ʿAlī ibn al-Jaʿd related to us; Ayyūb ibn ʿUtbah informed us, from Yazīd ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn Qusayṭ, who said, “I heard Abū Hurayrah say—and he pointed with his finger to his ear—
that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: ‘Postpone the prayer until it becomes cooler, for the severity of the heat comes from the blast of Hellfire.’ (1)
ʿAlī also narrated to us; Ayyūb ibn ʿUtbah informed us; Taysalah (2) ibn ʿAlī narrated: “I visited Ibn ʿUmar on the eve of ʿArafah and asked him about the major sins. He said, ‘I heard the Messenger of Allah ﷺ say, “They are nine.”’ I asked, ‘What are they?’ He replied,
‘1. Associating partners with Allah; 2. Slandering a chaste woman; 3. Killing a believing soul; 4. Fleeing from the battlefield; 5. Sorcery; 6. Consuming usury; 7. Devouring an orphan’s wealth; 8. Disobeying one’s Muslim parents; and 9. Profaning the Sacred Sanctuary.’
It was said that Ayyūb ibn Jābir lived until 170 AH.
Some leading scholars remarked: “He narrated extensively from Yaḥyā ibn Abī Kathīr, and his notebook of ḥadīths from him is sound.”
(1) The chain of transmission is weak because of the weakness of Ayyub b. Utba. The wording of the hadith itself, however, is authentic and firmly established from Abu Hurayra; Malik recorded it in the Muwatta, 1/16, under the chapter on prayer times, through Ibn al-Zinad, from al-Araj, from Abu Hurayra, that the Messenger of Allah said: “When the heat becomes intense, delay the prayer, for the extreme heat comes from the fayh of Jahannam (the scorching breath of Hell).” Bukhari also related it, 2/12–13, in “The Times of Prayer,” and Muslim, no. 615, in “Mosques,” chapter “The recommendation to delay the noon prayer during severe heat.”
Al-ibrad refers to the subsiding of the midday heat, that is, when the shadows lengthen and the blaze loses its intensity—cool by comparison with the noontime glare. The expression “from the fayh of Jahannam” means the emanation and spread of its heat. In Arabic the root conveys spaciousness and expansion: they say “makaan afyah,” meaning a broad place, and “ardun fayha,” a vast land.
Al-Khattabi comments in Maalim, 1/239, that the wording can be understood in two ways: (a) the fierce summer heat is in reality part of the blazing heat of Jahannam; or (b) the statement is figurative, a simile intended for rhetorical approximation—as though it were the fire of Jahannam in its heat—so beware of it and avoid its harm.
(2) The manuscript reads “Kaysala,” which is incorrect. The transmitter is listed in Tahdhib; several authorities narrate from him and Ibn Hibban deemed him reliable. Tabari, 5/39, recorded this hadith through Sulayman b. Thabit al-Khazzar al-Wasiti, who reported from Salam b. Salam, from Ayyub b. Utba, from Taylasa. The chain is weak owing to Ayyub b. Utba, but it is reinforced by the hadith of Umayr in Abu Dawud, no. 2875, whose isnad is sound for corroboration.