It is narrated from Sayyiduna ‘Ubada bin Samit (may Allah be pleased with him), he says: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) spoke from his blessed mouth towards my mouth, I do not say that so-and-so and so-and-so narrated to me, in any case, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: There are five prayers, Allah Almighty has made them obligatory upon His servants. Whoever meets Allah Almighty in such a state that he has not neglected anything from these prayers, then he will meet Him in such a state that there will be a covenant with Allah Almighty for him, through which He will admit him into Paradise. And whoever meets Allah Almighty in such a state that he has made some deficiency in these prayers by taking their right lightly, then he will meet Him in such a state that there will be no covenant for him; if Allah wills, He will punish him, and if He wills, He will forgive him.

Sayyiduna Mu’adh bin Jabal (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates that the prayer was established in three stages, and the obligation of fasting also occurred in three stages. The stages of prayer are as follows: When the Noble Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) migrated to Madinah Munawwarah, he used to pray facing Bayt al-Maqdis for seventeen months. Then Allah Almighty revealed this command:“We see your face turning repeatedly towards the sky; now We will turn you to a Qiblah that will please you. So turn your face towards Masjid al-Haram, and wherever you are, turn your faces in that direction.”Thus, Allah Almighty turned the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) towards Makkah Mukarramah; this was one stage. (The details of the second stage are as follows:) People used to gather for prayer by themselves and would inform each other about it, until it was almost that they would start ringing a bell. A man from the Ansar named Abdullah bin Zayd (may Allah be pleased with him) came to the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) and said:“O Messenger of Allah! I saw a dream, as a sleeping person sees, and if I say I was not asleep, I would still be truthful. Just consider that I was in a state between sleep and wakefulness, and I saw a man wearing two green garments. He faced the Qiblah and said: ‘Allahu Akbar, Allahu Akbar, Ashhadu an la ilaha illallah, Ashhadu an la ilaha illallah’ twice, until he finished the adhan. After a short pause, he repeated similar words, but added ‘Qad qamatis salah, qad qamatis salah.’”The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said:“Teach these words to Bilal, he will call the adhan with them.”Thus, Sayyiduna Bilal (may Allah be pleased with him) was the first person to call the adhan. When Sayyiduna Umar bin Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him) heard the adhan, he came and said:“O Messenger of Allah! A person of the same kind (who taught the adhan) also came to me, just as he came to this Ansari, but he informed you before I could.”These were two changes. (The third change occurred as follows:) When people would come to pray, while the Noble Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) had already performed some rak‘ahs before them, one person would signal to another as to how many rak‘ahs the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) had already performed. When he replied that one or two rak‘ahs had been performed, the latecomer would first complete those two rak‘ahs and then join the congregation. One day, Sayyiduna Mu’adh (may Allah be pleased with him) came and said:“Whatever state I find the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) in, I will adopt that, and whatever rak‘ahs have been performed before me, I will complete them afterwards.”So when he came, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) had indeed already performed some rak‘ahs, so he joined him. When the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) completed his prayer, Sayyiduna Mu’adh (may Allah be pleased with him) stood up to make up the missed rak‘ahs. The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) saw him and said:“Indeed, the matter is that Mu’adh has established a way for you, so do likewise.”Thus, these were three stages in total. As for the details of the stages of fasting... (Their details will come at the beginning of the Book of Fasting.)

Indeed, the matter is that Mu’adh has established a way for you, so do likewise. Thus, these were three stages in total. As for the details of the stages of fasting... (Their details will come at the beginning of the Book of Fasting.)

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Amr bin al-As (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: Start commanding your children to perform prayer when they reach the age of seven, and when they reach the age of ten, (if they are negligent in prayer) then discipline them and separate their beds.

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Sabrah Juhani (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: When a child reaches the age of seven, he should be instructed to pray, and when he reaches the age of ten, he should be disciplined (beaten) for neglecting the prayer.

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) said: The pen has been lifted from three individuals: from the child until he reaches puberty, from the sleeping person until he wakes up, and from the insane person until his condition passes.

It is narrated from Sayyida Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her) that the Noble Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) said: The pen has been lifted from three persons: from the one who is sleeping until he wakes up, from the child until he reaches puberty, and from the insane person until he regains sanity.

Second chain) The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said: The pen has been lifted from three types of people: from the one who is sleeping until he wakes up, from the insane person until he is relieved of that condition, and from the child until he becomes able to reason.

Under this chapter, the following sub-chapters and hadiths have been mentioned.

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Abbas (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: Jibreel (peace be upon him) led me in prayer twice at the House of Allah. He made me perform the Zuhr prayer when the sun had declined and the shadow was equal to a strap, the Asr prayer when the shadow of everything became equal to itself, the Maghrib prayer when the fasting person breaks his fast, the Isha prayer when the twilight disappeared, and the Fajr prayer when eating and drinking becomes forbidden for the fasting person. Then, on the next day, he made me perform the Zuhr prayer when the shadow of everything became equal to itself, the Asr prayer when the shadow of everything became twice its length, the Maghrib prayer when the fasting person breaks his fast, the Isha prayer in the first third of the night, and the Fajr prayer when it had become light. Then he turned to me and said: O Muhammad! This is the time of the Prophets before you. In another narration: This is your time and the time of the Prophets before you. The time for the relevant prayer is between these two times.

Sayyiduna Abu Sa'id Khudri (may Allah be pleased with him) also narrated a similar hadith of the Prophet, except that in it is: And (on the next day) he led the Fajr prayer at such a time that it was near that the sun would rise, and then said: The time for prayer is between these two times.