
The best (afdal) way to perform the prayer is at its earliest time, but if it is performed at the last time, it is still considered performed (ada).

➌
For the purpose of teaching or for any other permissible reason, it is allowed to leave the more virtuous (afdal) act and adopt a less virtuous but permissible act; however, making this a permanent habit is not correct.

➍
The time for the Dhuhr prayer begins as soon as the sun passes its zenith (zawal).
Zawal means that the sun, after reaching its highest point, begins to descend.
This can be estimated by the shadow: when the shadow of a wall or similar object appears on the ground towards the east.

➎
Delaying the Dhuhr prayer (izlaq al-zuhur) means to wait until the intensity of the heat lessens.
In the summer, there is extreme heat at noon.
Therefore, instead of praying immediately after zawal, it can be performed after waiting a little; however, in winter, there is no need to wait.

➏
In this hadith, the time for the Asr prayer is described in similar words on both days, i.e., it is stated that the sun was high. The clarification of this "height" will come in the following ahadith.

➐
The time for Maghrib prayer begins when the disk of the sun disappears from the horizon and ends when the twilight (shafaq) disappears.
By shafaq is meant the redness that appears in the west after the sun sets.

➑
The time for Isha prayer begins after the twilight (shafaq) disappears.
According to this hadith, its last time appears to be one-third of the night.
From some other ahadith, it is known that the Isha prayer can be performed until midnight. For example:
In Sahih Muslim, there is a hadith of the Messenger of Allah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam in which, while describing the prayer times, he said about the Isha prayer:
(وَوَقْتُ صَلَاةِ الْعِشَاءِ اِليٰ نِصْفِ الَّيْل) (Sahih Muslim, al-Masajid, Chapter: The Times of the Five Prayers, Hadith: 612)
"And the time for the Isha prayer is until midnight."

➒
The time for the Fajr prayer begins at true dawn (subh sadiq), but it should be performed before sunrise. However, if due to some excuse there is a delay, and at least one rak‘ah is performed before sunrise, it will still be considered performed on time.
The Prophetic statement is:
"Whoever gets one rak‘ah of the morning prayer before sunrise, he has caught the morning prayer, and whoever gets one rak‘ah of the Asr prayer before sunset, he has caught the Asr prayer." (Sahih al-Bukhari, Mawaqit al-Salat, Chapter: Whoever Catches a Rak‘ah of Fajr, Hadith: 579; and Sahih Muslim, al-Masajid, Chapter: Whoever Catches a Rak‘ah of the Prayer Has Caught That Prayer, Hadith: 608)

➓
The meaning of the prayer times being between the times the prayers were performed on these two days is that the beginning and ending times of each prayer have been explained; whoever performs the prayer at any time between these two times, his prayer will be considered performed.
It should not be understood from this that, leaving the earliest time, the exact middle between the beginning and end of the time has been fixed for the prayer, because if this meaning is taken, it would result in the prayer being performed only in a very short period in the middle.
In this way, the flexibility in the prayer times would be lost. For example, if on the mentioned two days, the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam performed the Asr prayer at three o’clock on the first day and at five o’clock on the second day, it would not be correct to infer from this statement that the correct time is four o’clock; otherwise, it would necessitate that on both days the prayers were performed outside their proper times,
and this is clearly incorrect.