The ruling on delaying the iqamah for the Fajr prayer until near the time of the light of dawn
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The questioner:
There is a set of fiqh questions; I do not know if any of them are suitable for you.
The Shaykh:
By Allah, we used to hear them; I do not know.
The questioner:
One of the questions asks: What is the ruling on the one who delays the iqamah for the Fajr prayer until a time close to the light of dawn, such that he remains ten minutes before the light of dawn and then performs the iqamah for the prayer? Is this action valid?
The Shaykh:
No, it is not valid. This is contrary to the Sunnah. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) used to pray Fajr in the darkness. He would enter the prayer while a man did not know who was beside him because of the darkness of the night, and he would leave it when a man knew his companion, because he (peace and blessings be upon him) would lengthen the recitation. He would recite from seventy to one hundred verses, reciting in a measured manner, meaning he would pause at the ends of the verses and proceed slowly in his recitation (peace and blessings be upon him). So he would enter the prayer early and leave it when the light appears and people recognize one another. It is better to pray Fajr and the other prayers at the beginning of their times, except if the heat is intense, in which case the Zuhr prayer is delayed until people cool down, and except for the 'Isha' prayer, which is better in the last third of the night for one who is not bound by a congregation or for whom it is not difficult. As for one who is bound by a congregation, he prays with the congregation and does not leave the congregation. Likewise, one for whom it is difficult and who needs to sleep should pray and then sleep, praise be to Allah. And as for the prayers other than these two, it is better to pray them at the beginning of their times. Yes.
There is a set of fiqh questions; I do not know if any of them are suitable for you.
The Shaykh:
By Allah, we used to hear them; I do not know.
The questioner:
One of the questions asks: What is the ruling on the one who delays the iqamah for the Fajr prayer until a time close to the light of dawn, such that he remains ten minutes before the light of dawn and then performs the iqamah for the prayer? Is this action valid?
The Shaykh:
No, it is not valid. This is contrary to the Sunnah. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) used to pray Fajr in the darkness. He would enter the prayer while a man did not know who was beside him because of the darkness of the night, and he would leave it when a man knew his companion, because he (peace and blessings be upon him) would lengthen the recitation. He would recite from seventy to one hundred verses, reciting in a measured manner, meaning he would pause at the ends of the verses and proceed slowly in his recitation (peace and blessings be upon him). So he would enter the prayer early and leave it when the light appears and people recognize one another. It is better to pray Fajr and the other prayers at the beginning of their times, except if the heat is intense, in which case the Zuhr prayer is delayed until people cool down, and except for the 'Isha' prayer, which is better in the last third of the night for one who is not bound by a congregation or for whom it is not difficult. As for one who is bound by a congregation, he prays with the congregation and does not leave the congregation. Likewise, one for whom it is difficult and who needs to sleep should pray and then sleep, praise be to Allah. And as for the prayers other than these two, it is better to pray them at the beginning of their times. Yes.
Source
قناة «العلامة الدكتور صالح الفوزان»، محاضرات في العقيدة والدعوة-069-ضوابط الأمر بالمعروف والنهي عن المنكر|صالح الفوزان|كبار العلماء — youtube.com (1:14:51)
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.