سورة النساء

Ali ibn Ibrahim (may Allah have mercy on him): فَإِذا قَضَیْتُمُ الصَّلاةَ [When you have finished the prayer] means when the prayer becomes obligatory upon you.

Ibn Abbas (may Allah have mercy on him): فَإِذا قَضَیْتُمُ الصَّلاةَ [When you have finished the prayer] means: O believers, when your prayer is finished and you face the enemy.

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): The correct and complete prayer is that one stands, then goes into ruku, then performs a complete sujud — this is the first state of praying. The second state is where Allah says: قُعُوداً [and sitting], and this is for the sick person who prays sitting. And the third state, where He says: وَ عَلی جُنُوبِکُمْ [and reclining on your sides], is for the one who is not able to pray sitting, so he prays lying down with gestures and signs. These are the three states of praying.

Imam Ali (peace be upon him): Granting a dispensation (rukhsah) means that after a prohibition, a general permission comes — like this word of Allah, where He said: فَإِذا قَضَیْتُمُ الصَّلاةَ فَاذْکُرُوا اللهَ قِیاماً وَ قُعُوداً وَ عَلی جُنُوبِکُمْ [Then when you have finished the prayer, remember Allah standing and sitting and reclining]. Its meaning is that the healthy person prays standing, the sick person prays sitting, and the one who is not able to pray sitting prays lying down with gestures. This is the very dispensation that came after the declaration of the definite ruling.

Imam Baqir (peace be upon him): إِنَّ الصَّلاَةَ کَانَتْ علَی المُؤْمِنِینَ کِتَابا مَّوْقُوتًا [Indeed prayer is a timed ordinance for the believers] — mawqut means mawjub, that is, made obligatory.

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): Mansur ibn Hazim says: I heard Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him) saying: "If it meant mawqut (timed) as they say, without doubt the people would have perished and the matter would have been burdensome upon them; but the correct meaning is that prayer has been made obligatory upon the believers."

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): إِنَّ الصَّلاَةَ کَانَتْ علَی المُؤْمِنِینَ کِتَابا مَّوْقُوتًا [Indeed prayer is a timed ordinance for the believers] — Allah's intent by it is the obligation of prayer, and He has not intended anything else.

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): إِنَّ الصَّلاَةَ کَانَتْ علَی المُؤْمِنِینَ کِتَابا مَّوْقُوتًا [Indeed, prayer is a timed ordinance upon the believers] — that is, prayer is obligatory upon the believers.

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): Dawud ibn Farqad said: Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him), regarding the verse إِنَّ الصَّلاَةَ کَانَتْ علَی المُؤْمِنِینَ کِتَابا مَّوْقُوتًا [Indeed, prayer is a timed ordinance upon the believers], said: "It means a fixed ordinance, and it is not so that if you hasten a little or delay a little your prayer is ruined — so long as you do not waste the time out of indifference; for Allah the Exalted says about a group: who wasted the prayer and followed lusts, so they shall soon meet perdition. (Maryam 19:59)"

Imam Baqir (peace be upon him): Zurara and Fudayl narrate: Imam Baqir (peace be upon him), regarding إِنَّ الصَّلاَةَ کَانَتْ علَی المُؤْمِنِینَ کِتَابا مَّوْقُوتًا [Indeed, prayer is a timed ordinance upon the believers], said: "That is, prayer is obligatory — not that the time for performing it is limited and passes away such that, if that limited window has passed and one then prays, his prayer is not counted as performed. For if that statement were correct, Sulayman ibn Dawud (peace be upon him) would have been destroyed when he delayed his prayer. But whenever he remembered it, he prayed. In any case, how can you be certain or doubt whether you prayed in the original time or in the time when it had been missed? Suppose you have not prayed and then you do pray; if, when you have gone out of the original time, you doubt and have entered another time that lies between two prayers, then there is no need to repeat because of your doubt, unless you are certain. But if you are certain, then in whatever state you are, you must pray it."

Imam Baqir (peace be upon him): Zurara narrates: Imam Baqir (peace be upon him), regarding the verse إِنَّ الصَّلاَةَ کَانَتْ علَی المُؤْمِنِینَ کِتَابا مَّوْقُوتًا [Indeed, prayer is a timed ordinance upon the believers], said: "Allah has stated the obligation of prayer upon the believers. And if — as some say — the meaning of this verse were to indicate the exact time of prayer, then without doubt Sulayman ibn Dawud (peace be upon him) would have been destroyed when he delayed his prayer, at the point where Allah says: until (the sun) was hidden behind the veil (Sad 38:32). For if he had prayed it before that moment, he would have performed his prayer in its proper time; and there is no prayer whose time is longer than that of Asr."

Imam Baqir (peace be upon him): Zurara narrates: Imam Baqir (peace be upon him) said: إِنَّ الصَّلاَةَ کَانَتْ علَی المُؤْمِنِینَ کِتَابا مَّوْقُوتًا [Indeed, prayer is a timed ordinance upon the believers]; if what Allah intended was that prayer has a time in which alone it is accepted and not otherwise, then prayer would be a calamity. But whenever you perform it [within the whole of its permitted time], your prayer is duly performed."

Imam Baqir (peace be upon him): The prayer has a time, and yet there is latitude and ease in its matter; sometimes it is offered at the beginning of the time and sometimes it is offered [for some reason] with a delay, except for the Friday prayer, for it has a specific time. And the meaning of the verse: إِنَّ الصَّلاَةَ کَانَتْ عَلَی الْمُؤْمِنِینَ کِتَاباً مَوْقُوتاً [Indeed prayer is a prescribed writ upon the believers] is that it is a written and prescribed obligation; that is, prayer is a fixed duty (farida).

Imam Baqir (peace be upon him): Ubayd narrates: I asked Imam Baqir (peace be upon him) about the verse: إِنَّ الصَّلاَةَ کَانَتْ عَلَی الْمُؤْمِنِینَ کِتَاباً مَوْقُوتاً [Indeed prayer is a prescribed writ upon the believers], and he said: "What is meant is a recorded and written obligation, and it does not mean that, like the Hajj and Ramadan, it has a fixed time such that if you miss it, it is lost; rather, the prayer, if you perform it [at any time within its window], you have performed it."

Imam Baqir (peace be upon him): Zurara narrates: Imam Baqir (peace be upon him) said concerning the verse: إِنَّ الصَّلاَةَ کَانَتْ عَلَی الْمُؤْمِنِینَ کِتَاباً مَوْقُوتاً [Indeed prayer is a prescribed writ upon the believers]: "What is meant by it is the obligation of prayer upon the believers. Prayer does not have an ending time, and whoever abandons the beginning of its time has been negligent regarding it; but the prayer [which does not have an ending time] can suffer loss and forfeiture [of the merit of performing it at the beginning of the time]."

Imam Baqir (peace be upon him): On a journey, there is no harm if you delay the Maghrib prayer for a while and then perform it, should you wish to pray the Isha at the end of its time; and if you wish, you may continue your journey for a while until the twilight and redness of sunset disappears. The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family) joined the Zuhr prayer with the Asr prayer, and likewise prayed the Maghrib and the late Isha together, and sometimes he would advance the prayer and pray it early, and sometimes he would delay it a little, because Allah the Exalted has said: إِنَّ الصَّلاَةَ کَانَتْ عَلَی الْمُؤْمِنِینَ کِتَاباً مَوْقُوتاً [Indeed prayer is a prescribed writ upon the believers]. Allah intended only its obligation upon the believers and mentioned no other condition; and had it been as some suppose, the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family) — who was more knowing and more aware than all — would never have prayed in this way; and had it been better in that manner, the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family) would have commanded it. And we saw that on the day of Siffin, together with Amir al-Mu'minin (peace be upon him), the Zuhr, Asr, Maghrib and Isha prayers were missed by his companions, and he commanded them to say the takbir, tahlil and tasbih, whether mounted or on foot, for Allah has said: "And if you fear (an enemy), then (say your prayers) on foot or mounted; but when you are secure, then remember Allah, as He has taught you what you did not know." (Baqara/239). So Ali (peace be upon him) commanded them, and they did so.

Imam Ali (peace be upon him): The prayer has a specific time which the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family) made obligatory, and the prayer is not valid except at its time. The time of the Fajr prayer is when the night has passed and eating and drinking become forbidden for the one fasting. The time of the Zuhr prayer, when it is the height of summer, is when your shadow becomes equal to your own length, and in winter it is when the sun passes from the meridian, and this is when the sun stands over your right brow — with the conditions Allah has set for the ruku (bowing) and sujud (prostration). The time of the Asr prayer is when the sun is still bright and clear, and the distance from it to sunset is enough for a man on a heavy camel to travel two farsakhs. The time of the Maghrib prayer is when the sun has set and the one fasting breaks his fast. The time of the Isha prayer is when the darkness of the night has spread everywhere and the redness has left the horizon, and the time of the Isha prayer extends until a third of the night. Whoever sleeps at this time, may Allah not let his eyes sleep. These are the times of the prayers; إِنَّ الصَّلاةَ کانَتْ عَلَی الْمُؤْمِنِینَ کِتاباً مَوْقُوتاً [Surely prayer is a timed ordinance for the believers].