In their idiom there are two dawns, and in the same way there are two twilights: one red and one white. The setting of the white twilight must necessarily be followed by the first part of the night, either after the fine thread of dawn that appears at the very end of the night—the so-called “false dawn”—or after the broad, spreading white dawn; in either case the red twilight has its counterpart in the red dawn.
Thus the heavenly risings are four: the false dawn, the true dawn, the red twilight, and the sunrise; and, by parity of reasoning, the settings must also be four. For this reason the report attributed to al-Khalīl—that he monitored the white twilight and found it lasting into the night—has been rejected on the grounds of observation and experience. All are agreed that the ḥadīth of Buraydah and the report of Jibrīl’s leading the Prophet establish that the Messenger prayed ʿIshāʾ on the first day “when the twilight disappeared.”
The majority support their position with the authenticated report: “The Messenger of Allah—peace and blessings be upon him—used to pray ʿIshāʾ when the moon had set on the third night.”
Abū Ḥanīfah reinforced his view with the texts that speak of delaying ʿIshāʾ and recommend doing so, and with the Prophet’s statement: “Had I not feared hardship for my community, I would have delayed this prayer until midnight.”
As for the end of its time, the scholars diverged into three opinions:
- that it ends at one-third of the night;
- that it ends at midnight; and
- that it lasts until daybreak.
The first view—one-third of the night—is held by al-Shāfiʿī and Abū Ḥanīfah and is the well-known position in Mālik’s school. The second, midnight, is also reported from Mālik. The third, extending to dawn, is the view of Dāwūd.
The root of the disagreement lies in the apparently conflicting narrations. In the ḥadīth of Jibrīl’s leadership he prayed ʿIshāʾ with the Prophet—peace be upon him—on the second day at one-third of the night. In the ḥadīth of Anas it is stated: “The Prophet—peace and blessings be upon him—delayed ʿIshāʾ until midnight,” a report transmitted by al-Bukhārī. Similar wording is related from Abū Saʿīd al-Khudrī and Abū Hurayrah: “Had I not feared hardship for my community, I would have delayed ʿIshāʾ until midnight.”
Moreover, in the ḥadīth of Abū Qatādah we read: “Negligence is not in sleeping; negligence is to delay the prayer until the time of the next one begins.”
Consequently, those who give greater weight to the narration of Jibrīl’s leadership fix the end of the time at one-third of the night, whereas those who favor the narration of Anas set it at half of the night.