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How prayer was prescribed to Prophet Muhammad: Jibril taught him the five prayers and their times after the Isra, prayer first as two rak’as and residence increased, from al-Bukhari, Mouslim and Ibn Kathir.
Updated on 07 September 2026 at 11:07 PM
When the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) woke on the morning after the night of the Isra, Jibril came to him at the time of the zenith and showed him how to perform the prayer and its times. The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) ordered his Companions to gather, and Jibril prayed with him on that day until the next, the Muslims praying behind the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), who himself was led by Jibril, as has come in the hadith of Ibn Abbas and Jabir.
Ibn Abbas and Jabir related: “Jibril prayed with the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) at the House twice: he showed him the two times, which are the first and the last, and everything between them is the broadened time.” Nothing indicates, however, any broadening of the time of Maghrib. This is established in the hadiths of Abou Moussa, Burayda and Abdallah ibn Amr, all related in the Sahih of Mouslim. Ibn Kathir refers the detailed discussion of these texts to his book of religious rulings: to Allah belongs praise.
What is established in the Sahih of al-Bukhari, through the chain of Soufyan, from az-Zuhri, from Urwa, from Aisha:
“The prayer, when it was first prescribed, was of two rak’as: the prayer of travel was kept as it was, and the prayer of residence was increased.”
Related by al-Bukhari, from Aisha
al-Awzaï related likewise, from az-Zuhri, as did ach-Cha’bi, from Masruq, from her. Ibn Kathir notes here a difficulty: Aisha herself used to complete the prayer while traveling, as did Uthman ibn Affan. We have already treated this at the word of Allah:
“And when you travel throughout the land, there is no blame upon you for shortening the prayer, if you fear that those who disbelieve may disrupt you. Indeed, the disbelievers are ever to you a clear enemy.”
Sura an-Nisa, 101
al-Bayhaqi relates that al-Hasan al-Basri held that the prayer of residence was first prescribed as four rak’as, as he mentioned in suspended form from the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him): on the morning after the Isra, Dhuhr was four rak’as, Asr four, Maghrib three with recitation aloud in the first two, Isha four with recitation aloud in the first two, and the dawn prayer two rak’as with recitation aloud in both.
Ibn Kathir concludes: it may be that Aisha meant that before the Isra, the prayer was two rak’as at two rak’as; then, when the five prayers were prescribed, the prayer of residence was prescribed as it remains today, and permission was given while traveling to pray two, as was the earlier order. On this basis, the difficulty disappears entirely: Allah is most knowing.