abandoning it.’ He replied, ‘Abandoning it is disbelief.’” It is also related in a report of Sa'īd ibn Abī Maryam that “those who are heedless of their prayer” [al-Mā'ūn: 5] means that they neglect its appointed time. It was also related by Abū Thawr, from Ibn Jurayj, concerning His words, “And those who carefully maintain their prayers” [al-Ma'ārij: 34], that this refers to the prescribed prayer, while the verse in Sūrat Sa'ala Sā'il (A Questioner Asked) refers to voluntary prayer. This is a weak opinion.

[Chapter Explaining the Prescribed Length of an Imam’s Prayer]

Chapter

As for the prescribed length of an imam’s prayer, the standard is the prayer of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), as related in Sahih al-Bukhārī from Abū Qilāba, from Mālik ibn al-Huwayrith, who reported that he said: “When the time for prayer comes, let one of you give the call to prayer, let the eldest of you lead you, and then pray as you have seen me pray.”

As for the standing, Sahih Muslim relates from Jābir ibn Samura that “the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) would recite at the dawn prayer, ‘Qāf. By the glorious Quran’ [Qāf: 1], and surahs of similar length. His subsequent prayers were lighter.” That is, he would make the prayers after the dawn prayer shorter. Sahih Muslim also relates from him that he said: “The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) would recite at the midday prayer, ‘By the night as it envelops,’ at the afternoon prayer something similar, and at the dawn prayer something longer.”

In the two Sahih collections, Abū Barza al-Aslamī said: “The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) would perform the midday prayer—which you call the first prayer—when the sun had passed the meridian. He would then perform the afternoon prayer, after which one of us could return to his dwelling in the most distant part of Medina