Dought & clear - When was prayer madeobligatory? How did the Muslims pray before prayer was made obligatory?.

Is it true that prayer wasmade obligatory before the night of the
Isra'? Did the Messenger pray in the manner that we pray now, with the
samenumber of rak'ahs? When was prayer made obligatory at these
timesand in the manner that we pray now?
Praise be to Allah.
Al-Bukhaari (349) and Muslim (162) narrated from Anas ibn Maalik (may
Allah be pleased with him) the famous hadeeth of the Isra' (Prophet's
Night Journey) in which it is reported that the Messenger of Allah
(blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) said:
"Then Allah revealed what He revealed to me, and enjoined fifty
prayers on me every day and night. I came back down to Moosa
(blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) and he said: What did your
Lord enjoin upon your ummah? I said: Fifty prayers. He said: Go backto
your Lord and ask Himto reduce it... I kept going back and forth
between my Lord, may He be blessed and exalted, and Moosa (peace be
upon him), until He said: 'O Muhammad, they are five prayers each day
and night, for every prayer there will be a tenfold (reward), and that
is fifty prayers."
The scholars are unanimously agreed that the five daily prayers were
not made obligatory until this night. See the answer to question no.
143111
See also Fath al-Baari by Ibn Rajab (2/104).
Al-Haafiz Ibn Katheer (may Allah have mercy on him) said:
On the night of the Isra', one and a half years before the Hijrah,
Allah enjoined upon His Messenger (blessings and peace of Allah be
upon him) the five daily prayers, and explained that there were
conditions and essential parts and other matters having to do with
them, bit by bit.
Tafseer Ibn Katheer (7/164).
Then Jibreel (peace be upon him) came down and taught the Prophet
(blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) the times of the prayers:
Al-Bukhaari (522) and Muslim (611) narrated from Ibn Shihaab that
'Umar ibn 'Abd al-'Azeez delayed the prayer one day. 'Urwah ibn
az-Zubayr entered upon him and told him that al-Mugheerah ibn Shu'bah
delayed the prayer one day when he was in Kufah, and Abu Mas'ood
al-Ansaari entered upon him and said: What is this, O Mugheerah? Do
you not know that Jibreel came down and prayed, and the Messenger of
Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) prayed, then he
prayed and the Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be
upon him) prayed, then he prayed and the Messenger of Allah (blessings
and peace of Allah be upon him) prayed, then he prayed and the
Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) prayed,
then he prayed and the Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of
Allah be upon him) prayed. Then he said: This is what has been
enjoined upon me. 'Umar said to 'Urwah: Think what you are narrating,
O 'Urwah! Is Jibreel the one who taught the Messenger of Allah
(blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) the times of the prayers?
'Urwah said: That is what Basheer ibnAbi Mas'ood used to narrate from
his father.
An-Nasaa'i (526) narrated that Jaabir ibn 'Abdullah (may Allah be
pleased with him) said: Jibreel (peace be upon him) came to the
Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) when the sun had
passed its zenith and said: Get up, O Muhammad. That was when the sun
had passed the meridian. Then he waited until the(length of) a man's
shadow was equal to hisheight, then he came to him for 'Asr and said:
Getup, O Muhammad, and pray 'Asr. Then he waited until the sun set,
then he came to him andsaid: Get up and pray Maghrib. So he got up and
prayed it when the sun had set fully. Then he waited until the
twilight had disappeared, then he came and said: Get up and pray
'Isha', so he gotup and prayed it… In thishadeeth it says: He (i.e.,
Jibreel) said: The period between two of these two times is the time
to pray.
Classed as saheeh by al-Albaani in Saheeh an-Nasaa'i.
'Abd ar-Razzaaq narrated in his Musannaf(1773) and Ibn Ishaaq narrated
in his Seerah – as it says in Fath al-Baari (2/286) – that this
happened on the morning after the night in which prayer was made
obligatory.
Al-Qurtubi (may Allah have mercy on him) said:
(The scholars) did not differ concerning the fact that Jibreel (peace
be upon him) came down on the morning following the night of the
Isra', when the sun passed its zenith, and taught the Prophet
(blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) the prayer and its timings.
End quote.
Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyah (may Allah have mercy on him) said:
Jibreel's explanation of the timings of the prayercame on the morning
following the night of the Isra'. End quote.
Sharh al-'Umdah (4/148)
When the five daily prayers were first made obligatory, each prayer
was two rak'ahs, then after the Hijrah, that wasconfirmed in the case
of travel, and two rak'ahs were added for those who are not
travelling, except Maghrib, which remained as it was. Al-Bukhaari
(3935) and Muslim (685) narrated that 'Aa'ishah (may Allah be pleased
with her) said: Prayer was enjoined with two rak'ahs, then when the
Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) migrated, it was
enjoined with four rak'ahs, but prayer whilst travelling remained as
it had originally been.
The Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) and his
Companions used to pray before the five daily prayers were
madeobligatory.
It says in al-Mawsoo'ah al-Fiqhiyyah (27/52-53):
Prayer was originally enjoined in Makkah at the beginning of Islam,
because there are Makkan verses that wererevealed at the beginning of
the Prophet's mission that encourage praying. As for the five daily
prayers in the form that is well-known, they were made obligatory on
the night of the Isra' and Mi'raaj. End quote.
See also the answer to question no. 143111
Some of the scholars are of the view that prayer was made obligatory
at the beginning, two rak'ahs in the morning and two rak'ahs in the
afternoon.
Al-Haafiz (may Allah havemercy on him) said in al-Fath:
A number of scholars areof the view that before the Isra' there was no
obligatory prescribed prayer, but prayers wereoffered at night,
withoutany number of rak'ahs being specified. Al-Harbi was of the view
that prayer was made obligatory, two rak'ahs in the morning and two
rak'ahs in the afternoon.Ash-Shaafa'i narrated from some of the
scholars that prayer at night was obligatory, then it was abrogated by
the verse (interpretation of the meaning): "So, recite you of the
Quran as much as may be easy for you" [al-Muzammil 73:20]. So it
became obligatory to pray for part of the night. Then that was
abrogated by the five daily prayers. End quote.
He also said:
Before the Isra', the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon
him) definitely used to pray, as did his companions, but there isa
scholarly difference of opinion as to whether any kind of prayer was
made obligatory before the five daily prayers or not. It was said that
what was obligatory at first was prayer before sunrise and prayer
before sunset. The evidence for that is the verse in which Allah, may
He be exalted, says (interpretation of the meaning): "and glorify the
praises of your Lord before the rising of the sun, and before its
setting" [Ta-Ha 20:130], and similar verses. End quote.
See also Tafseer Ibn 'Atiyyah (1/204); at-Tahreer wa't-Tanweerby Ibn
'Ashoor (24/75).
And Allah knows best.

Dought & clear - Pilgrim doing ‘umrah in Ramadan not fasting if he has come from far away.

If a family does 'Umrah in the month of Ramadan, is it permissible for
them notto fast during their stay in Makkah al-Mukarramah, or should
they stop eating as soon as they arrive in Makkah?.
Praise be to Allaah.
If the pilgrim doing 'Umrah in Ramadan comes from a far land such as
Najd or elsewhere, then he is a traveller and he may break the fast on
the road, whether he is coming from Riyadh or al-Qaseem or Haa'il or
Madeenah. He may break the fast on the road and in Makkah. But if he
has decided to stay for more than four days, then when he reaches
Makkah, to be on the safe side he should fast and it is better to
fast, because the majority of scholars are of the view that if he has
made a firm decision to stay for more than four days, then he must
offer the prayers in full and not break the fast.
But if he has decided to stay for two or three or four days and no
more, then he may break the fast or he may fast, he may shorten the
four-rak'ah prayers to two rak'ahs, or he may offer the prayers in
full with the people. If he is alone, he should pray with the
congregation, but if there are other people with him, he has the
choice: if he wishes he may pray two rak'ahswith the people who
arewith him, or if they wish they may pray four rak'ahs with the
people in congregation. If their stay is more than four days, then
they should fast and offer the prayers in full, accordingto the
majority of scholars. End quote.
Shaykh 'Abd al-'Azeez ibn Baaz (may Allah havemercy on him).
Fataawa Noor 'ala al-Darb, 3/1231

Ethical Stories: What GoesAround Comes Around!(Carpenter Story)

An elderly carpenter was ready to retire, and he told his boss of his
plans to leave and live a more leisurely life with his wife. He would
miss the paycheck, he could get by, but he needed to retire.
The contractor was sorry to see such a good worker go, and he asked
the carpenter to build just one more house as a personal favor.
The carpenter said yes, but in time it was easy to see that his heart
was notin his work. He resorted to shoddy workmanship and used
inferior materials. It was an unfortunate way to end adedicated
career.
When the carpenter finished his work, the contractor came to inspect
the house. He handed the front-door key to the carpenter. "This is
your house," contractor said. "It is my gift to you."
The carpenter was shocked! What a shame! If he had only known he was
building his own house, he would have done it all so differently.
So it is with us. We build our lives, a day at a time, often putting
less than our best into the building. Then with a shock we realize we
haveto live in the house we have built.
If we could do it over, wewould do it much differently. But we cannot go back...
You are the carpenter of your life. Each day you hammer a nail, place
a board, or erect a wall. Your attitudes and the choices you make
today build your "house" for tomorrow...

Ethical Stories: What GoesAround Comes Around!(Waitress Story)

One day a man saw an old lady, stranded on the side of the road, but
evenin the dim light of day, he could see she needed help. So he
pulled up in front of her Mercedes and got out. His Pontiac was still
sputtering when he approached her.
Even with the smile on his face, she was worried. No one had stopped
to help for the last hour or so. Was he going to hurt her? He didn't
look safe; he looked poor and hungry.
He could see that she wasfrightened, standing out there in the cold.
He knew how she felt. It wasthose chills which only fear can put in
you.
He said, "I'm here to help you, ma'am. Why don't you wait in the car
where it's warm? By the way, my name is Bryan Anderson."
Well, all she had was a flat tire, but for an old lady, that was bad
enough. Bryan crawled under the car looking fora place to put the
jack, skinning his knuckles a time or two. Soon he wasable to change
the tire. But he had to get dirty and his hands hurt.
As he was tightening up the lug nuts, she rolled down the window and
began to talk to him. She told him that she was from St. Louis and was
only just passing through. She couldn't thank him enough for coming to
her aid.
Bryan just smiled as he closed her trunk. The ladyasked how much she
owed him. Any amount would have been all rightwith her. She already
imagined all the awful things that could have happened had he not
stopped. Bryan never thought twice about being paid. This was not a
job to him. This was helping someone in need, and God knows there were
plenty, who had given him a hand in the past. He had lived his whole
life that way, and it never occurred to him to act any other way.
He told her that if she really wanted to pay him back, the next time
she saw someone who needed help, she could give that person the
assistance they needed, and Bryan added, "And think of me."
He waited until she started her car and droveoff. It had been a cold
and depressing day, but he felt good as he headed for home,
disappearing into the twilight.
A few miles down the road the lady saw a small cafe. She went in to
grab a bite to eat, and take the chill off before she made the last
leg of her trip home. It was a dingy looking restaurant. Outside were
two old gaspumps. The whole scene was unfamiliar to her. The waitress
came over and brought a clean towel to wipe her wet hair. She had a
sweet smile, one that even being on her feet for the whole day
couldn't erase.The lady noticed the waitress was nearly eightmonths
pregnant, but she never let the strain and aches change her attitude.
The old lady wondered how someone who had so little could be so giving
to a stranger. Then she remembered.
After the lady finished her meal, she paid with ahundred dollar bill.
The waitress quickly went to get change for her hundred dollar bill,
but the old lady had slipped right out the door. She was gone by the
time thewaitress came back. The waitress wondered where the lady could
be. Then she noticed something written on thenapkin.
There were tears in her eyes when she read whatthe lady wrote: "You
don't owe me anything. I have been there too. Somebody once helped me
out, the way I'm helping you. If you really want to pay me back, here
is what you do: Do not let this chain of love end with you."
Under the napkin were four more $100 bills.
Well, there were tables toclear, sugar bowls to fill, and people to
serve, but the waitress made it through another day. That night when
she got home from work and climbed into bed she wasthinking about the
money and what the ladyhad written. How could the lady have known how
much she and her husband needed it? With the baby due next month, it
was going to be hard...
She knew how worried her husband was, and as he lay sleeping next to
her, she gave him a soft kiss and whispered soft and low,
"Everything's going to be all right. I love you, Bryan Anderson."