The Importance of FAJR and ASR prayers

Assalamu’alaikum

In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.

My Dear Brothers And sisters in Islam, Kindly spare 5-10 minutes of your precious worldly time to read this, share with a fellow brother or sister and the whole Muslim Umma, May the remembrance of the truth fill our hearts and may Allah Guide us all through his Grace and Mercy. Amin

Allah the Almighty said: “[Such niches are] in mosques which Allah has ordered to be raised and that His name be mentioned therein; exalting Him within them in the morning and the evenings (36) [Are] men whom neither commerce nor sale distracts from the remembrance of Allah and performance of prayer and giving of zakah. They fear a Day in which the hearts and eyes will [fearfully] turnabout -” [An-Nur 24:36-37]

In these two verses Allah the Almighty is praising men who are not diverted by their business from glorifying Him, glorifying here is the prayer and the remembrance of Allah.

O Brothers of faith

The Holy Quran has mentioned the Fajr and the Asr prayers, and the Messenger of Guidance; Muhammad, peace be upon him, has shown their status in the Sunnah.“and exalt [Allah] with praise of your Lord before the rising of the sun and before its setting, [Qaf 50:39]

The value of Asr prayer

1.    There is no doubt that the Asr prayer has a prestigious high status so that Allah has sworn by it in His Book: “By Al-‘Asr (the time)” [Al-'Asr 103:1]

And what is meant by it is the 'Asr prayer which is the middle prayer which Allah ordered us to maintain.

2.   Mentioning the 'Asr prayer in particular after generalizing all prayers indicates its distinction, Allah the Almighty said: “Maintain with care the [obligatory] prayers and [in particular] the middle prayer and stand before Allah, devoutly obedient.” [Al-Baqarah 2:238]

3.   And it is being selected that the meaning of the middle prayer is the 'Asr prayer, it is established in the two Sahih (Al-Bukhari and Muslim) through Mohammed bin Sirin through 'Ubeida Al-Salmani through Ali ibn Abi Talib that the Prophet, peace be upon him, said the day (of the Battle) of Ahzab: "they diverted us from the middle prayer: the Asr prayer, may Allah fill their hearts and homes with fire". [Authenticated by Ahmad Shaker]

4.    To make false oaths during the time of 'Asr prayer is more punishable than in any other time. The two Sheikhs (Al-Bukhari and Muslim) through Al-A'mash through Abu Salih that Abu Huraira narrated that the Prophet, peace be upon him, said: "There are three persons whom Allah will not look at on the Day of Resurrection, nor will he purify them and theirs shall be a severe punishment" and he mentioned: "A man displayed his goods for sale after the 'Asr prayer and he said, 'By Allah, except Whom None has the right to be worshipped, I have been given so much for my goods,' and somebody believes him (and buys them) and he is a liar."

5.    Whoever maintains the 'Asr prayer obtains double the reward as established by Imam Muslim in his Sahih through Khair ibn Na'im Al-Hadhrami through ibn Hubaira through Abu Tamim Al-Jishani through Abu Basra Al-Ghifari who reported: “The Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, led us in the 'Asr prayer at (the place known as) Mukhammas, and then he said: This prayer was presented to those gone before you, but they lost it, and he who guards it has two rewards in store for him."

6.   Whoever misses this prayer, it is as if he lost his family and money; as established by the two Sheikhs (Bukhari and Muslim) through Malik through Nafi' through ibn ‘Umar who narrated that the Prophet, peace be upon, him said: "Whoever misses the ‘Asr prayers (intentionally), then it is as if he lost his family and property."

7.   Whoever neglects performing it is due to receive severe threat from Allah; as established by Imam Al-Bukhari in his Sahih through Yahya ibn Abu Kathir through Abu Qallaba through Abu Al-Malih through Buraida that the Prophet, peace be upon him, said "Whoever omits the ‘Asr prayer, all his good deeds will be lost."

The value of Fajr prayer

The Fajr prayer has a great value among which are:

1.   Allah the Almighty has sworn by its blessed time because of the abundant good and the great value it has, Allah the Almighty said: “By the dawn;” [Al-Fajr 89:1]

2.    And Allah would not swear by something unless it has more advantages over other things. And this includes the great rewards as stated in the two Sahihs through Malik through Summei through Abu Salih that Abu Huraira narrated that the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, said: "And if they were to know what excellence lies in the night prayer and morning prayer, they would have definitely come even if crawling (on their knees)."

3.  It also guards off hypocrisy, as the two Sheikhs established through Al-A'mash through Abu Salih that Abu Huraira narrated that the Prophet, peace be upon him, said: "No prayer is more burdensome for the hypocrites than the Fajr and the 'Isha' prayers"

4.    Prayer is also a safety net against the penalty of leaving it; Imam al-Bukhari established in his Sahih through Ismail ibn 'Alyyia: narrated Awf: Narrated Abu Raja that Samra ibn Jundab narrated that the Prophet, peace be upon him, told us about a vision he had, he said: "As for the man whose head was being injured with the rock, he is the symbol of the one who studies the Quran and then neither recites it nor acts on its orders, and sleeps, neglecting the enjoined prayers." So it is an appropriate penalty for enjoying forbidden sleep neglecting to perform the obligatory prayer as he is being punished by injuring his head, God forbid.

5.  It is also that whoever performs Fajr prayer in congregation in the mosque is put under the protection of Allah and His angels, as established by Imam Muslim in his Sahih through Bishr ibn Mufdhil through Khaled through Anas ibn Sirin that Jundab bin Abdullah Al-Qasri narrated that the Prophet, peace be upon him, said: "He who prayed the morning prayer, he is in fact under the protection of Allah."

The values mentioned about the prayers of Fajr and 'Asr altogether

The first:

they are causes for the testimony of the angels before Allah the Almighty, as established by the two Sheikhs through Malik through Abu Az-Zinad through Al-A'raj that Abu Huraira narrated that the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, said: "there come around you consecutively angels in the night and angels in the day, and they meet in the Fajr and Asr prayers; those who spent the night among you ascend to heaven, Allah asks them and He knows best: in what state did you leave My slaves? So they say: we left and they were praying and we came back to them and they were praying".

The second:

As established by Imam Muslim in his Sahih through Yahya ibn Abi Kathir through Shiban through Abdul-Malik ibn 'Umair through Abu Bakr ibn 'Imara ibn Ru'aiba through his father who is Abu Zuhair who narrated that the Prophet, peace be upon him, said: "he will never enter hellfire whoever prays before the sunrise and before its sunset".

The third:

they are causes for entering Paradise as described in the two Sahihs through Hammam ibn Yahya through Abu Jamra Ad-Dhaba'i through Abu Bakr ibn Abu Musa from his father Abdullah ibn Qays al-Ash'ari who narrated that the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, said: ''Whoever prays the two cool prayers ('Asr and Fajr) will go to paradise.''

The fourth:

they are the cause of the great status which is the highest bliss in Paradise: a look at the holy face of Allah, we ask Allah of His bounty. The two Sheikhs through Marwan Ibn Mu'awiyah Al-Fazzari on the authority of Ismail Ibn Abu Khalid through Qais ibn Abu Hazim who said: I heard Jarir ibn Abdullah say: We were with the Prophet, peace be upon him, on a full moon night, He looked at the moon and said: "You will certainly see your Lord as you see this moon, and there will be no trouble in seeing Him. So if you can avoid missing (through sleep, business, etc.) a prayer before the rising of the sun (Fajr) and before its setting ('Asr) you must do so." He (the Prophet) then recited the following verse: “So be patient, [O Muhammad], over what they say and exalt [Allah] with praise of your Lord before the rising of the sun and before its setting,” [Qaf 50:39]”

And I end with these footnotes as from the Qur’an

1.  “Those who believe, and do deeds of righteousness, and establish regular prayers and regular charity, will have their reward with their Lord: on them shall be no fear, nor shall they grieve” [Baqra2:227]

2.  “But the firm in knowledge among them and the believers believe in what has been revealed to. you and what was revealed before you, and those who keep up prayers and those who give the poor-rate and the believers in Allah and the last day, these it is whom We will give a mighty reward”[An Nisa4:162]

3.  “O you who believe! whoever from among you turns back from his religion, then Allah will bring a people, He shall love them and they shall love Him, lowly before the believers, mighty against the unbelievers, they shall strive hard in Allah's way and shall not fear the censure of any censurer; this is Allah's Face, He gives it to whom He pleases, and Allah is Ample-giving, Knowing. Your (real) friends are (no less than) Allah, His Messenger, and the (fellowship of) believers,- those who establish regular prayers and regular charity, and they bow down humbly (in worship)”[Al Maidah5:54-55]

4.  “And Every soul will taste of death. And ye will be paid on the Day of Resurrection only that which ye have fairly earned. Whoso is removed from the Fire and is made to enter paradise, he indeed is triumphant. The life of this world is but comfort of illusion ” [Al Imran3:185]

May we not be among the people that are stated in the verse below, Amin.

1.   "Deaf, dumb, and blind, they will not return (to the path)" [Baqra 2:18]

Kindly note that any mistake in the contents of this article is due to my imperfection as a human being as only Allah Subhanahu Wa-Ta'ala is perfect in all affairs.
May Allah Forgive us our sins, guide us right from the evil of insincere intention, save us from misguided knowledge and grant the entire ummah benefit from this work AMIN.
Kindly feel free to make comments, contributions or corrections where necessary.
May Allah Bless us all, AMIN
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