سورة النساء

Ali ibn Ibrahim (may Allah have mercy on him): The verse وَ إِذا کُنْتَ فیهِمْ فَأَقَمْتَ لَهُمُ الصَّلاةَ فَلْتَقُمْ طائِفَةٌ مِنْهُمْ مَعَکَ [And when you are among them and keep up the prayer for them, let a party of them stand up with you] ... was revealed when the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family) set out towards Hudaybiyyah, intending to reach Mecca. When the news reached Quraysh, they sent Khalid ibn al-Walid with two hundred horsemen to intercept the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family), and he went along the tops of the mountains everywhere, showing himself to the army of Islam and to the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family). Until, at one stretch of the road, the time of noon arrived, and Bilal called the adhan, and the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family) prayed with his army. Khalid ibn al-Walid said to his companions: "How good it would be to attack them right now, while the Muslim army is engaged in prayer. If we do not lose this opportunity, we will reach our goal, for I know that the Muslims do not break their prayer. Therefore, another hour will come, at the time of their other prayer, which is a prayer they love more than the light of their eyes. As soon as they enter it, we will attack them." At that moment Jibra'il descended upon the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family) and brought the command of the prayer of fear, in which Allah the Exalted says: وَ إِذا کُنْتَ فیهِمْ فَأَقَمْتَ لَهُمُ الصَّلاةَ فَلْتَقُمْ طائِفَةٌ مِنْهُمْ مَعَکَ ... مَیْلَةً واحِدَةً [And when you are among them and keep up the prayer for them, let a party of them stand up with you ... with a sudden united attack]. So the Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) divided the companions into two groups: one group he placed facing the enemy with their weapons in their hands, and the other group prayed standing with the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family), then went towards the army and stood in the position of their comrades facing the enemy. Then the second group, who had until then been standing facing the enemy, came and stood behind the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family) and prayed. This was counted as the second rak'ah for the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family), but for them it was the first rak'ah. Then the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family) sat, recited the tashahhud and gave them the salam; they stood up and prayed their remaining one rak'ah [and at the end gave the salam to one another].

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): In the Battle of Dhat al-Riqa, the Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) stood as imam for his companions [for the prayer of fear] and divided his companions into two groups. He arranged one group in a line facing the enemy, and the other group formed a prayer row behind him. The Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) said the takbir, and the others too, saying Allahu Akbar, entered the prayer standing. The Prophet recited, and the worshippers listened. The Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) went into ruku, and the worshippers also went into ruku. The Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) went into sajdah, and the worshippers also went into sajdah. Then the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family) remained standing, and the worshippers themselves prayed one rak'ah, then one by one they gave salam [to the Prophet and to one another], and then they went towards the other group of companions and stood in their place facing the enemy, and that group lined up behind the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family). The Prophet said Allahu Akbar, and they said Allahu Akbar. Then the Prophet recited, and they listened. The Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) went into ruku, and they also went into ruku. The Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) went into sajdah, and they also went into sajdah. Then the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family) sat for the tashahhud and gave the salam, and they themselves performed another rak'ah, and then one by one they gave salam [to the Prophet and to one another]. And Allah the Exalted has said to His noble Prophet (peace be upon him and his family): وَ إِذا کُنْتَ فیهِمْ فَأَقَمْتَ لَهُمُ الصَّلاةَ فَلْتَقُمْ طائِفَةٌ مِنْهُمْ مَعَکَ وَ لْیَأْخُذُوا أَسْلِحَتَهُمْ فَإِذا سَجَدُوا فَلْیَکُونُوا مِنْ وَرائِکُمْ وَ لْتَأْتِ طائِفَةٌ أُخْری لَمْ یُصَلُّوا فَلْیُصَلُّوا مَعَکَ وَ لْیَأْخُذُوا حِذْرَهُمْ وَ أَسْلِحَتَهُمْ وَدَّ الَّذینَ کَفَرُوا لَوْ تَغْفُلُونَ عَنْ أَسْلِحَتِکُمْ وَ أَمْتِعَتِکُمْ فَیَمیلُونَ عَلَیْکُمْ مَیْلَةً واحِدَةً وَ لا جُناحَ عَلَیْکُمْ إِنْ کانَ بِکُمْ أَذیً مِنْ مَطَرٍ أَوْ کُنْتُمْ مَرْضی أَنْ تَضَعُوا أَسْلِحَتَکُمْ وَ خُذُوا حِذْرَکُمْ إِنَّ اللهَ أَعَدَّ لِلْکافِرینَ عَذاباً مُهیناً [And when you are among them and keep up the prayer for them, let a party of them stand up with you, and let them take their arms; then when they have prostrated themselves let them go to your rear, and let another party who have not prayed come forward and pray with you, and let them take their precautions and their arms; those who disbelieve desire that you may be careless of your arms and your luggage, so that they may then turn upon you with a sudden united attack, and there is no blame on you, if you are annoyed with rain or if you are sick, that you lay down your arms, and take your precautions; surely Allah has prepared a disgraceful chastisement for the unbelievers], and this is the prayer of fear that Allah commanded His Messenger to establish." He said: "Whoever leads the Maghrib prayer as imam for a group at a time of fear and dread should lead the first group in one rak'ah and the second group in two rak'ahs."

Ali ibn Ibrahim (may Allah have mercy on him): The prayer of fear (salat al-khawf) has three forms. Allah says: وَ إِذا کُنْتَ فِیهِمْ فَأَقَمْتَ لَهُمُ الصَّلاةَ فَلْتَقُمْ طائِفَةٌ مِنْهُمْ مَعَکَ وَ لْیَأْخُذُوا أَسْلِحَتَهُمْ فَإِذا سَجَدُوا فَلْیَکُونُوا مِنْ وَرائِکُمْ وَ لْتَأْتِ طائِفَةٌ أُخْری لَمْ یُصَلُّوا فَلْیُصَلُّوا مَعَکَ وَ لْیَأْخُذُوا حِذْرَهُمْ وَ أَسْلِحَتَهُمْ [And when you are among them and keep up the prayer for them, let a party of them stand up with you, and let them take their arms; then when they have prostrated themselves let them go to your rear, and let another party who have not prayed come forward and pray with you, and let them take their precautions and their arms], and this is one form of it. The second form of the prayer of fear is the one performed during travel out of fear of thieves or predatory animals. In this case, one stands facing the qibla and begins the prayer, and proceeds forward in whatever direction he is going [and recites the prayer]. When his recitation (al-Hamd and a surah) is finished and he wishes to go into ruku and sujud, if he is able he turns his face toward the qibla [and then performs the ruku and sujud]; otherwise, he performs the ruku and sujud in whatever direction he is facing. And if he is mounted, he performs the ruku and sujud by gesturing with his head. The third form of the prayer of fear is the prayer of combat and fighting, when one is in the midst of battle and cannot dismount from his mount to pray. So [while still upon his mount and war-horse] he says one takbir for each rakat and prays while mounted. For Amir al-Muminin (peace be upon him) and his companions, at the Battle of Siffin, prayed their five prayers on the backs of their horses in whatever direction they were facing, saying one takbir for each rakat.

Imam Baqir (peace be upon him): Zurara and Muhammad ibn Muslim narrate that Imam Baqir (peace be upon him) said: "If, in a time of fear, the time of the Maghrib prayer arrives, the imam should divide the companions into two groups: one group facing the enemy and one group behind him — just as Allah the Blessed and Exalted has said. Then he says takbir and prays, and when he rises from the first sajda, he remains standing, and those who have prayed one rak'a behind him pray one rak'a for themselves, then give salam to one another and go towards the other group and stand in their place. Then the other group comes while the imam is still standing, and they say Allahu Akbar and join the imam's prayer, and the imam leads them for one rak'a and gives salam. In this way the first group had the opening of the prayer with Allahu Akbar together with the imam, and the second group had the salam together with the imam. When the imam gives salam, the second group rises and prays another rak'a on their own. Thus the imam has prayed two rak'as and each of the individuals has also prayed two rak'as — one rak'a in congregation and one rak'a individually. And if the fear is more severe than this — such as hand-to-hand combat, skirmish, grappling, and the intensification of clashes and killing — then we must know that Amir al-Mu'minin (peace be upon him) on the night of the Battle of Siffin, which was the Night of Harir — meaning the howling of a dog from the intensity of the cold — prayed Zuhr, Asr, Maghrib and Isha at the time of each prayer only by saying لَا إِلَهَ إِلَّا اللهُ وَ سُبْحَانَ اللهِ وَ الْحَمْدُ لِلهِ [There is no god but Allah, Glory be to Allah, and Praise be to Allah] and supplication, and that was their prayer, and the Imam did not order them to make up the prayers. And when, in a time of fear, the time of the Maghrib prayer arrived, he divided the companions into two groups and led one group for two rak'as, then sat and gestured to them with his hand, and they performed the third rak'a themselves and gave salam, then rose and stood in the place of the other group. Then the second group came and the imam rose and led them for one rak'a in which there was no recitation of al-Hamd and a surah, and he completed his three rak'as. In this way, the first group prayed three rak'as — two rak'as in congregation and one rak'a individually — and the second group prayed three rak'as — one rak'a in congregation and two rak'as individually — and the first group had the beginning of the prayer and the takbirat al-ihram, and the other group had the salam with the imam."

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): Aban ibn Taghlib narrates that Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him) said: "For the Maghrib prayer of fear (salat al-khawf), the companions must be divided into two groups — one group facing the enemy and the other group in the prayer row. Then the Imam prays, and in the second rak'ah he stands still, and they themselves complete the remaining two rak'ahs, and then the worshippers give salam to one another. Then the second group comes and the Imam prays the remaining two rak'ahs with them, and they themselves pray one more rak'ah. In this way the first group has been present for one recitation (al-Hamd and a surah) and the second group also for one recitation."

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): Whoever leads the Maghrib prayer as imam for a group at a time of fear and danger should lead the first group in one rak'ah and lead the second group in two rak'ahs.