Fajr (prayer)
First mandatory prayer of the day in Islam From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Fajr (Arabic: صَلَاةُ الْفَجْر, romanized: Ṣalāt al-Fajr), alternatively transliterated as Fadjr and also known as Subh (Arabic: صَلَاةُ الْصُبْح, romanized: Ṣalāt al-Ṣubḥ),[a] is a salah (ritual prayer) offered in the early morning. Consisting of two rak'a ("bows"), it is performed between the break of dawn and sunrise.[2][3] It is one of two prayers mentioned by name in the Qur'an.[4][5] Due to its timing, Islamic belief holds the fajr prayer to be of great importance. During the Islamic holy month of Ramadan, Muslims begin fasting with the fajr prayer.
 |
Performance
The fajr prayer consists of two compulsory (fardh) units of prayer (rak'a). In addition, the voluntary sunnah prayer consists of two units of prayer and can be performed before the compulsory prayer.[6]
In fajr, Al-Fatiha and the additional surah are to be read aloud (jahr), as during Maghrib and Isha.[7] It is commonly performed silently when waking up in the morning.[8]
The prayer includes wudu (ritual purification) and salat (ritual prayer).[9]
Fajr replaced salat al-duha as the morning prayer before the five prayers were standardized.[10]
Textual references
Qur'an
Qur'an 11:114 commands Muhammad to recite at dawn.[11] This verse is taken as foundational for prescribing the times for prayer. [12]
In Qur'an 17:78, dawn is one of the three times that prayer is to be performed. [13] According to Jalal al-Din al-Suyuti's commentary on angels (Al-Haba'ik fi Akhbar al-Mala'ik), this verse describes the witnessing of dawn prayer by the angels of the day and the night.[14]
The most burdensome prayers for the hypocrites are the Isha prayer and the Fajr prayer. If only they knew what (reward) there is in them, they would come to them even if they had to crawl.
Timings
The timings for the prayer are prescribed by the hadith.[15]
| School | Start time | End time |
|---|---|---|
| Ahmadi Islam | dawn [16] | a few minutes before sunrise [16] |
| Quranist Islam | dawn [17][18][19] | sunrise [17][18][19] |
| Shia Islam | true dawn[20] | sunrise [20] |
| Sunni Islam | "the true dawn" (al-fajr al-sadiq) The true dawn is indicated by a white line appearing across the horizon, in contrast to "the false dawn" (al-fajr al-kadhib) shortly before which appears as a vertical line.[21][20][1] | sunrise; in the Maliki school, until ifsar or until sunrise with a valid excuse [20][1] |
See also
The other Islamic obligatory prayers, which are, in chronological order following the fajr prayer: Zuhr, Asr, Maghrib, and Isha.
- Sunnah and nafl prayers – optional prayers performed by Muslims, some of which are performed before or after the obligatory prayers
- Shacharit – the Jewish morning prayer
Notes
- Some Malikis do not use them interchangeably, referring to the two-rakat voluntary Sunnah prayer as "fajr" and the two-rakat mandatory fardh prayer as "Subh"[1]
References
Wikiwand - on
Seamless Wikipedia browsing. On steroids.