1– It causes poverty.
2– ’Ulamâ (savants) of the Hereafter hate you.
3– You fall from ’adâlat, so that you will no longer be acceptable as a witness.
4– The place where you perform that (imperfect) namâz will bear witness against you on the Rising Day.
5– A person will be sinful for not (kindly and with due tact and finesse) warning another person whom he sees to perform namâz without the ta’dîl-i-arkân.
6– You have to reperform the namâz (which you performed without observing the ta’dîl-i-arkân).
7– It causes dying without îmân.
8– It makes you a thief who steals from namâz.
9– The namâz you have performed will be flung like an old rag to your teeth on the Day of Judgment.
10– You will be deprived of the Mercy of Allâhu ta’âlâ.
11– You will have behaved improperly in your supplication to Allâhu ta’âlâ.
12– You will be deprived of the plenty of thawâb inherent in namâz.
13– It causes the thawâbs that you are to be given for your other acts of worship to be withheld.
14– It causes you to deserve Hell.
15– It causes ignorant people who see you to (follow your bad example and) disignore the ta’dîl-i-arkân. It is for the same matter that sinning on the part of a man of religion will incur more torment.
16– You will have opposed your imâm.
17– You will have omitted the sunnats at the intiqâlât (transitions).
18– You will incur Wrath of Allâhu ’adhîm-ush-shân.
19– You will have pleased the Satan.
20– You will be far from Paradise.
21– You will be close to Hell.
22– You will have been cruel to your own nafs.
23– You will have made your own nafs dirty.
24– You will have hurt the angels on your right and left.
25– You will have saddened Rasûlullah ‘sall-Allâhu ’alaihi wa sallam’.
26– You will have caused harm to the entire creation. For, on account of your sin, there will be no rains and crops, or there will be unseasonable rains, which will cause harm to crops, instead of nourishing them.
NAMÂZ DURING LONG-DISTANCE JOURNEYS
It is written as follows in the book entitled Ni’mat-i-islâm (and written by Hâdji Muhammad Zihnî ‘rahmatullâhi ta’âlâ ’alaih, 1262–1332 [1914 A.D.], Küplüce-Beğlerbeği, Istanbul:) It is permissible, always and everywhere, to perform nâfila (supererogatory) namâz sitting even when it is possible to perform it standing. As you perform namâz sitting, you bend down your body for the Rukû’. For the Sajda you put your head on the ground (or floor, or on the prayer rug). However, if a person performs namâz sitting without any ’udhr (a good reason justified by Islam) to do so, he will be given half the thawâb that he would earn if he performed it standing. The sunnats of the daily five prayers (namâzes) and the namâz of Tarâwîh are among the nâfila namâzes. (Please see the nineteenth chapter of the fourth fascicle of Endless Bliss for ‘tarâwîh’.) On a journey, i.e. outside of urban areas, it is permissible to perform nâfila namâzes on the back of an animal, (e.g. a horse.) It is not obligatory to turn towards the Qibla or to make Rukû’ or Sajda. You perform it with îmâ, (i.e. with signs.) In other words, you bend down a little with your body. For the Sajda, you bend down somewhat more. Existence of plenty of najâsat on the animal will not have a detrimental effect on the namâz. It is permissible for a person who becomes tired as he performs namâz on the ground to perform it leaning against a walking stick or another person or a wall. It is not sahîh to perform namâz as you yourself are walking. (In other words, namâz performed thereby will not be valid.) As for namâzes that are farz or wâjib; it is only when there is an ’udhr can they be performed on an animal outside (of) urban areas. An ’udhr (in this matter) is one of the following cases: To fear that your fellow travellers will leave you alone in case you dismount from your animal; to fear that there may be highwaymen around, so that you may lose your life, your property, or your animal; muddy ground; inability to mount your animal; other similar situations. If possible, you make your animal stand in the direction of Qibla and perform your namâz. If it is not possible you perform it in the direction wherein your animal is walking. The same rule applies in performing it in a box-like litter placed on the animal. If the animal is made to stop and a mast is placed under the litter, it changes into a serîr, i.e. a table or couch, so that performing namâz on it is like doing so on the ground. In that case you will have to perform your namâz standing in the direction of Qibla.
Performing namâz on board a ship is as Rasûlullah taught it to Hadrat Ja’fer Tayyâr [Ja’fer Tayyâr ‘radiy-Allâhu anh’ was one of the four sons of Rasûlullah’s paternal uncle Abû Tâlib. He was ten years older than Hadrat ’Alî and ten years younger the Hadrat ’Uqayl. He migrated to Abyssinia and returned on the day of Hayber. In the eighth [8] year of the Hijrat (Hegira), he was making war against the Byzantines with a three thousand strong army at a place called Mu’ta in the vicinity of Damascus, when he attained martyrdom after making many attacks and receiving more than seventy wounds in one day. He was forty-one years old. He was one of the seven people most closely recembling Rasûlullah.] as the latter was to leave for Abyssinia (Ethiopia), as follows: Even a namâz that is farz or wâjib can be performed aboard a sailing ship, and there is no need for the existence of an ’udhr for doing so. Namâz in jamâ’at can be performed aboard a ship. On a sailing ship it is not permissible to perform namâz with îmâ, (i.e. by making signs;) the Rukû’ and the Sajda must be made. As well, it is obligatory to perform it in the direction of Qibla. As you start to perform the namâz, you stand towards the Qibla. As the ship changes its direction, you must turn toward the Qibla. As well, tahârat from najâsat is obligatory on board a ship. (Please see the sixth chapter of the fourth fascicle of Endless Bliss for ‘tahârat from najâsat’.) In the Hanafî Madhhab, it is permissible to perform even a namâz that is farz sitting on the floor aboard a sailing ship with no need for the existence of an ’udhr for doing so.
A ship at anchor out in the sea is like a sailing ship if it is rolling and pitching violently. If it is rolling slightly, it is like a ship lying moored near the shore. Namâz that is farz cannot be performed sitting on a ship lying moored near the shore. It is not sahîh to perform it standing, either, if it is possible to go ashore. It is necessary to go ashore and perform it on land. In case of risks such as losing your property or life or the ship’s sailing off, it becomes permissible to perform your namâz standing on board the ship. Here we end our citation from Ni’mat-i-islâm.
It is stated in Ibni ’Âbidîn: “Performing namâz on a two-wheeled horse-drawn cart that cannot stand flat on the ground without being tied to the animal, in motion or motionless alike, is like performing it on the back of an animal. A four-wheeled carriage, when motionless, is like a serîr (table, couch). When it moves, namâz that is farz can be performed in it on account of the same ’udhrs as the aforesaid ones concerning namâz on an animal; you stop the carriage and perform it in the direction of Qibla. If you fail to stop it, then you perform it like doing so aboard a sailing ship.” If a person who is (on a long-distance journey and who is therefore called) safarî cannot sit on the floor or turn towards the Qibla on the means of transport, he imitates one of the Shâfi’î and Mâlikî Madhhabs and makes jem’ of two successive prayers of namâz when he gets off the vehicle. [Please see the fifteenth chapter of the fourth fascicle of Endless Bliss.] It is not permissible for a person who is able to sit on the ground (or floor) to sit on a chair or in an armchair and perform namâz with îmâ. Performing namâz on a bus or on an aeroplane is like performing it on a carriage. A person who sets out for a long-distance journey and who makes his niyyat (intention) to travel a distance of three days, i.e. eighteen fersâh (parasang) = 54 miles [54 x 0.48 x 4 = 104 kilometres] from the outskirts of the city or village, becomes (a person who is) safarî by the time he leaves the outskirts of the city. According to Ibni ’Âbidîn, a mile is equal to 4000 dhrâ’, and a dhrâ’ is equal to twenty-four [24] fingerwidths. [A fingerwidth is a length equal to two centimetres. In the Shâfi’î and Mâlikî Madhhabs, 16 fersah = 48 miles = 48 x 0.42 x 4000 = 80 km.]
Come on, let’s perform namâz, and wipe rust off our heart,
You cannot be close to Allah, unless you perform namâz!
Wherever namâz is performed, all your sins are dumped,
You can never reach perfection, unless you perform namâz!
In Qur’ân al-kerîm Haqq praises namâz a lot,
He says, “I shall never love you, unless you perform namâz!”
A hadîth-i-sherîf: Îmân won’t be manifest
At all on your outer person, unless you perform namâz!
Not to perform namâz, of all sins, is the gravest
Penitence won’t do, unless you perform omitted namâz!
He who disdains namâz will lose his îmân outright,
He will not regain his Islam, unless he performs namâz!
Namâz purifies the heart, and bars it from guilt,
You can never be enlightened, unless you perform namâz!
VIRTUES of the TAKBÎR IFTITÂH
When a person makes the takbîr iftitâh together with the imâm, his sins will fall like leaves falling with autumnal winds.
One morning, Rasûlullah ‘sall-Allâhu ’alaihi wa sallam’ was performing namâz, when someone arrived, but he was too late for the takbîr iftitâh of morning prayer, (that is, he failed to make the takbîr iftitâh with the imâm.) He manumitted a slave. Afterwards, he asked Rasûlullah ‘sall-Allâhu ’alaihi wa sallam’: “Yâ Rasûlallah (O Messenger of Allah!) Today I was unable to catch up with the takbîr iftitâh of morning prayer. I manumitted a slave. I wonder if I was able to attain the thawâb inherent in the takbîr iftitâh?” Rasûlullah ‘sall-Allâhu ta’âlâ ’alaihi wa sallam’ asked Hadra Abû Bakr ‘radiy-Allâhu ta’âlâ ’anh’: “What would you say concerning this takbîr iftitâh?” Abû Bakr Siddîq ‘radiy-Allâhu ’anh’ replied: “Yâ Rasûlallah ‘sall-Allâhu ta’âlâ ’alaihi wa sallam’! If I had forty camels all forty of which laden with jewelry and I gave all of them as alms to the poor, I would still not attain the thawâb to be earned by making the takbîr iftitâh with the imâm.” Thereafter, when the cause of the entire creation asked: “Yâ ’Umar! What would you say about this takbîr iftitâh?” Hadrat ’Umar ‘radiy-Allâhu ’anh’ stated: “Yâ Rasûlallah ‘sall-Allâhu ta’âlâ ’alaihi wa sallam’! If I had as many camels as to cover the distance between Mekka and Medîna and all those camels were laden with jewelry, and if I gave them all to the poor in the name of alms, I would still not be able to attain the thawâb earned by making the takbîr iftitâh with the imâm.” Thereupon, when the most blessed Prophet asked: “Yâ ’Uthmân, what would you say about this takbîr iftitâh?” Hadrat ’Uthmân zin-nûreyn ‘radiy-Allâhu ’anh’ said: “Yâ Rasûlallah ‘sall-Allâhu ta’âlâ ’alaihi wa sallam’! If I performed a namâz of two rak’ats at night and recited the entire Qur’ân al-’adhîm-ush-shân at each rak’at, I would still fail to attain the thawâb that would be earned by making the takbîr iftitâh with the imâm.” Thereafter, Hadrat ’Alî ‘kerrem-Allâhu wejheh’ was asked: “Yâ ’Alî! What do you say about this takbîr iftitâh?” He replied as follows: “Yâ Rasûlallah ‘sall-Allâhu ’alaihi wa sallam’! If all the unbelievers between the west and the east attacked for the purpose of annihilating the Muslims and Allâhu ta’âlâ gave me power and I made jihâd against the unbelievers and slew them all, I still would not attain the same thawâb as that to be given for making the takbîr iftitâh made together with the imâm.”
Thereafter Rasûlullah ‘sallAllâhu ta’âlâ ’alaihi wa sallam’ stated: “O my Ummat and Sahâba! If seven layers of earth and seven layers of heaven were paper and if all oceans were ink and if all trees were pens and if all angels were scribes and if they wrote (continuously) until Doomsday, they would still fail to write the thawâb for making the takbîr iftitâh with the imâm.”
If you should say, “Are the angels created by Allâhu ’adhîm-ush-shân that many?” (here is the answer): On the night of Mi’râj, [Please see the sixtieth chapter of the third fascicle of Endless Bliss for ‘Mi’râj’.] when Rasûlullah ‘sall-Allâhu ta’âlâ ’alaihi wa sallam’ ascended to Heaven, angels were visiting Paradise and Hell and the Bayt-i-ma’mûr (Kâ’ba) and going (away). Rasûlullah ‘sall-Allâhu ’alaihi wa sallam’ asked: “O my sibling Jebrâîl! Angels visiting this Bayt-i-ma’mûr are not going back. Where do they go?” Jebrâîl ‘alaihis-salâm’ stated: “Yâ Habîballah (o the Beloved One of Allah)! Since the day I was created, I have never seen any angels return after visiting this Bayt-i-ma’mûr and leaving. Once an angel makes tawâf of the Bayt-i-ma’mûr and leaves, their turn never comes again-until Doomsday.”
When a person says the A’ûdhu and the Basmala during namâz, Allâhu ’adhîm-ush-shân gives that slave of His as many thawâbs as the number of hairs on his body. When that slave recites the Fâtiha-i-sherîfa, Hadrat Allâhu ta’âlâ gives him the same amount of thawâb that He would give for a hajj that has been accepted. When that slave bends down for the Rukû’ Allâhu ’adhîm-ush-shân gives him the same thawâb that He would give him for having dispensed thousands of gold coins as alms, and when he makes the Tasbîh, (i.e. when says, “Subhâna Rabbiy-al-’adhîm,”) three times, as is taught in the Sunnat, Allâhu ’adhîm-ush-shân gives that slave as much thawâb as if he had read the four books revealed from heaven and also the hundred heavenly suhûf (small heavenly booklets). When he says, “Semi’ Allâhu liman hamideh,” (as he straightens up from the Rukû’,) Allâhu ’adhîm-ush-shân covers that slave with oceans of His Rahmat (Mercy, Compassion). When he goes down for the Sajda Allâhu ta’âlâ gives that slave as many thawâbs as the sum of the number of humans plus that of genies. When he says the Tasbîh, (that is, when he says, “Subhâna Rabbiy-al-a’lâ,”) three times, as is commanded in the Sunnat, there is many a virtue that Allâhu ’adhîm-ush-shân gives that slave of His. A few of them stated (by Islamic savants) are as follows: The first virtue is that He shall give him thawâb as heavy as the sum of the weights of the ’Arsh and the Kursî. [Please see the twenty-first chapter of the sixth fascicle of Endless Bliss for the ’Arsh and the Kursî.] Second, Allâhu ’adhîm-ush-shân shall treat that slave of His with maghfirat (forgiveness). The third virtue is, when that slave dies, Mikâîl ‘’alaihis-salâm’ shall visit his grave (frequently) till Doomsday. Fourth, on the Day of Rising, Mikâîl ‘’alaihis-salâm’ shall take that slave on his blessed wing, intercede for him, and carry him to Jannat-i-a’lâ (Paradise). [All the good news that has been given so far include all Muslims, regardless of their sex.]
When that person sits down for the Qa’da-i-âkhira (the final sitting posture), Allâhu ’adhîm-ush-shân shall give that person the same thawâb as He gives to the fuqarây-i-sâbirîn (Muslims who are both poor and patient).
The fuqarây-i-sâbirîn shall enter Paradise five hundred years before the aghniyây-i-shâkirîn (Rich and grateful Muslims.) When the aghniyây-i-shâkirîn see the former, they will say: “How we wish we had been among the fuqarây-i-sâbirîn in the world!”
In grave, questioning angels will come to you;
“Did you perform namâz properly,” they shall say.
“Do you reckon death has come to your rescue
Bitter torment is ready for you,” they shall say.
ABOUT the JANNÂT-I-ÂLIYYÂT
(The Sublime Gardens of Paradise)
There are eight gates and eight keys for the eight Gardens of Paradise. The first one is the îmân (belief) held by the Believers who perform (the daily five prayers called) namâz. The second one is the Basmala-i-sherîfa, (i.e. to say, “Bismillâh-ir-Rahmân-ir-Rahîm.”) The (next) six are within the (first Sûra of the Qur’ân al-kerîm called) Fâtiha-i-sherîfa. The eight Jannats (Gardens of Paradise) are:
1– The Dâr-i-jelâl.
2– The Dâr-i-qarâr.
3– The Dâr-i-salâm.
4– The Jannat-ul-khuld.
5– The Jannat-ul-Me’wâ.
6– The Jannat-ul-’adn.
7– The Jannat-ul-firdevs.
8– The Jannat-ul-na’îm.
1– The Dâr-i-jelâl is of white nûr.
2– The Dâr-i-qarâr is of red ruby.
3– The Dâr-i-salâm is of green chrysolite.
4– The Jannat-ul-khuld is of coral.
5– The Jannat-ul-Me’wâ is of silver.
6– The Jannat-ul-’adn (Eden) is of gold.
7– The Jannat-ul-firdevs is both of gold and of silver.
8– The Jannat-ul-na’îm is of red ruby.
Believers who enter will stay there eternally; they will never go out. The houris being there do not undergo menstrual or lochial periods; nor do they have any whims or caprices. Any kind of food or drink they desire will come before them, ready and at their disposal. They will be far from troubles such as cooking and picking. Fowls will be flying over their heads. Believers will see them as they sit in their villas. “If we were in the world and you came so close to me I would roast you.” No sooner will this desire have come to their heart than they will be eating the newly roasted fowl in the dish made of nûr before them. (After eating the fowl) the Believer will heap the bones somewhere and wish through his heart that the bones became a fowl again. The moment the wish comes to his heart the bones will become a fowl as before, and the new fowl will fly away.
The soil of Paradise is made of musk and its buildings are made of adobes, one made of silver alternating with another made of gold.
Each and every man in Paradise will be given the power of a hundred men. Each of them will be given at least seventy houris and two worldly women.
There will be four streams in Paradise. Springing from a common source, they differ both in flowing and in flavour. One of them is sheer water, the second one is pure milk, the third one is Paradise beverage, and the fourth one is unmixed honey.
There are tall villas in Paradise. They bend down, Believers mount them and are caried to whereever they wish. (Their semblance in the world are moving stairs and aeroplanes, as of today.)
There is a tree called ‘Tûbâ’ in Paradise. The roots of this tree are on top, and its branches and shoots hang down. Its semblance in the world is the moon and the sun.
People of Paradise enjoy eating and drinking and relish what they eat and drink; but they do not feel any need to urinate or defecate; they are far from such human needs and anguishes.
Allâhu ta’âlâ will address His slaves, Believers in Paradise: “O My slaves! What more do you want Me to give you? Go ahead and enjoy the pleasures and comfort!” The slaves will reply: “Yâ Rabbî! You have freed us from Hell and made us enter Your Paradise, and given us so many houris and ghilmâns and wildâns. It would be embarrassing for us to ask for more.” Thereupon Rabb-ul-’âlamîn will address them once again, saying: “O My slaves! There is something you are to ask from Me and which is other than these things.” When the slaves reply, “Yâ Rabbî! We do not have the face to ask for more. Besides, we don’t know what to ask for,” Rabb-ul ’âlamîn will ask them: “O My slaves! What did you use to do when you encountered a matter in the world?” When they reply that they used ask the ’ulamâ (Islamic scholars) and their problem would be solved when they learned the matter, Hadrat Haqq subhânahu wa ta’âlâ will say: “Do the same thing now and become acquainted by consulting with the ’ulamâ.” So the ’ulamâ will say to the Believers: “Have you forgotten about Jemâlullah? When you were in the world you used to yearn (to see Allâhu ta’âlâ) and say: ‘In the Hereafter our Rabb, who is far from place, will make us see His Jemâl (Beauty).’ That is what you should ask for now.” Thereupon they will ask for the ru’yet-i-jemâlullah (seeing the Beauty of Allah), and Allâhu ’adhîm-ush-shân, free and far as He is from place, will show them His jemâl-i-bâkemâl. When they see Haqq ta’âlâ’s jemâl-i-pâk, their admiration will last many a thousand years.
As a Believer sits in his villa, there will be fruits around him and before his windows. When he thinks, “Let me reach out my hand, pull that branch, pick the fruit, and eat it,” he will not need to get up from his seat to pull the branch. Presently the branch he wants will be where he is sitting, he will pick the fruit and put it in his mouth, and before its flavour reaches his throat another fruit will appear where he picked the first one. When he puts the fruit in his mouth it will be ripe and delicious. Thus, Rabb-ul-’izza will create another fresh one.
If you are wise, perform namâz, for it is a crown of happiness. Your knowledge of namâz should be that it is Mi’râj for Believers
PRAYERS NOT PERFORMED WITHIN THEIR TIME
(Qadâ Namâzes)
A namâz that has been performed within its dictated time yields very many virtues. Some of them have been stated (by Islamic savants):
1– Its first virtue is that the performer’s face will become nûr all over.
2– The performer’s life will have barakât.
3– Benedictions pronounced by the performer will be accepted (by Allâhu ta’âlâ).
4– The performer will become a person with khayr.
5– The performer will be beloved to all Believers.
Omitting a namâz without any ’udhr, i.e. performing it after its dictated time without any excuse sanctioned by Islam to do so, causes fifteen harms. Five of these harms are in the world; three of them are at the time of death; three of them are in grave; and four of them are at the place of Arasât.
Its five harms in the world are:
1– There will be no nûr on that person’s face.
2– There will be no barakât in his life.
3– His prayers and benedictions will not be accepted.
4– Blessings that he invokes on a Muslim brother will not be accepted (by Allâhu ta’âlâ).
5– He will not receive any thawâb for his other acts of worship.
Its three harms during the sekerât-i-mawt (agonies of death) are:
1– He will die hungry.
2– He will die thirsty.
3– He will die in a despicable manner. No amount of food will gratify his hunger or water, no matter how much, will slake his thirst.
Its three harms in grave are:
1– His grave will squeeze him, so that his bones will intertwine.
2– His grave will be fire all over.
3– A dragon will fall upon him. The dragon’s name is Aqra. It will hold a whip in one hand. One stroke with the whip will send that person down to the depths of the earth. He will rise back, only to be whipped again. The whipping will continue until Doomsday. So that person will be tormented until Day of Rising.
Its four harms at the place of Arasât are:
1– He will undergo a severe trial.
2– He will have incurred the Wrath of Allâhu ’adhîm-ush-shân.
3– He will enter Hell.
4– There will be three different written statements on his forehead:
The first one will read: This person deserves Allah’s Wrath.
The second statement will be: This person has wasted the right of Allâhu ta’âlâ.
The third one will say: As you have wasted the right of Allâhu ’adhîm-ush-shân, you are far from the Compassion of Allâhu ta’âlâ.
Namâz is the mainmast of Islam. If a person performs his (daily five prayers of) namâz, he will have erected the mainmast of his faith. Thereby he will have made a bower to shelter under.
If a person omits a single namâz wittingly and does not make qadâ of it, (i.e. if he does not perform it later, either,) in all three Madhhabs a fatwâ will be given that he is to be killed. According to the Hanafî Madhhab, it will not be necessary to kill him. However, he will have committed one of the grave sins termed ‘akbar-i-kebâir’. It will be necessary (to imprison him and) to keep him in prison until he begins to perform (his daily prayers of) namâz. A person who neglects namâz because he does not attribute due importance to namâz and because he does not believe the fact that namâz is (a Believer’s) primary duty, will become an unbeliever.
If a person omits any one (of the daily five prayers of) namâz wittingly and thereafter makes qadâ of it, (i.e. even if he pays his debt by performing it afterwards,) he shall be kept burning in Hell for a length of time called ‘huqba’, i.e. eighty years. To be absolved from that torment, he will have to make tawba and beg and supplicate for forgiveness.
(One day in the Hereafter is equal to a thousand worldly years. Years in the Hereafter should be reckoned accordingly.) [Muhammad Amîn Ibni ’Âbidîn ‘rahmatullâhi ’alaih’ states in his book entitled Radd-ul-muhtâr: As has been stated (by Islamic savants), namâz has been a religious commandment in all heavenly religions. ’Âdam ‘’alaihis-salâm’ performed namâz (daily) at the time of late afternoon, Ya’qûb ‘’alaihis-salâm’ performed it (daily) in the (early) evening (after sunset), and Yûnus ‘’alaihis-salâm’ performed it (daily) at night. As it is one of the tenets of îmân to believe acts that are farz and those which are harâm, likewise it is a tenet of îmân to believe that it is a duty, a debt to perform (the daily five prayers of) namâz. However, it is not a tenet of îmân to perform (these prayers of) namâz.
It is farz for every discreet and pubert Muslim, male and female alike, to perform namâz five times daily, unless they have an ’udhr, (i.e. something to absolve them from responsibility.) Daily five prayers of namâz became farz (an Islamic commandment) on the night of Mi’râj. Hadîth-i-sherîfs quoted in the books entitled
Muqaddima-us-salât and Tafsîr-i-Mazharî and Halabiy-i-kebîr read as follows: “Jebrâîl ‘’alaihis-salâm’ (and I performed namâz together, and Jebrâîl ‘’alaihis-salâm) conducted the namâz as imâm for two of us, by the side of the door of Ka’ba, for two days running. We two performed the morning prayer as the fajr dawned; the early afternoon prayer as the Sun departed from meridian; the late afternoon prayer when the shadow of an object equalled its midday shadow increased by the length of the object; the evening prayer after sunset, [i.e. when its upper limb disappeared;] and the night prayer when the evening twilight darkened. The second day, we performed t