18 - Chapter on the Twilight (ash-Shafaq)

528 - Muhammad ibn Qudamah informed us, saying: Jarir narrated to us, from Raqabah, from Ja'far ibn Iyas, from Habib ibn Salim, from al-Nu'man ibn Bashir, who said: I am the most knowledgeable of people concerning the time of this prayer—the night prayer ('isha' al-akhirah). The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) used to pray it at the setting of the moon on the third night (of the lunar month).(1)(2)

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Al-Sindi said: His statement "at the time of al-hajirah" — in al-Sihah, it is midday when the heat is intense, and in al-Qamus, it is from the time of decline (zawal) to the afternoon ('asr). It is not hidden that the first does not hold up, and the second does not specify the intended time. The apparent meaning is that the first is intended, calling what is close to the middle "half." Perhaps what is intended is that he used to pray the noon prayer (zuhr) at the beginning of its time, i.e., he did not delay it excessively—this does not contradict the practice of waiting for cooler weather (ibrad). Perhaps specifying the hot days is to show that heat did not prevent him from praying at the beginning of the time—so how then when there is no heat? And his statement "when the sun set" (wajabat al-shams) means: when it fell and disappeared.

(1) In a copy in the margins of (K) and (YH): "on the third night."
(2) A sound (sahih) hadith. Habib ibn Salim is acceptable (la ba'sa bihi), as stated in al-Taqrib, and the rest of its narrators are trustworthy. However, there is a break (inqita') in this chain of transmission, for Ja'far ibn Iyas—who is Abu Bishr ibn Abi Wahshiyyah—did not hear from Habib ibn Salim, as Ahmad mentioned in al-'Ilal (4202) on the authority of Shu'bah. Moreover, there is disagreement concerning him (i.e., Abu Bishr Ja'far), as will follow. Muhammad ibn Qudamah is Ibn A'yan, Abu 'Abdullah al-Missisi; Jarir is Ibn 'Abd al-Hamid; and Raqabah is Ibn Masqalah. The hadith is in al-Sunan al-Kubra under number (1522).

Ahmad also narrated it (18377) from Hushaym ibn Bashir, from Abu Bishr Ja'far ibn Iyas, with this chain of transmission.

Shu'bah and Abu 'Awanah differed from Raqabah and Hushaym, narrating it from Abu Bishr Ja'far ibn Iyas, from Bashir ibn Thabit, from Habib ibn Salim, from al-Nu'man ibn Bashir, as will come in the hadith after it with commentary on it. Abu Zur'ah said (as in 'Ilal al-Razi (1/177)): The hadith of Bashir ibn Thabit is more sound.

Ibn Hibban also narrated it (1526) via the route of Abu 'Awanah, from Ibrahim ibn Muhammad ibn al-Muntashir, from Habib ibn Salim, with it.

His statement "at the setting of the moon on the third night" means: the time of the moon's disappearance on the third night of the month. Some have used this hadith as evidence for the recommendation of hastening the night prayer ('isha'), but Ibn al-Turkumani refuted this in al-Jawhar al-Naqi, stating that the setting of the moon on the third night occurs after approximately two and a half hours of the night have passed, and he mentioned—