Surah Al-Fajr, Ayah 4

Which was revealed in Makkah

Recitation of Surat Al-Fajr in the Prayer

An-Nasa'i recorded a narration from Jabir that Mu`adh prayed a prayer and a man came and joined him in the prayer. Mu`adh made the prayer long, so the man went and prayed (alone) at the side of the Masjid, and then left. When Mu`adh was informed of this he said, "(He is) a hypocrite." He (Mu`adh) then informed the Messenger of Allah ﷺ of what happened. The Prophet then asked the young man (about it) and he replied, "O Messenger of Allah! I came to pray with him, but he made the prayer too long for me. So I left him and prayed at the side of the Masjid. Then I went to feed my she-camel." The Messenger of Allah ﷺ then said,

وَالشَّفْعِ وَالْوَتْرِ (and by the even and the odd,...89:3). The Qur'an has not

specified what the words 'the even' and 'the odd' refer to. Therefore, the commentators have assigned different interpretations to them. Nevertheless, it has been mentioned in a Prophetic Hadith narrated by Abu-z-Zubair from Sayyidna Jabir ؓ thus:

(وَالْفَجْرِ ۔ وَلَيَالٍ عَشْرٍ ) ھو الصّبح وعشر النحر والوتر یوم عرفہ والشفع یوم النّحر

'Fajr' refers to the dawn, and 'the ten nights' refer to the first ten nights of Dhul Hijjah [ which include the Day of Sacrifice ], and that al-watr [ the odd ] refers to the day of ` Arafah [ because it falls on the ninth ] and ash-shaf refers to the Day of Sacrifice [ because it falls on the 10th day of Dhul Hijjah ].'