Chapter: Delaying the Noon Prayer because of Intense Heat
First Ḥadīth
ʿAbd Allah ibn ʿUmar and Abū Hurayrah—may Allah be pleased with them—reported that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: “When the heat becomes extreme, postpone the prayer until it cools off, for the severity of the heat is from the scorching blast of Hell.”
Uncommon expressions:
abridū (postpone until it cools): The verb abrada is used when a person reaches the cooler part of the day, just as one says anjada for someone who has entered Najd and athama for one who has entered Tihāmah.
min fayḥi Jahannam (the scorching blast of Hell): the spread and boiling of its heat. The preposition min here denotes genus, not partition—that is, it is of the same kind as the scorching blast of Hell.
Al-Mizzī said: This is like the report from ʿĀʾishah, transmitted with a sound chain: “Whoever wishes to hear the rippling of al-Kawthar, let him place his fingers in his ears,” meaning: whoever wishes to hear something like the rippling of al-Kawthar.
Overall meaning:
The soul and essence of prayer are humility and the presence of heart. For that reason, the worshipper is encouraged to begin the prayer only after he has finished whatever would distract him and has taken the means that help him to focus. Thus the Lawgiver preferred that the noon prayer be delayed during intense heat until the air cools, so that neither heat nor distress distracts him from humility. This ruling also brings ease and facilitation for those who leave their homes to pray in the mosques under the blazing sun.
Because of these noble purposes, this prayer was legislated to be deferred from the very start of its time, and this ḥadīth therefore qualifies the other reports that extol praying at the earliest time.
Points derived from the ḥadīth:
- It is recommended to delay the noon (ẓuhr) prayer in severe heat until it cools and the temperature subsides. He said—