Allah (may He be exalted) has commanded us to establish prayer, and the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) has taught us how to establish it; he instructed us to do its essential parts and sunnahs properly, observe the etiquette of prayer, and do it on time. In this hadith, the Tabi‘i Muhammad ibn ‘Amr ibn al-Hasan ibn ‘Ali narrated that al-Hajjaj ibn Yusuf al-Thaqafi came to Madinah as its governor during the caliphate of ‘Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan, following the killing of Ibn al-Zubayr (may Allah be pleased with him) in 73 AH. The people asked Jabir ibn ‘Abdullah (may Allah be pleased with him) about delaying the prayer, and how they should pray, and when? That was because al-Hajjaj used to delay the prayer. So Jabir (may Allah be pleased with him) told them that the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) used to pray Zuhr when it was very hot [bi’l-hajirah]; he would pray immediately after the sun passed the meridian, at the time when it was extremely hot. The word hajirah refers to extreme heat, but comes from a root that refers to stopping or refraining, because the people stop their dealings and their comings and goings at this time, due to the extreme heat, and they take a nap. He used to pray ‘Asr when the sun was still clear, pure in colour and bright, and he would pray Maghrib when the sun disappeared and its disk dropped below the horizon. He would pray ‘Isha’ at different times; if he saw that the Sahabah had gathered, he would hasten to pray ‘Isha’, but if they were slow, he would delay the prayer. And the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) would pray Fajr at the beginning of its time, when the first light of dawn began to mix with the darkness of night. Jabir answered the people’s questions by specifying these times to indicate that they should adhere to the Sunnah of the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him), and that they should offer each prayer at the beginning of its time. A report narrated by Abu Dawud from Ibn Mas‘ud indicates that when he asked the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) what he should do if he lived to see governors delaying the prayers, he told him: “Offer the prayer on time, and make your prayer with them supererogatory (nafil).” This was prophetic advice to the Muslims at such times, telling them that they should offer the prayer at the beginning of its time amongst themselves, or in their houses, and not to do that openly, then they should pray with the governors at the later time when they offered the prayer in congregation, or they issued instructions that the prayer was to be offered at that time, so as not to cause division in the Muslim community by openly opposing those in authority and not praying with them, because the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) instructed the Muslims to obey those in authority so long as they establish the prayer – as is stated in other reports. But there is a report which prohibits offering the same prayer twice in one day, if there is no reason to do so. However, in this case, there is a valid reason for repeating it, which is obeying those in authority and not causing division in the community. So the first prayer is regarded as obligatory, and the second prayer is regarded as supererogatory. This hadith indicates that Zuhr prayer should be offered at the beginning of its time, after the sun passes the meridian. It indicates that it is prescribed to delay ‘Isha’ prayer according to when the worshippers prefer to gather. It highlights the virtue of praying at the beginning of the time for the prayer, and warns against delaying it; and it tells us that we should continue to attend the prayers with the leaders of the Muslims, even if they are wrongdoers..