A woman asks about delaying the 'Isha' prayer until midnight for a woman.
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The questioner : In her following question, she asks about delaying the 'Isha' prayer until midnight for a woman?
The Shaykh : Delaying the 'Isha' prayer until midnight for both men and women is undoubtedly better, because the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) used to recommend delaying 'Isha'. He once went out to his Companions at night when most of the night had passed and said:Sahih Muslim 638c However, if a man’s delaying it requires him to abandon the congregation, then delaying it is forbidden for him in this case, because congregational prayer is obligatory for him. And if a woman delays it, she must not go beyond the middle of the night, because the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) set the time for 'Isha' prayer to the middle of the night only. Therefore, it is not permissible to delay it to after the middle of the night, because what is after the middle of the night is not a time for it.
For this reason, the stronger position is that what is after the middle of the night is not a time for 'Isha'. So if a woman becomes pure from menstruation after the middle of the night, she is not required to make up the 'Isha' prayer, because she became pure after the time had passed.
For this reason, we say that the Fajr prayer is separate from what comes before it and what comes after it. It is separate from the 'Isha' prayer because the latter half of the night is between them. It is separate from the Zuhr prayer because the first half of the day is between them. For this reason, Allah the Exalted said:[Al-Isra 17:78] Then He said: and He did not say "Establish prayer from the setting of the sun to the rising of the sun," but rather He said: and the twilight of the night is its middle, because it is that which brings the deepest darkness. This is what the Qur'an indicates, and the Sunnah also indicates it, meaning that the end of the time for 'Isha' is at the middle of the night. This is the clear indication of the Qur'an and the explicit statement of the Sunnah.
The questioner : May Allah bless you.
The Shaykh : Delaying the 'Isha' prayer until midnight for both men and women is undoubtedly better, because the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) used to recommend delaying 'Isha'. He once went out to his Companions at night when most of the night had passed and said:
This is the proper time for it; were it not that I would impose a burden on my people
إنه لوقتها لولا أن أشق على أمتيFor this reason, the stronger position is that what is after the middle of the night is not a time for 'Isha'. So if a woman becomes pure from menstruation after the middle of the night, she is not required to make up the 'Isha' prayer, because she became pure after the time had passed.
For this reason, we say that the Fajr prayer is separate from what comes before it and what comes after it. It is separate from the 'Isha' prayer because the latter half of the night is between them. It is separate from the Zuhr prayer because the first half of the day is between them. For this reason, Allah the Exalted said:
Establish prayer at the decline of the sun [from its meridian] until the darkness of the night
أقم الصلاة لدلوك الشمس إلى غسق الليلand the dawn of the Qur'an
وقرءان الفجرuntil the darkness of the night
إلى غسق الليلThe questioner : May Allah bless you.