Hadithcore
Sahih al-Bukhari, 563
sahih

Narrated `Abdullah Al-Muzani:

The Prophet (ﷺ) said, "Do not be influenced by bedouins regarding the name of your Maghrib prayer which is called `Isha' by them."

حَدَّثَنَا أَبُو مَعْمَرٍ ـ هُوَ عَبْدُ اللَّهِ بْنُ عَمْرٍو ـ قَالَ حَدَّثَنَا عَبْدُ الْوَارِثِ، عَنِ الْحُسَيْنِ، قَالَ حَدَّثَنَا عَبْدُ اللَّهِ بْنُ بُرَيْدَةَ، قَالَ حَدَّثَنِي عَبْدُ اللَّهِ الْمُزَنِيُّ، أَنَّ النَّبِيَّ صلى الله عليه وسلم قَالَ ‏

‏ لاَ تَغْلِبَنَّكُمُ الأَعْرَابُ عَلَى اسْمِ صَلاَتِكُمُ الْمَغْرِبِ ‏

‏‏.‏ قَالَ الأَعْرَابُ وَتَقُولُ هِيَ الْعِشَاءُ‏.‏

References2 variants
In-Book Reference
Book 9, Hadith 40
USC-MSA web (English) reference
Vol. 1, Book 10, Hadith 538 (deprecated numbering scheme)
Sharh · explanationclick to expand
One aspect of proper etiquette towards Allah and His Messenger is to keep the names of things as Allah (may He be glorified in exalted) and His Messenger named them, especially the names of the prayers. In this hadith, ‘Abdullah ibn Mughaffal al-Muzani (may Allah be pleased with him) tells us that the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) said: “Do not be influenced by the Bedouin” meaning the Bedouin of the Jaahiliyyah, “with regard to the name of your Maghrib prayer.” The Bedouin are the desert-dwelling Arabs who do not reside in towns, and only enter the towns when necessary. Al-‘Arab (the Arabs) was the general name for the people of Arabia at that time, regardless of whether they lived in the desert or in cities and towns. What is meant is: do not be influenced by their habits, for they call Maghrib ‘Isha’; do not use the word ‘Isha’ to refer to Maghrib as they do, because they used to change the names, and they would call ‘Isha’ al-‘atamah (lit. darkness), because they used to delay milking the she-camels until the time when it was extremely dark. Then Islam came to correct this mistake, and taught them the proper name for each prayer. This hadith criticizes calling Maghrib ‘Isha’. It indicates that if the names given to things by Islam differ from their customary names, we should give precedence to the Islamic names over the customary names. It indicates that the Muslim should not imitate the practices of the Jahiliyyah even with regard to names; rather he should follow Islamic teachings in all his affairs, because there is divine wisdom in the selection of names and other things, so it is not appropriate to choose something different..
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