Origins of the 5 prayers

Fajr:

When Adam (AS) was taken out of Paradise and sent to Paradise, it was night and he had never observed darkness before. This made him extremely anxious and distressed. Slowly as it began to become brighter, Subh Sadiq (‘true’ dawn) appeared. Hadhrat Adam (AS) felt at peace. Before sunrise, he offered two rakaats of Salaat out of gratitude; the first rakaat was for the dispelling of the darkness and the second was out of appreciation for the daylight.

Almighty A—h liked this prayer so much that He made the two rak’ats of Fajr salaat obligatory on the Ummat of Rasoolullah (SAW). (E’nayah).

 It has also been mentioned that in order to remove the darkness of the grave, a person should be consistent with their Fajr, for it will be a means of illumination in the grave.

Zuhr:

After Ibrahim (AS)’s dream in which he was commanded to sacrifice his son, 4 questions concerned him;

1.      How can I fulfil this commandment properly?

2.      How was it that Ismail (AS) had so readily accepted his fate (i.e. that he was about to be sacrificed)?

3.      What answer would he give Hajar (AS) – Mother of Ismail (AS)?

4.      How would she spend the rest of her life in the jungle?

As soon as A—h sent down the ram from Jannah, the situation became resolved and all queries were answered. So out of appreciation he prayed 4 rakaats;

The first to thank A—h for helping him overcome this difficult test

The second for substituting his son with a ram

The third for the direct address he received from A—h in the Quran:

“And We called out to him: “O Ibrahim! You have fulfilled the dream (vision)!” Verily! Thus We do reward the Muhsinun.” (37:104-5)

The fourth thanking A—h for granting him with such a patient child, who so readily accepted A—h’s plan for him.                                                                                                                                       Almighty A—h liked this prayer of Hadhrat Ibrahim (AS) so much that He made the four rak’ats of Zuhr salaat obligatory on the Ummat of Rasoolullah (SAW). (E’nayah).

Asr:

When Yunus (AS) was swallowed by the whale, 4 layers of darkness enveloped him.;

1.      The stomach of the whale he was swallowed by

2.      Darkess of the clouds (narrations also suggest that the above fish was then swallowed by a larger fish)

3.      Darkness of the ocean

4.      The darkness of the night

A—h heard his plea from inside the belly of the fish as mentioned in the Quran:

“But he cried through the darkness (saying): La ilaha illa Anta [none has the right to be worshipped but You (O, Allah), Glorified (and Exalted) be You above all that (evil) they associate with You]. Truly, I have been of the wrongdoers.” So We answered his call, and delivered him from the distress. And thus We do deliver the believers.” (21:87-88)

 

So after being saved by A—h from this, he prayed 4 rakaats Salaat out of gratitude.

Almighty A—h liked this prayer of Hadhrat Yunus (AS) so much that He made the four rak’ats of Asr salaat obligatory on the Ummat of Rasoolullah (SAW). (E’nayah).

Maghrib

There are two narrations regarding Maghrib Salaat;

The first being that Dawood (AS) performed 3 rakaats after making an error, upon which A—h forgave him. By way of thanksgiving, he commenced praying 4 rakaats but could not continue after the third due to his extreme remorse, and so he terminated his Salaat after three rakaats. (Bazlul Majhood).

Almighty A—h liked this prayer of Hadhrat Dawood (AS) so much that He made the three rak’ats of Maghrib salaat obligatory on the Ummat of Rasoolullah (SAW)

The second narration is regarding Isa (AS); when he began performing miracles, such as curing the sick, creating birds from clay and bringing them to life etc. The Bani Israeel saw this and began to believe him to be the son of God and Maryam (AS) to be the wife of God.      نعوذ بالله 

So Isa (AS) made dua to A—h saying that I have not performed these miracles except without your permission, yet despite being told this, they are saying such things.

A—h replied to him, saying “You are not at fault and neither is your Mother”.

So out of appreciation, Isa (AS) prayed 2 rakaats and Maryam (AS) prayed 1 rakaat, combined this became 3 rakaats of Maghrib.

Maghrib:

There are two reports regarding the wisdom of the four rak’ats of Isha’ salaat. The first says that Hadhrat Musa (AS) was the first person to perform this salaat. He had stayed with Hadhrat Shuayb (AS) for ten years and was returning with his family to Misr (Egypt). While travelling he was besieged with four anxieties: first, his honourable wife was expecting; secondly, the journey was particularly lengthy; thirdly, he was concerned about the welfare of his brother Hadhrat Harun (AS); and fourthly, he was worried about his mortal enemy Fir’awn. With these four worries he was travelling and then they got lost which added to the distress. He walked in a perplexed state until they approached Mount Toor, standing on the right side facing the west. It was a dark and cold night. The honourable wife’s labour had begun, and the flint stone did not produce a spark. In this agonising and distressing situation, he saw a fire from Mount Toor. He told his family members to remain behind while he went to Mount Toor to collect some flames. When he reached Mount Toor he was favoured with the special privilege of conversing with Almighty A—h, Who said:

“And when he came to it (the fire), he was called by name: “O Musa! Verily! I am your Lord! So take off your shoes, you are in the sacred valley, Tuwa. And I have chosen you. So listen to that which is inspired to you.” (20:11-13)

It was Isha’ time when Hadhrat Musa (AS) performed the four rak’ats of thanksgiving for the removal of all four anxieties. Almighty A—h liked this prayer so much that He made the four rak’ats of Isha’ obligatory on the Ummat of Rasoolullah (SAW). E’nayah).

According to the second report, the first perform to perform the four-rak’ats of Isha’ salaat was Rasoolullah (SAW).  (Bazlul Majhood). This is another reason why this salaat is particularly important.

This is taken from Hadhrat Mufti Abdur Rauf Sakkharwee Sahib’s ‘Some Serious Mistakes In Salaat’. The book can be found by following this link ‘Correct Performance of Salah‘.

About the Author: Hadhrat Mufti Abdur Rauf Sakkharwee Sahib is the Deputy Mufti at the famous Darul Uloom Koranghi, Karachi, and is a Senior Khalifah of the late Hadhrat Mufti Muhammad Shafee Sahib rahmatullah alayh, who founded the Darul Uloom. He has written extensively on various fiqh issues and is a regular contributor to Al-Balaagh, which is a magazine published monthly by the Darul Uloom.