Mu' meneen Brothers and Sisters,

As Salaam Aleikum wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuh.  (May Allah's Peace, Mercy and Blessings be upon all of you)

One of our brothers/sisters has asked this question:

As Salaam Wa Aleikum,

I simply wAnted to know sometimes Ishaa is a little late around 11:00pm o`clock or even later and what about younger children who don`t stay up that late what shhould they do.

Jazakallah Kheir

(There may be some grammatical and spelling errors in the above statement. The forum does not change anything from questions, comments and statements received from our readers for circulation in confidentiality.)

Answer:

Ishaa prayers late

In the name of Allah, We praise Him, seek His help and ask for His forgiveness. Whoever Allah guides none can misguide, and whoever He allows to fall astray, none can guide them aright. We bear witness that there is no one (no idol, no person, no grave, no prophet, no imam, no dai, nobody!) worthy of worship but Allah Alone, and we bear witness that Muhammad(saws) is His slave-servant and the seal of His Messengers.

Allah says in the Holy Quran Chapter 4 Surah Nisaa verse 103: Indeed, the salaat is a prescribed duty that should be performed at the appointed times by the believers.

Al-Muwatta Hadith 1.9

Yahya related to me from Malik from Yazid ibn Ziyad that Abdullah ibn Rafi, the mawla of Umm Salama, the wife of the Prophet (saws) asked Abu Hurayra about the time of the prayer. Abu Hurayra said, "Let me tell you. Pray dhuhr when the length of your shadow matches your height, asr when your shadow is twice your height, maghrib when the sun has set, isha in the first third of the night, and subh in the very first light of dawn," i.e. when the dawn has definitely come.

Beloved sister in Islam, the prayer times in Islam are linked with the movement of the earth around the sun, and thus in some countries the ‘isha’ prayers might indeed be very late at night. To pray the prescribed obligatory prayers on time is a direct command of the Lord of the Worlds, and a duty unto the believing slaves of the Lord Most Merciful. If the younger children are unable to stay up late, there would no harm to let them sleep on their time, and wake them up for ‘isha’ prayers when the time is due; just as the believers wake up for the ‘fajr’ prayers when the dawn breaks and its time to worship the Lord All-Mighty.

Whatever written of Truth and benefit is only due to Allah’s Assistance and Guidance, and whatever of error is of me. Allah Alone Knows Best and He is the Only Source of Strength.

Your Brother in Islam,

Burhan