What is the recommended practice regarding the time of the Fajr prayer?

The questioner : When is the time for the Fajr prayer? Is it during the darkness or during the lightening of the horizon?

The Shaykh : The answer to this question can be known by what we mentioned, which is that it is recommended to bring forward all the prayers except for 'Isha'. Accordingly, the recommended practice for the Fajr prayer is for a person to perform it at the beginning of its time. As for the hadith , if it is authentic, the intended meaning is that you should not pray until the dawn becomes clear and the light of the morning appears, so that you do not pray before the time has entered. All those who described the prayer of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) mention that he (may the prayers and peace of Allah be upon him) would pray the Fajr prayer in the darkness, until he would finish the prayer when a man could recognize his companion. This indicates his haste to perform it, even though he would recite from sixty to one hundred verses. Therefore, the correct view is that it is recommended to hasten the Fajr prayer, but it is obligatory to verify the appearance of the dawn.