of the Zuhr prayer, so they made ready to strike when the Muslims would enter the ʿAsr prayer. At that moment Allah revealed the rulings for the fear prayer, and Khalid’s opportunity slipped away—praise be to Allah. This was the very first fear prayer ever performed. The Prophet ﷺ then altered his route and proceeded to al-Hudaybiyah, where the famous treaty was concluded.
Points derived from the hadith:
1 – This is the third mode of the fear prayer, in which the enemy stands between the worshippers and the qiblah. It occurred at ʿUsfān and was the first fear prayer to be offered. The sequence was as follows: when the Prophet ﷺ headed for Makkah to perform the ʿumrah of al-Hudaybiyah and the idolaters of Makkah heard of it, they sent Khalid ibn al-Walid with two hundred horsemen. They met the Prophet ﷺ at ʿUsfān and faced him, waiting for a chance to attack. The Prophet ﷺ led his Companions in the Zuhr prayer. The idolaters regretted not having attacked then, so they waited for the ʿAsr prayer. Revelation came down legislating the fear prayer, leaving the idolaters no opening—praise be to Allah.
2 – ʿUsfān is now a thriving village with schools and government facilities. It lies on what is today called the Hijrah Highway—the expressway between Makkah and Madinah—about 80 kilometers north of Makkah.
3 – The procedure of this prayer is that the imam arranges the people in two or more ranks. He leads them all through one rakʿah until he reaches prostration. When he prostrates, the front rank prostrates with him while the second rank remains standing on guard. When the imam rises for the second rakʿah, the rank that had remained on guard performs its prostration and then joins the others while they are standing.
In the second rakʿah, the rank that had guarded in the first rakʿah now prostrates with the imam while the other rank stands guard. When the imam sits for the tashahhud, those who were guarding perform their prostration. He recites the tashahhud with both groups and then concludes with the salām, and they all end the prayer together.