took place during the conquest of Bayt al-Maqdis, not Jericho, for the reasons we have given.

Lexical notes on the ḥadīth

1. “biḍʿi imraʾah” (a woman’s biḍʿ): al-Ḥāfiẓ writes, “With a ḍamma on the letter bāʾ and a sukūn on the letter ḍād. The word biḍʿ can denote the private parts, marriage itself, or sexual intercourse, and all three senses are suitable here. It is also used for the dowry and for divorce.”

2. “wa-lammā yabn bihā” (he had not yet ‘entered upon’ her): that is, he had not consummated the marriage, although the particle lammā conveys an expectation that he soon would.

3. “khilafāt” (pregnant she-camels): with a fatḥa on the khāʾ, a kasra on the lām, followed by a light fāʾ; the plural of khilfah, meaning a pregnant she-camel, though it may be used for other animals as well.

4. “aḥbis-hā ʿalā shayʾan” (hold it back for something): the word shayʾan is in the accusative as a verbal noun, meaning “for as long as we need in order to capture the town.”

Qāḍī ʿIyāḍ said: Opinions differ as to how the sun was stopped. Some say it was turned back on its path, others that it simply stood still, and others that its movement was merely slowed. All are possible, but the third view is preferred by Ibn Baṭṭāl and others.

I (al-Albānī) say: Whatever view one takes, the obvious thought on hearing that the sun was “held back” is that the aim was to let Prophet Yūshaʿ and his people perform the ʿAṣr prayer before sunset. That, however, is not the point. The real purpose was to give him time to capture the city before nightfall, for the conquest occurred on a Friday; once night came, Saturday would begin, the day on which Allah had forbidden them to work. This is borne out—if what Ibn Kathīr quoted from the People of the Book is sound—by their statement: “They relate that he concluded his siege of it on Friday after ʿAṣr, and when the sun had set, or was about to set, Saturday would commence for them, the day that had been imposed upon them at that time….” Allah knows best.