their practice and assumed that delaying Fajr and ‘Asr was preferable to offering them earlier. This was a misunderstanding of the Sunnah. They cited as evidence what al-Tirmidhī narrated from the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace:

“Offer Fajr when it grows light, for that brings greater reward.”

Al-Tirmidhī graded this hadith authentic. Yet even if it contradicted those reports, it could not stand against them, for they are recorded in the two Sahīh collections and are widely known and widely transmitted. When an isolated report contradicts widely known and widely transmitted reports, it is anomalous. It may also have been abrogated, since praying Fajr while it was still dark remained the Prophet’s practice until his death, and was the practice of the rightly guided caliphs after him.

Al-Tahāwī, a follower of Abū Hanīfah, and others, such as Abū Hafs al-Barmakī, a follower of Ahmad, interpreted his words:

“Offer Fajr when it grows light”

as referring to finishing the prayer when it grows light—that is, prolong the Fajr prayer until you finish it as daylight appears.

Another interpretation is that growing light here means becoming clearly discernible: offer the prayer when dawn has become distinct, apparent and clear. For in the two Sahīh collections, Ibn Mas‘ūd said:

“I never saw Allah’s Messenger, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, offer a prayer at a time other than its usual time, except Fajr at Muzdalifah and Maghrib at Jam‘. He offered Fajr that day only after dawn had broken.”

This is how it is reported in Sahīh Muslim, from Jābir, who said:

“He offered Fajr at the first gleam of