two units as it was; whereas Maghrib has been three units from the moment it was first prescribed, for it is the day’s witr (odd-numbered prayer). As for Dhuhr, ʿAsr, and ʿIshāʾ, they were two units each in Mecca, but when the Prophet—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—migrated, they were completed to four.

As the hadith states: “When the prayer was first ordained it consisted of two units; then, when the Prophet—peace and blessings be upon him—migrated, the resident’s prayer was lengthened while the traveler’s prayer remained unchanged.” By unanimous agreement of the scholars, the prayer was made obligatory in Mecca and the Prophet ﷺ performed it there. They have differed, however, on whether it was legislated three years before the Hijrah.

That is the soundest view, as the shaykh mentions here. Others say it was five years before the Hijrah; some say one year; others, a year and a half. Yet the preponderant opinion is what the shaykh affirmed: three years before the Hijrah.

Was anything else from the pillars of Islam made obligatory along with the prayer? The scholars differ on this point. Some hold that zakat was also prescribed in Mecca, while its nisāb thresholds, amounts, and eligible recipients were only clarified later in Medina; the basic obligation itself, they say, originated in Mecca.