Origins of the 5 daily prayers

When the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) was 40 years old, the Angel Gabriel appeared to the Prophet (Peace be upon him) for the first time, to tell him that he was a prophet. Before the Gabriel told him, he was unaware of his status. There were others like the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) called Hunafa, who refused to worship idols. They worshiped one god, and made Hajj to His Holy Temple in Mecca (which was built by Abraham, peace be upon him). They sacrificed animals annually in commemoration of Abraham's (peace be upon him) trial of sacrifice of his only son (at the time), Ishmael (peace be upon him)

After that visit, Gabriel came back and taught the Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon him) how to do wudu, and how to pray. Eleven years later, he was summoned in a journey from Mecca to Jerusalem, and then into the heavens. He then received the obligation of "five times daily prayer" directly from Allah himself, the Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon him) then returned, and announced to all that had faith in God the 5 daily prayers.

The Angel Gabriel came to him one day and led him in prayer 5 times, once in the early morning (after dawn but before sunrise), once in the early afternoon (after the sun had crossed the zenith but before mid-afternoon), once in the later afternoon (but before the setting of the sun), once after the sun had set, and finally in the early hours of the night (after twilight had ended). On each occasion he led prayers the earliest possible, but he then returned to the Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon him) the next day and led the Prophet (peace be upon him) in the same five prayers, but this time as late as possible. The Angel Gabriel then announced these were the five times of compulsory prayer, and that each prayer was to be preformed within the set time.It was also narrated by Abu Huraira that he heard the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) say "If there was a river at the door of anyone of you and he took a bath in it five times a day would you notice any dirt on him?" They said, "Not a trace of dirt would be left." The Prophet (Peace be upon him) added, "That is the example of the five prayers with which Allah blots out (annuls) evil deeds."

greenhill said:

I have read that the 5 daily prayers came to being after the israj mi'raj event. That before that the prophet saws used to pray at slightly different times (especially concentrated in the evenings).

For a long time I believed that originally, we were told to pray something like 50 times a day, but when Moses (pbuh) was told this, he told our prophet to ask Allah to reduce the amount (and so it goes on until we get the 5 times a day).

I read somewhere else few years ago that this story about our prophet (pbuh) bargaining with Allah to reduce the number of daily prayers was a fabrication, that it never really happened. Prophet Muhammad saws, it went on to say, never questioned Allah's commandments and executed it always as ordained. It also goes slightly further as to state that this fabrication was to sow the seed to say that it is ok to bargain with Allah, or worst still, that Allah did not really know what he was requesting in the first place. There were some other points, but the article said that the story was untrue.

To me, yes, it does have merits to its claim, but the result is the same. We have to pray 5 times a day, whether it was a result of our prophet having to bargain or not.

Anyone with other information relating to this?


Peace :shade:

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I am unsure if the hadith about the prayers is sahih or not. As for requesting Allah for something or pleading with Him, then it's possible. It's proven from the Quran that Ibrahim عليه السلام pleaded with Allah regarding the nation of Lut عليه السلام after he was informed that they would be punished. See Chapter 11, verses 69 - 75.

glo said:

Is this account from the Qu'ran or from hadith?

I have always wanted to know how exactly it was decided how to perform the Islamic prayer (i.e. the exact words to say and the exact prayer movements). I didn't know about Gabriel showing how to do it. Do Muslims believe that the way they pray today is still just how the angel Gabriel demonstrated it to Muhammad (pbuh)?

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This account is from the hadith. In the Quran we are told to pray over and over again but the method of prayer or even the exact timing hasn't been given.

Method, number and timing of Prayer came to us from Prophet Muhammad (Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) through a type of hadith known as hadith mutawatir حديث متواتر which is hadith that was transmitted from one whole generation to another. The fact that so many people transmitted these hadith proves that the hadith are correct and there is no possibility for any mistakes, omission, or lies / collusion in such hadith.

You can know more about the different kinds of hadith from books on the topic of 'the science of hadith' (علوم الحديث).

:salamext:

greenhill said:

I have read that the 5 daily prayers came to being after the israj mi'raj event. That before that the prophet saws used to pray at slightly different times (especially concentrated in the evenings).

For a long time I believed that originally, we were told to pray something like 50 times a day, but when Moses (pbuh) was told this, he told our prophet to ask Allah to reduce the amount (and so it goes on until we get the 5 times a day).

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The Isra wal Mir'aj journey has been narrated through multiple narrations in various collections of hadeeth, including the most authentic - al-Bukhari and Muslim. It is also referred to in the Qur'an, with one surah even named Al-Isra (The Night Journey). In the tafseer of Ibn Kathir, at the beginning of this same surah, you can find many of the narrations concerning this event. With this in mind, we have no doubt concerning this incident. The article you read claiming it is a fabrication was probably written by hadith rejectors and clearly from sheer ignorance.

Moreover, we can learn a lesson behind the prayers first being mentioned as fifty then reduced to five:





Another lesson we can take away is the importance of prayer and the greatness of its reward.

Al-Haafiz Ibn Hajar said:

What is meant is that they are five with regard to what is to be done, but they are fifty with regard to the reward.
Fath al-Baari, 1/463

http://www.islamqa.com/en/26155

glo said:

Is this account from the Qu'ran or from hadith?

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Yes, the account where Angel Gabriel :as: taught the Prophet :saws: the timings of the prayer is from hadith:

http://sunnah.com/urn/1005150
http://sunnah.com/tirmidhi/2/1

There are also other hadith about the prayer timings, such as:

'Abdullah b. 'Amr reported:
The Messenger of Allah saws said: The time of the noon prayer is when the sun passes the meridian and a man's shadow is the same (length) as his height, (and it lasts) as long as the time for the afternoon prayer has not come; the time for the afternoon prayer is as long as the sun has not become pale; the time of the evening prayer is as long as the twilight has not ended; the time of the night prayer is up to the middle of the average night and the time of the morning prayer is from the appearance of dawn, as long as the sun has not risen; but when the sun rises, refrain from prayer for it rises between the horns of the devil.
http://sunnah.com/muslim/5/222

Oh, very nice post! I missed it, Muhammad.
Thank you for the Hadith, I knew that the Prophet (Peace be upon him) ascended and learned it from God himself. I didn't know however that it was originally 50 prayers.

Every day I learn new things, thank you much!
رحمك الله