Surah Al-Israa (17) — Ayah 78

(Ayah 78) ➊ {اَقِمِ الصَّلٰوةَ …:} After presenting the arguments for monotheism, prophethood, and the Hereafter from the beginning of the surah and answering objections to them, the mention of deeds is made. (Razi) Another connection with the previous verses is that establish prayer in the face of enemies; this will become a source of strength for you against them. That is why whenever any difficulty befell the Prophet (peace be upon him), he would perform prayer. [ أبوداوٗد، التطوع، باب وقت قیام النبي صلی اللہ علیہ وسلم من اللیل : ۱۳۱۶ ] Among deeds, the most virtuous is prayer, because after the declaration of faith, it is the first condition and sign of being a Muslim (see Tawbah: 5, 11), and in it, there is some share of the other pillars of Islam as well. Zakat, in that a person cannot go for prayer without sacrificing financial benefit; fasting, in that all the restrictions of fasting apply during prayer; Hajj, in that prayer is performed facing the qiblah; and the declaration of faith is included in the tashahhud. The essence of prayer is to sever all ties with the world and connect fully with Allah alone. In these verses, along with the command to establish prayer, its five times are also mentioned. These times are established both verbally and practically from the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) through continuous transmission, and the entire Muslim Ummah has been praying at these times for fourteen centuries. For more on the times of prayer, see Surah Hud (114), Surah Rum (17, 18), and Surah Ta-Ha (130). The explicit mention of three prayers is in Surah Nur (58), but the complete boundaries of the beginning and end times of the prayers were defined by the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him), and Jibreel (peace be upon him) taught him by performing the prayers with him for two days. [ دیکھیے بخاری، مواقیت الصلوٰۃ، باب مواقیت الصلوٰۃ و فضلھا : ۵۲۱۔ مسلم : ۶۱۳، ۶۱۴ ]

➋ { لِدُلُوْكِ الشَّمْسِ:} In Qamus it is: {’’ دَلَكَتِ الشَّمْسُ اَيْ غَرَبَتْ أَوِ اصْفَرَّتْ أَوْ مَالَتْ أَوْ زَالَتْ عَنْ كَبِدِ السَّمَاءِ‘‘} That is, the meaning of {’’دَلَكَتِ الشَّمْسُ‘‘} is that the sun has set, or has become yellow, or has inclined, or has declined from the middle of the sky." In this, three prayers are mentioned, because a shared word can be used in more than one meaning. At the time of the sun's decline is the Zuhr prayer, at the (imperceptible) beginning of yellowness is the Asr prayer (when it becomes fully yellow, prayer is disliked), and with the setting of the sun is the Maghrib prayer. The meaning of {’’ غَسَقِ الَّيْلِ ‘‘} is the darkness of the beginning of the night. With the disappearance of twilight, as soon as the darkness is complete, the time for Isha begins. The meaning of {’’ اِلٰى غَسَقِ الَّيْلِ ‘‘} (from the sun's decline to the darkness of night) is that this entire time, keep establishing prayer continuously, but this is said because if a person, after praying, waits for the next prayer, he is considered to be engaged in prayer, as if this entire time was spent in prayer. In this is encouragement to always keep attention towards prayer. Abu Sa'id Khudri (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates that the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said: [إِنَّكُمْ لَمْ تَزَالُوْا فِيْ صَلاَةٍ مَا انْتَظَرْتُمُ الصَّلاَةَ ] [أبوداوٗد، الصلاۃ، باب وقت العشاء الآخرۃ : ۴۲۲۔ ترمذي : ۳۳۰ ] "You will remain in prayer as long as you wait for the prayer." Then, after the interval of sleep at night, is the time for the morning prayer, so it is mentioned separately. (Nazm al-Durr lil-Biqa'i)

➌ {وَ قُرْاٰنَ الْفَجْرِ : ’’ أَيْ وَأَقِمْ قُرْآنَ الْفَجْرِ ‘‘} That is, establish the Fajr prayer. Here, prayer is called Qur'an, because Qur'an is an important part of prayer, and here the part is mentioned but the whole is intended, just as by saying standing or {’’رَكْعَةٌ‘‘} or {’’سَجْدَةٌ‘‘}, the whole prayer is meant. The reason for calling prayer Qur'an here is that in the morning prayer, more Qur'an is recited compared to other prayers.

➍ { اِنَّ قُرْاٰنَ الْفَجْرِ كَانَ مَشْهُوْدًا : ’’ مَشْهُوْدًا ‘‘} In which one is present, that is, in it, the angels of the night and day are present. [ دیکھیے بخاری، الأذان، باب فضل صلاۃ الفجر في جماعۃ : ۶۴۸ ] It also means that after the rest of the whole night, one's disposition is ready to recite and listen to the Qur'an.

78. 1. The meaning of دلوک is decline, and the meaning of غسق is darkness. After the sun declines, the prayers of Zuhr and Asr are meant, and by the darkness of the night, Maghrib and Isha prayers are meant, and by قرآن الفجر, the Fajr prayer is meant. Here, قرآن is in the meaning of prayer. It is expressed as قرآن because the recitation is lengthy in Fajr. In this way, in this verse, there is a general mention of all five obligatory prayers. Their details are found in the ahadith and are also established for the Ummah through practical tawatur. 78. 2. That is, at that time, angels are present; rather, there is a gathering of the angels of the day and the angels of the night, as is mentioned in the hadith (Sahih Bukhari, Tafsir Bani Isra'il). In another hadith, it is stated that when the angels of the night go to Allah, Allah asks them, although He knows best Himself, "In what state did you leave My servants?" The angels say, "We went to them while they were praying, and when we left them, we left them praying as well." (Al-Bukhari and Muslim)

78. Establish prayer from the decline of the sun until the darkness of the night [96], and (also) the recitation of the Qur’an at dawn. Indeed, the recitation of the Qur’an at dawn is witnessed [97].

[96]
Mention of the Five Prayers:

On the night of Mi'raj, five prayers were made obligatory. In this verse, the timings of these prayers are mentioned. Four prayers—Zuhr, Asr, Maghrib, and Isha—are from the decline of the sun until the darkness of the night, and the fifth prayer is before dawn or sunrise. In the previous verse, the torments of the disbelievers and Allah's decree regarding them were mentioned. Here, the mention of prayers is brought because in times of hardship and difficulty, it is commanded to seek help through patience and prayer. Through prayer, a connection with Allah is established, tranquility of the heart is attained, and the strength to stand firm in the face of difficulties is developed. The timings of these five prayers are mentioned in a summarized manner in this verse; for details, see the footnotes of verse 103 of Surah An-Nisa.

Wisdom in the Specification of Prayer Times:

The majority of polytheists and idol worshippers have been those who considered the sun to be a great and powerful deity and worshipped it. These people especially performed worship at three times: at sunrise, when the sun is at its zenith, and at sunset. Therefore, at these times, the Prophet ﷺ forbade the performance of prayer, whether it be voluntary prayers or the making up of missed prayers. Moreover, sun worship was performed during its peak times, that is, from when the sun becomes hot until midday. Therefore, no prayer was prescribed at these times so that there would be no resemblance to the sun worshippers even in the timings. In fact, performing prayer at these times was strictly prohibited.

[97]
Why is the Fajr Prayer Called "Qur'an al-Fajr"?

By "Qur'an al-Fajr" is meant the Fajr prayer. Among the Arabs, it is common practice to mention the noblest part of something and intend the whole by it. According to this custom, the word "Qur'an" is used here, because there is no prayer in which at least Surah Al-Fatiha is not recited in every rak'ah. Similarly, in the Qur'an, sometimes only bowing (ruku') is mentioned for prayer, and sometimes only prostration (sujud). The specific mention of the Qur'an with the Fajr prayer is because the recitation in this prayer is longer compared to other prayers, and by "mashhood" it is meant that during this prayer, angels are also present and listen to the Qur'an, as is made clear by the following hadith: Sayyiduna Abu Hurairah ؓ says that the Prophet ﷺ said: "The congregational prayer is twenty-five times more virtuous than the prayer performed alone, and at the time of the morning prayer, the angels of the night and the angels of the day gather together." After narrating this hadith, Sayyiduna Abu Hurairah ؓ said: If you wish, recite this verse: ﴿وَقُرْاٰنَ الْفَجْرِ اِنَّ قُرْاٰنَ الْفَجْرِ كَانَ مَشْهُوْدًا﴾ [بخاري، كتاب التفسير نيز كتاب الاذان۔ باب فضل صلوة الفجر فى جماعة]