The Life of the Prophet Muhammad by Ibn Kathir - Volume 2 of 4

IMAM ABU AL-FIDA' ISMA'IL IBN KATHiR 75
you as a test for the people.' He (Ibn 'Abbas,) said, 'These were visions seen by
the eye, shown to the Messenger of God (SAAS) on the night he was taken to
Jerusalem.' And of the shajamt al-malsna, the 'accursed tree', mentioned in the
Qur'an he said, 'It is the ul-zaqqiim tree.'"14
On the morning following the night of his journey, Gabriel came to the
Messenger of God (SAAS) at about noon. He then explained to him the manner
of prayer and its times.
The Messenger of God (SAAS) told his followers to assemble and Gabriel led
him in prayer all that day until the next, with the Prophet (SAAS) acting as the
Imam of the Muslims, and following the example of Gabriel. This is told in the
hadith from Ibn 'Abbss and Jsbir, "Gabriel led me in prayer twice at the house
(of GO^)."'^
He thus explained to him the two times, the beginning and the end, that is, of
the five daily prayers. The expanse of time between them is called the al-zuaqt
al-muwassa' the 'extended period', but he made no mention of such an extension
of time for the prayer at sunset.
This is affirmed in the hadith of Abu Miisa, Burayda and 'Abd All* b. 'Amr,
all of which are in the compendium of Muslim. Discussion of this occurs in our
book al-Ahkam (The Regulutions). And to God is all praise.
Also affumed in the hadith of the compendium of al-Bukhsri is the statement
brought down from Macmar, from al-Znhri, from Wrwa, from 'A'isha, who said,
"When prayer was first prescribed it was just two rak'at,16 prostrations; this was
subsequently established only for the prayer on travel, with more rak'at being
added for prayer when in residence."
Al-Awza'i related it thus, from al-Zuhri, and al-Sha'bi gave it from Masrnq
back to 'A)isha.
This is problematic in view of the fact that 'A'isha used to perform the prayer
in its entirety while travelling, as also did Wthmm b. 'Affan. We discussed this
matter with regard to God's words, "And if you journey in the world there is no
blame on you if yon shorten the prayer if you fear incitement from those who
disbelieve" (siirat al-Nzs2; IV, v.101).
Al-Bayhaqi stated, "Al-Hasan al-Basri held the view that prayer while resident
when first prescribed was made to be four rakCZt. He similarly referred
to it, through a hadith with an incomplete chain of authorities, regarding the
prayer made by the Prophet (SAAS) on the morning after the night journey,
'4 A tree said to produce bitter, poisonous fruit.
A reference to the ka'ba in Mecca.
l6 In Islam the daily prayers are made up of liturgies and physical movements that are divided
into cycles each of which is called a rak'a (plural rak'zt).