When did the five daily prayers become fard?
Submitted by on Thu, 10/03/2011 - 15:35
Dear Brother / Sister,
In the previous sharia, there were not five daily prescribed prayers. However, there was general Salah whose time was unclear. Salah became fard (obligatory) on the day of Mir’aj a half and year ago before Hegira. Anas bin Malik reported that event as follows briefly:
"Allah enjoined fifty prayers on my followers on the night of Isra. Then, it was reduced to five prayers. Then, the Prophet was addressed as follows: O Muhammad! These are five prayers for you and they are all (equal to) fifty (in reward) for My Word does not change." (Bukhari, Sala, 76. Anbiya, 5; Muslim, Faith, 263; Ahmad bin Hanbal, V, 122, 143). That Verse tells us that it will be given tenfold reward for a good deed we do: "He who brings a good deed shall have tenfold of its like," al-Anam 6/160; see. an-Naml, 27/89; al-Qasas, 28/84).
Before the five daily prayers became fard, the worship of the Prophet was to think on Allah's Glory and what He created. It is also said that the Prophet performed two daily Salahs, one in the morning and one in the evening, each of which contained two rakats. The previous ummahs also performed Salah. We can give examples of it; for instance Luqman ordered his son to perform Salah (Luqman, 31/17); Abraham mentioned Salah while praying for the security of Hejaz (Abraham, 14/37), that Allah wanted Moses to perform Salah (Taha, 20/14) during the first revelation in the mount of Tur.
That Salah must be performed is based on the Qur'an, Sunnah, and Ijma (consensus).
Questions on Islam
- Could you please give information about Daily Prayer (Salah)?
- Can you give information about the meaning of the supplication (dua) and glorification (tasbih) in the prayer and the rewards given for them?
- It is narrated that prophets other than the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) used to perform salah. Was there the worship of Salah in other religions, too?
- What are the hadiths related to sunnah/nafilah prayers and their virtues?
- Can qada (missed) prayers be performed instead of sunnah prayers? Can a person who has to perform qada prayers perform sunnah prayers?
- Will you give information about listening to the adhan, repeating the words of the adhan and showing respect to the adhan?
- When was salah (daily prayer) rendered fard for the first time?
- Is it permissible to intend to combine prayers if there is a possibility of missing a prayer? and In what situations can one imitate other madhhabs (sects) and combine prayers?
- When was prayer rendered fard?
- Is the worshipping of a person who does not perform five daily prayers not accepted?