Sahih Muslim — Hadith #8992

Muslim says: Ashja'i also narrated this hadith from Sufyan al-Thawri, who narrated it from Aswad ibn Qays, who narrated it from Shaqiq ibn Uqba, who narrated it from Bara' ibn Azib. Bara' said, "We recited that verse with the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) at one time," thus narrating it like the hadith of Fudayl ibn Marzuk. Each of these narrations indicates that the middle prayer is the Asr (afternoon) prayer. Only in the hadith of Aisha is the Asr prayer attributed to the middle prayer. Considering that the object of reference and the object of reference must be different things, some scholars of the Shafi'i school said, "The middle prayer is not the Asr prayer," but they also said, "One cannot use an unusual recitation as evidence; It cannot be considered a hadith of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him). Because the one who narrated this recitation narrated it as the Qur'an. The Qur'an is only established by consensus and mutawatir (mass transmission). Since it is not proven that the aforementioned recitation is the Qur'an, its hadith status is also not established." Thus, he stated that the Shafi'i school of thought does not accept this. What is meant by "Wusta" (middle prayer) has been a matter of disagreement among scholars since the time of the Companions. Among the Companions, Ali ibn Abi Talib, Ibn Mas'ud, Abu Ayyub al-Ansari, Abdullah ibn Umar, Abdullah ibn... Abbas, Abu Sa'id al-Khudri, and Abu Hurayra (may Allah be pleased with them), as well as Hasan al-Basri, Ibrahim al-Nakha'i, Qatada, Dahhak, al-Kalbi, and al-Muqaatil from the Tabi'in generation, and the Imams of the schools of thought, Abu Hanifa, Ahmad ibn Hanbal, Dawud al-Zahiri, Ibn al-Mundhir, and others, said: "The middle prayer is the Asr (afternoon) prayer." Tirmidhi states that most of the Companions and the scholars who came after them agreed with this. Marudi says: "This is also the view of Imam Shafi'i. Because the hadiths in this chapter are authentic. Shafi'i's saying that the middle prayer is the Fajr (morning) prayer is because he did not hear the authentic hadiths about the Asr prayer." He says, "His school of thought is to follow the hadith." According to one group, the middle prayer refers to the morning prayer. This opinion has been narrated from the Companions, such as Umar ibn al-Khattab, Mu'adh ibn Jabal, Abdullah ibn Abbas, Abdullah ibn Umar, and Jabir (may Allah be pleased with them), and from the Tabi'in, such as Ata', Ikerima, Mujahid, Rabi' ibn Anas, and from the Imams of the school, such as Malik ibn Anas, Imam Shafi'i, and other Shafi'i scholars. Again, according to another group of scholars, the middle prayer refers to the noon prayer. They narrated this opinion from Zayd ibn Thabit, Usama ibn Zayd, Abu Sa'id al-Khudri, Aisha, and Abdullah ibn... It has been narrated from Shaddad (may Allah be pleased with him). In one narration, this is also the opinion of Abu Hanifa (may Allah have mercy on him). Zu'ayb said, "The middle prayer refers to the evening prayer," while others said it refers to the night prayer; some vaguely said it is one of the five daily prayers. Even according to the narration of Qadi Iyad, some said, "The middle prayer refers to all five daily prayers." There are also those who claim it is the Friday prayer. He says: "Among these opinions, there are two correct opinions. They are the afternoon and morning prayers. The most correct opinion is that the middle prayer refers to the afternoon and morning prayers. The most correct opinion is the narration that states that the middle prayer refers to the afternoon prayer, because the hadiths in this chapter are authentic..."