546 — We were told by ʿAbd Allāh ibn Isḥāq: Abū ʿĀṣim informed us, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj, on the authority of Mūsā ibn ʿUqbah, on the authority of Nāfiʿ ibn Jubayr, on the authority of Abū Masʿūd al-Zuraqī, on the authority of ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib, something similar (to the preceding).

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The ḥadīth of ʿAlī was also transmitted by al-Ḥākim, 1/202, via the chain of al-Walīd ibn Muslim: Ibn Jurayj told us, on the authority of Mūsā ibn ʿUqbah, on the authority of Nāfiʿ ibn Jubayr, on the authority of Masʿūd al-Zuraqī, on the authority of ʿAlī — except that he said in it: "when the prayer is about to be established." And it will follow after this.

On this topic, there is also a report from Jābir, may God be pleased with him, who said: The Prophet, peace and blessings of God be upon him, used to pray Ẓuhr at the time of intense midday heat, ʿAṣr while the sun was still bright and clear, Maghrib when the sun had set, ʿIshāʾ — sometimes he would delay it and sometimes he would hasten it: when he saw that they had gathered, he would hasten it, and when he saw that they were slow, he would delay it — and Fajr, they — or the Prophet, peace and blessings of God be upon him — used to pray it in the darkness before dawn. Transmitted by al-Bukhārī (560) and Muslim (646).

His saying: "when the prayer is about to be established" — the author of ʿAwn al-Maʿbūd said: The connection between the iqāmah and the prayer is not one of the firmly established matters; rather, it is permissible for a gap to occur between them due to some unforeseen matter. However, the imam waiting for the congregants and sitting in the mosque because of the small number of worshippers after the iqāmah has been given is not established except through these two reports — meaning this report of Sālim and the report of ʿAlī that follows — but the first report is mursal, and in the second there is Abū Masʿūd al-Zuraqī, whose status is unknown. Thus, there is something in my heart concerning the soundness of this text, and I think that error has entered upon some of the transmitters, for it is not established from the guidance of the Prophet, peace and blessings of God be upon him, that he used to wait after the iqāmah. And if the report is sound, then it is likely that the meaning of his saying "the prayer is about to be established" is: the prayer is about to be performed and its time has come — so the word "tuqām" does not mean the well-known iqāmah pronounced by the muezzin's tongue, but rather it means the performance and establishment of the prayer.

(1) Ibn Jurayj — whose name is ʿAbd al-Malik ibn ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz — explicitly stated that he heard it (bi-l-taḥdīth) in al-Bayhaqī, 2/20. And Abū Masʿūd al-Zuraqī: thus his name appears here. Al-Ḥāfiẓ Ibn Ḥajar said in Tahdhīb al-Tahdhīb: The correct form is Masʿūd ibn al-Ḥakam al-Zuraqī. We say: likewise, it was transmitted from Ibn Jurayj by al-Walīd ibn Muslim in al-Ḥākim, 1/202, and by ʿAbd al-Majīd ibn ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz in al-Bayhaqī, 2/20. And Masʿūd ibn al-Ḥakam had (the privilege of) seeing (the Prophet).

And see what precedes it.