Bismillahir Rahmanir Raheem
Wa'alaykum 'Assalam wa Rahmatullahi wa BarakatuhuAll Praise be to Allah who is the Lord of the Worlds, and may Endless Blessings be showered upon His Most Beloved, and Final Messenger of Islam, Hadrat Muhammad Mustafa Salla Allahu ta'ala 'alayhi wa 'aalihi wa SallamJazak'allah for your question. It is important to remember that
all the
salaats are just as important, especially the middle prayer. Allah the Almighty says:
'Hafizu 'alas salawati was salatil wusta'
'Safegard your salaah, and the middle salaah' (al Qur'an, 2:238)
The word 'wusta' means the middle, and it means the best. For example
'Qala awsatu hum' i.e.
'afdhalu hum'. Here both meanings maybe derived. Here it is taken to mean the '
Asr prayer for a rew reasons:
1] On the day of '
Khandaq', the Beloved Messenger of Allah
Salla Allahu ta'ala 'alayhi wa Sallam's 'Asr prayer was made late, to which the Beloved of Allah
Salla Allahu ta'ala 'alayhi wa Sallam stated : 'These
kuffar have prevented us from performing the '
wusta' prayer'.
2] In the
Qir'at of Hadrat 'A'isha Siddiqah
Radi Allahu ta'ala anha, there is the addition of
'was salatul 'Asr', which supports this verse.
3] This is also the view of Hadrat 'Ali, Ibn-e-Mas'ud, Ibn-e-'Abbas, Abu Hurayrah, Imam Nakh'i, and Qatadah, and the majority of the Noble Companions
Radi Allahu anhum ajma'in, thus, it is the
madh'hab of the
Hanafis.
4] Allah the Almighty has sworn by the time of
'Asr...'Wal 'Asri innal insana lafil khusr....'5] A
hadith emphasises the importance of the
'Asr prayer, in that whosoever misses the '
Asr prayer, his wealth and his house is demolished, thus there is a lot of importance to it.
6] At the time of '
Asr, the angels of the day and night gather. The angels of the day still remain as the ones of the night appear.
7] This is the time of freedom from business, outing and walking, and playing. There was the fear of neglect of it, therefore such an importance was placed upon it.
8] This was the
salaah which was left by Hadrat Sulayman
alayhis 'salam, as they were occupied with their horses, and left no attention to it.
9] Before the '
Asr prayer there are 2
salaahs, one which is non '
qasri' i.e.
Fajr, and the other '
qasri' i.e.
Zuhr. After the '
Asr prayer there are also two prayers, one that is non
'qasri' i.e.
Maghrib, and '
Isha', which is '
qasri', '
Asr falls directly in the centre of both.
10] The sun was made to return for the
'Asr prayer of Mawla 'Ali
Radi Allahu ta'ala anhu.
11] At the time of questioning by the
'Nakirayn', the deceased feels it is the time of the
'Asr salaah. He then says 'let me perform my
salaah before your questioning', thus the sincerity of this prayer helps in the questioning of the grave, which is the final test.
12] The times of all the
salaahs can be judged except this one. Just look,
Fajr is recognised by the twilight,
Zuhr is recognised after the meridan of the sun (
zawal),
Maghrib is recognised by the setting of the sun, and I
sha, by the disappearing of the red sky. This has no recognition. Thus the emphasis ...
I hope such points will make you realise the importance of the
'Asr salaah.
Wallahu A'lamu BiththawaabM. Waseem Ashrafi
