He was asked:
“Is it better to offer Fajr while it is still dark or to wait until it grows light?”

He replied:
Praise be to Allah.

Praying while it is still dark is preferable, unless there is a reason that calls for delaying it. The numerous authentic hadiths reported from the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, show that he used to offer Fajr while it was still dark. Thus, in the two Sahīh collections, ‘Ā’ishah, may Allah be pleased with her, said:

“Allah’s Messenger, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, used to offer Fajr, and some believing women would attend with him, wrapped in their cloaks. They would then return to their homes, and no one could recognize them because of the darkness.”

There were no lamps in the Prophet’s mosque, may Allah bless him and grant him peace. As related in the two Sahīh collections from Abū Barzah al-Aslamī:

“The Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, used to recite between sixty and one hundred verses during Fajr and finish the prayer when a man could recognize the person sitting beside him. This recitation amounts to roughly half or a third of one of the Quran’s thirty parts. He would finish the prayer when a man could recognize the person sitting beside him.”

It is likewise authentically reported through other chains that he used to offer Fajr while it was still dark, as did his rightly guided caliphs after him. After him, there were rulers who delayed the prayer beyond its appointed time. Under their rule, jurists emerged who observed