“These ḥadiths, too, create a difficulty for our school, which holds that the Fajr prayer is invalidated if the sun rises while one is praying it, whereas the author takes them as proof that the end of ʿAsr time lasts until the sun actually sets.”

So, O partisans! Is the problem that the sound ḥadith conflicts with your school, or is it rather that your school conflicts with the ḥadith? Which of the two is correct?

Second benefit: This ḥadith refutes those who claim that merely catching any part of the prayer—even the opening takbīr—counts as having caught it. That plainly contradicts the wording of the report. Manār al-Sabīl cites this as a view attributed to al-Shāfiʿī, yet it is only one position within his school, as al-Nawawī notes in al-Majmūʿ (3/63). It is also the official view of the Hanbalīs, even though they transmit from Imām Aḥmad that he said, “The prayer is not caught except by a rakʿah.” In that, he is the one most in accord with the ḥadith. Allah knows best.

ʿAbd Allāh ibn Aḥmad said in his Masāʾil (p. 46):
“I asked my father about a man performing the dawn prayer. After he had completed one rakʿah and was in the second, the sun rose. He replied, ‘He should finish the prayer; it is valid.’ I asked, ‘And what if someone claims it does not suffice him?’ He answered, ‘The Prophet ﷺ said: “Whoever catches one rakʿah of the dawn prayer before the sun rises has caught the prayer.”’ ”

I later found that Ibn Najīḥ al-Bazzār narrated in his Ḥadīth (fol. 111/1) with an authentic chain from Saʿīd ibn al-Musayyib who said, “When he lifts his head from the last prostration, his prayer is complete.” He probably meant the last prostration of the first rakʿah, which would constitute yet another opinion on the issue. Allah knows best.

Third benefit: Be aware that the ḥadith concerns only the person who deliberately delays the prayer until this narrow window. Such a person is sinful for the delay, even though he still “catches” the prayer, because the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said