❖ The Ruling on Offering Fajr Prayer with Brightness and Its Meaning
Source: Fatawa Amunpuri by Shaykh Ghulam Mustafa Zaheer Amunpuri❖ Question:
What is the meaning of the Hadith: "Offer Fajr prayer in brightness, for there is greater reward in it"?
❖ Answer:
This narration is abrogated (منسوخ).
Its abrogating (ناسخ) Hadith is the narration of Abu Mas‘ud al-Ansari (رضي الله عنه), in which he stated that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ offered the Fajr prayer in darkness until his passing.
❖ Explanation If Not Considered Abrogated
Even if this narration is not regarded as abrogated, the following explanation is provided:
❀ Imam Ibn Hibban (رحمه الله) stated:
"The Prophet ﷺ commanded that Fajr be offered with brightness because the reason behind this instruction lies within the context.
The Prophet ﷺ and his companions used to offer Fajr in darkness. However, during moonlit nights, when someone intends to pray in the dark, it may occur that the prayer is performed before the actual appearance of true dawn (طلوع فجر).
Therefore, the Prophet ﷺ instructed to delay it enough to ensure that true dawn has certainly occurred, and said, "The more you delay (until it's bright), the greater the reward."
What the Prophet ﷺ meant was that when you are certain of dawn, the act will carry more reward than praying in uncertainty."
(Sahih Ibn Hibban, 4/356)❖ Conclusion:
① The Hadith encouraging Fajr to be prayed in brightness is either abrogated, or
② Its true meaning is a precaution against praying before the time enters, especially in conditions where one might mistake pre-dawn light (especially in moonlit nights) as true dawn.
Thus, the instruction to "brighten" the Fajr prayer refers to ensuring certainty of the time, not deliberately delaying it for worldly convenience.
✔ Key Point:
The essence of this Hadith is to ensure that Fajr is prayed after the confirmed entrance of its time, even if a slight delay is required — not to contradict the established Sunnah of praying it in darkness.
