until the sun began to turn yellow. It is for this that they are blameworthy. Yet they are not like those who abandon the prayer or allow its time to lapse until sunset; the Prophet—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—commanded that the latter be fought, but forbade fighting the former. “When he mentioned that there would be rulers who would do such and such, they asked:
‘Shall we not fight them?’
He replied:
‘No, so long as they pray.’” (1)
The Prophet spoke of this prayer that they delay and instructed that it be performed on time and then repeated with them as a voluntary prayer. This demonstrates that their prayer is valid. Had they not prayed, he would have commanded that they be fought.
It is authentically established in the two Sahīh collections that he said:
“Whoever catches one rak'ah of the afternoon prayer before sunset has caught the afternoon prayer.” (2)
This is to be considered alongside his statement in an authentic hadith (3):
“That is the prayer of the hypocrite! That is the prayer of the hypocrite! He watches the sun until, when it is between Satan’s two horns, he rises and pecks out four rak'ahs, remembering Allah in them but little.” (4)
(1) This hadith was cited previously at 1/116.
(2) The words “the afternoon prayer” appear only in manuscripts wāw and bā’. The hadith is narrated from Abū Hurayra—may Allah be pleased with him—with the wording: “Whoever catches one rak'ah of the dawn prayer before sunrise has caught the dawn prayer, and whoever catches one rak'ah of the afternoon prayer before sunset has caught the afternoon prayer.” It is recorded in al-Bukhārī, 1/116, Book of Prayer Times and Their Virtue, chapter “Whoever Catches One Rak'ah of the Dawn Prayer”; and Muslim, 1/424, Book of Mosques and Places of Prayer, chapter “Whoever Catches One Rak'ah of the Prayer Has Caught the Prayer.” The hadith is also narrated from Abū Hurayra—may Allah be pleased with him—with the wording: “If one of you catches one rak'ah of the afternoon prayer before sunset, let him complete his prayer,” continuing to the end of the hadith. It is recorded in al-Bukhārī, 1/112, Book of Prayer Times, chapter “Whoever Catches One Rak'ah of the Afternoon Prayer Before Sunset”; and Muslim, 1/425, at the preceding location. Al-Albānī discusses both hadiths in *Irwā’ al-Ghalīl*, 1/272–275, nos. 252–253.
(3) Manuscripts nūn and mīm read: “in the Sahīh.”
(4) The hadith narrated from Anas ibn Mālik—may Allah be pleased with him—is recorded in Muslim, 1/434, Book of Mosques, chapter “The Recommendation to Perform the Afternoon Prayer Early”; *Sunan al-Tirmidhī*, 1/107, Book of Prayer Times, chapter “What Has Been Related Concerning Performing the Afternoon Prayer Early”; and *Sunan al-Nasā’ī*, 1/203, Book of Prayer Times, chapter “The Stern Warning Against Delaying the Afternoon Prayer.” The hadith was cited previously at 4/31.