Abd al-Wahid ibn Ahmad al-Mulayhi informed us; Ahmad ibn Abd Allah al-Numayri told us; Muhammad ibn Yusuf narrated to us; Muhammad ibn Ismail told us; Qutaybah ibn Said narrated to us; Yazid ibn Zuray narrated to us from Sulayman al-Taymi, from Abu Uthman al-Nahdi, from Ibn Masud, may Allah be pleased with him: A man kissed a woman, then came to the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, and told him about it. Thereupon Allah Most High revealed: “And establish prayer at the two ends of the day and in the early hours of the night. Indeed, good deeds erase bad deeds.” The man said, “O Messenger of Allah, is this for me?” He replied, “It is for all the members of my ummah.” (1)

Ismail ibn Abd al-Qahir informed us; Abd al-Ghafir ibn Muhammad told us; Muhammad ibn Isa al-Juludi informed us; Ibrahim ibn Muhammad ibn Sufyan told us; Muslim ibn al-Hajjaj narrated to us; Abu al-Tahir and Harun ibn Said al-Ayli narrated to me, saying: Ibn Wahb narrated to us from Abu Sakhr, who was told by Umar ibn Ishaq, the client of Zaidah, from his father, from Abu Hurayrah, that the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, used to say: “The five daily prayers, one Friday prayer to the next, and one Ramadan to the next are expiations for whatever sins occur between them, so long as major sins are avoided.” (2)

Abd al-Wahid al-Mulayhi informed us; Muhammad al-Husayn ibn Ahmad al-Makhladi informed us; Abu al-Abbas Muhammad ibn Ishaq al-Sarraj told us; Qutaybah told us; al-Layth and Bakr ibn Mudar told us, from Ibn al-Hadi, from Muhammad ibn Ibrahim al-Taymi, from Abu Salamah ibn Abd al-Rahman, from Abu Hurayrah, that the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said: “Tell me: if there were a river at the door of one of you, in which he bathed five times each day, would any dirt remain on him?” They replied, “No.” He said, “Such is the likeness of the five daily prayers: through them Allah erases sins.” (3)

His words, exalted is He, “That,” mean: that which We have mentioned. It was also said that this is a reference to the Quran. “A reminder” means an admonition “for those who remember”—that is, for whoever remembers it.

“And be patient, for Allah certainly does not allow the reward of the good-doers to be lost. (115)”

“And be patient,” O Muhammad, in the face of the harm you encounter. It was also said: be patient in observing the prayer. A similar verse is: “Command your family to pray and persevere in it” (Ta-Ha 132). “For Allah certainly does not allow the reward of the good-doers to be lost”—that is, in their deeds. Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with them both, said: This means those who pray.