The Hadith of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him): (Guard the two 'Asr prayers.)

The questioner : My teacher, the Hadith of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him): Some people ask: Is the intended meaning that before the sun rises is the Fajr prayer, and before sunset is the 'Asr prayer? If this is the intended meaning, does it imply that whoever guards the 'Asr and Fajr prayers in congregation is exempt from the obligation of performing the remaining prayers?

The Shaykh : No, that is a non-Arabic understanding, because one of the styles of the Arabic language is that mentioning a thing does not negate what is other than it. Mentioning a thing does not negate what is other than it; this is a rule. A second rule: specifying a thing by mentioning it means giving it special attention, but it does not mean that one should not pay attention to the others. For example, we were just now discussing Hajj, and he (peace be upon him) said: The non-Arabic person understands from this hadith that one who goes on any day of the year and at any time of night or day and stands at 'Arafah has performed Hajj, because the Messenger said: But the people of the Arabic language do not understand it that way; they understand meaning that the most important pillar of Hajj is 'Arafah. So, mentioning a thing does not negate what is other than it. Therefore, "Guard the two 'Asr prayers" is due to their importance in Islam; the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) specified these two prayers by mentioning them. It is possible that the reason for the specification does not return to the virtue of the prayers themselves, but rather to the specific person being addressed. The person being addressed, perhaps the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) knew through revelation or experience that he was lax in them, while he was not lax in the other prayers of the five. So he specified these two prayers by mentioning them regarding him, just as if you knew that a friend, brother, or relative, or whatever, did not have care and attention for the Fajr prayer, and you said to him, "Guard, my brother, the Fajr prayer." This does not mean that the one listening to you understands that you are telling him that the remaining prayers are not his responsibility if he is lax in them. This example is clear.

The questioner : But the narration of the hadith: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) taught me... I do not remember the hadith, by Allah, but he mentioned it and said: O Messenger of Allah, I cannot... in the meaning of the hadith: I cannot continue...

The Shaykh : My brother, what you are saying is correct. What you are saying is correct, but the matter returns to the fact that this address is directed to a specific person. And is it general? You mentioned that in the hadith it says "I cannot." So, does the one who is able address this address? There is something.

The questioner : He is not addressed.

The Shaykh : Okay, so we do not take this address as directed to the general public.

The questioner : The one who is not able, is it permissible for him?

The Shaykh : This is exactly like a hadith in the Musnad of Imam Ahmad, and in reality, for me, it is one of the important hadiths in Islamic political policy. A tribe came to him, so he ordered them to perform the five prayers, but they did not agree with him except on two or three prayers. I forgot, you remember two? Good, this is the record of the case, do not say it is a casual disclosure, may Allah forgive.
So the Messenger accepted from them that they would pray two prayers. It does not mean that the three prayers are not obligatory, but it remained as Islamic political policy that he accepts from these people the minimum, what? They agreed upon.
And this, in fact, reminds us of a story that is narrated, Allah knows if it is authentic or not? But it is narrated close to the present era. When the Ottoman state was in the time of the Turks, at the end of its time, it was said that some Russians came to the Sublime Porte, meaning to Istanbul, and requested to meet the senior scholars and the mufti there. They said, "We have read about Islam and we are convinced by it, but it is difficult for us to prohibit intoxicants on ourselves," and perhaps they mentioned other things. I am far from the time of the story. The mufti said, "It is not permissible, you must prohibit all these things." If this story is true and I had been aware of this hadith and verified its authenticity, I would have taken from it jurisprudence in Islamic political policy on how to deal with nations. We would say to them, "But we are satisfied from you now that you know that Islam forbids intoxicants and forbids pork. So now, we are satisfied from you that you go and pray the five prayers and drink intoxicants and eat pork, but eat and drink them while believing that this is forbidden in Islam." We would have allowed them this now, but when the matter was cut off for them, they returned to being disbelievers as they were, and they lost out. So this is Islamic political policy: it addresses people, as Ali said in Sahih al-Bukhari: "Speak to people according to the capacity of their minds. Do you want Allah and His Messenger to be lied about?"
So if you remind us that in the hadith: Give us the wording of the text, let us speak about a real matter.

The questioner : The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) taught me, and among what he taught me was that he said to me:

The Shaykh : Yes, exactly.

The questioner : There is a gentle word for you: "This hadith is authentic, and there is a problem in the text because it suggests the permissibility of limiting oneself to the two 'Asr prayers. It can be interpreted as referring to congregation, so it seems he granted him a dispensation to miss attending some of the prayers in congregation, not to leave them entirely. I said: And the dispensation was only because of a preoccupation he had, as is in the hadith itself. And Allah knows best."
The student : It is, of course, from al-Hafiz Ibn Hajar.

The Shaykh : How?
The student : The first statement is from al-Hafiz Ibn Hajar.

The Shaykh : From al-Hafiz Ibn Hajar, yes, okay.
The point, my brother, is that the Islamic rulings are general rulings that must be applied to all people, and all people must adhere to them. But when a person says, "I cannot," you cannot say to him, "You cannot," you see, because he has a hand in this, a hand from Allah, because Allah knows what is in the heart. I mean, have I ever seen a person praying sitting down, even if he is young? Why are you praying sitting down, my brother? By Allah, I am not able. You cannot, can you say to him the opposite of what he tells you? He tells you, "I cannot," you say to him, "You cannot." This is not possible. It is not possible to confront people with such harshness. Rather, and so on. So you must order people that Allah has made obligatory five prayers in every day and night, and these five prayers are not for a person to pray alone in his house or his shop, but in congregation, as Allah the Exalted said:
By Allah, I cannot stand for the Fajr prayer. He cannot. You cannot say to him, "You can, you are a liar." But you can walk with him gently. What are the reasons he really cannot, if he is truthful? Why, my brother, can you not? By Allah, my sleep is heavy. And this is a real story I mentioned in some of the series: the woman who came and complained about her husband that he does not pray Fajr until after the sun rises, and that I think he hits her and other things I am not remembering now. The important thing is that the Messenger sent for him, and his answer was: "We are a family, a family, their sleep is heavy and they cannot get up except after the Fajr prayer." So the Messenger (peace be upon him) did not deny him or be harsh with him. But now we see that we have means that help a person to wake himself up and lighten his claim of inability. For example, a person says to us, "By Allah, my sleep is heavy, and I cannot wake up." We say to him, "Use an alarm clock that will wake you up." He says, "The clock rings and it is not there." You... or you do not block his path. If you are able to guide him to the path that succeeds him and wakes him up, that is what is required. Otherwise, Allah does not burden a soul except with what it can bear. He says, for example, "My sleep is heavy and the alarm does not wake me." We tell him, "There are alarms now that wake you up by disturbing you with the alert until you wake up against your will. It starts with a soft sound, then the sound gets louder, then the sound gets louder like this. I do not think... except that he is killed and cannot get up. Even so, in the end, we say to him, 'My brother, Allah is sufficient for you. Allah is the one who will hold you accountable... how'
The student : The hadith... I told you first...

The Shaykh : Let us pray.
The student : The story of the delegation of Thaqif’s Islam when they came to embrace Islam; they said, “No charity and no jihad.” The Messenger accepted their Islam and said: .

The Shaykh : Yes, exactly.
The student : There is an addition in al-Musnad: This is an addition in the authentic hadith, as I think. ?

The Shaykh : By Allah, I am not the one who is remembering it, but in terms of meaning, it can be understood correctly.
The student : If, in terms of meaning, this means that he did not accept their Islam. ?

The Shaykh : No, this is what I want to answer you on.
The student : ...

The Shaykh : If they truly embraced Islam .
The student : Yes, correct.

The Shaykh : Because Islam, my brother, has levels, as we know, just like faith. So if their faith becomes strong, this is the meaning of his saying: if the narration is authentic. Now, stand up.
...

The Shaykh : ... a standing power whose might and strength make it the greatest state of that era, namely Rome and Persia. Between a state that is currently non-Muslim, strong, and disbelieving, and some Muslims who suggested seeking its help to establish Islamic rule—what is the logic of this?! And this is what happened. When they join this strong state, what will they say today? They will be drawn into its sphere and made to follow in its train, rather than the disbelieving state following Islam. First, this is not permissible by the Shari'ah. Second, it is not natural, because the strong always dominates the weak, not the weak dominating the strong. Therefore, cooperating with other states to serve Islam, when they are enemies of Islam, is like the example of the ostrich that sees the hunter and puts its head in the sand, claiming what? That the hunter does not see it because it does not see the hunter. This is stubbornness, terrible stubbornness. And so we see the reality: what have we gained from these twisted policies and half-measures? Nothing...