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Fajr

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This article is about the beginning of the day Fajr. For other concept as Fajr, see Fajr (disambiguation).
Fajr Sadiq (the true dawn)
Fajr Kadhib (the false dawn)

Dawn or fajr (Arabic: فجر) or al-subh al-sadiq (Arabic: الصبح الصادق, the true morning) or al-fajr al-sadiq (Arabic: الفجر الصادق, the true dawn) is the minutes after the night when a bright light is spread on the horizon. Fajr is the beginning of the time of morning prayer and is the best time for performing it. Some Islamic practical rulings such as: fasting are related to this time of the day.

At dawn, two halos are seen in the eastern sky, one is called al-fajr al-kadhib (the false dawn), and the other is called al-fajr al-sadiq (the true dawn). Al-Fajr al-kadhib is a light that appears in the sky's length and, instead of spreading on the horizon, extends vertically. Al-Fajr al-sadiq, which occurs some minutes later, expands and covers all the sky.

In the Qur'an, al-fajr al-sadiq is mentioned as "al-khayt al-abyad" (الخیط الأبيض, white thread) after which eating and drinking are forbidden in fasting and the fajr prayer's time is started. The time between al-fajr al-sadiq and the sunrise is called Bayn al-Tulu'ayn (بین الطلوعین, between the two rises).

Definition

The original meaning of the word "fajr" (فجر) is splitting of something and appearance of another thing, for instance, splitting of the dark and emergence of the light or splitting of a mountain and gushing out of a fountain. However, the word is used to mean dawn or the early light in the morning.[1] There are two kind of fajr: al-fajr al-sadiq and al-fajr al-kadhib.

Al-Fajr al-Kadhib

Al-Fajr al-kadhib (the false dawn) or the zodiacal light is a time when the night is over, and for the first time after the end of the night a bright light appears in the east on the horizon. This light appears vertically. At that moment, although the night has ended, the time of Salat al-Fajr has not come yet.

The cause of this phenomenon is a faint reflection of the sunlight by the atmospherical haze, which is seen as a dim cone of light along the ecliptic zone during the sunrise. The brightness of al-fajr al-kadhib is so low that it is only seen in rural areas and dark regions and one cannot discern it in big cities. The best region for experiencing the phenomenon is the equatorial regions. This light is also seen during the sunset.

Al-Fajr al-Sadiq

Al-Fajr al-sadiq, which occurs minutes after al-fajr al-kadhib, is when a white light spreads over the horizon. This moment is the beginning of al-fajr al-sadiq and the time of fajr prayer. As the brightness of al-fajr al-sadiq increases gradually, the stars disappear in its light. With the first ray of sunshine, the time of fajr prayer ends.

Al-Fajr al-sadiq is also called: al-Fajr al-Thani (الفجر الثانی), Mu'tarad (مُعترَض), and Mustatir (مستطیر).

Differences

There are differences between al-fajr al-sadiq and al-fajr al-kadhib:

  • Al-Fajr al-kadhib is away from the horizon while al-fajr al-sadiq is on the horizon.
  • Al-Fajr al-kadhib is vertical while the other is horizontal.
  • Al-Fajr al-kadhib is bright initially, but fades away gradually, while al-fajr al-sadiq starts with a weak light that grows stronger over time.[2]

Determining the time of al-fajr al-sadiq is a sensory issue and the real-time of it can only be found by several observations.

Al-Khayt al-Abyad

Explaining the rulings about fasting, the Holy Qur'an (Quran 2:187) mentioned the visibility of al-khayt al-abyad (white thread) as the time of the beginning of fasting. "And eat and drink until the white thread becomes manifest to you from the dark thread at the crack of dawn"[3]. According to a hadith narrated by Ali b. Mahziyar from Imam al-Jawad (a) it means al-fajr al-sadiq.

In Moonlit Nights

On the nights that the moon is almost full and its light dominates the light of fajr (approximately from 12th to 19th of each lunar month) the spread light of fajr appears with a delay of about 20 minutes.

According to the fatwa of Imam Khomeini[4] and Sayyid Ahmad Khwansari, in these nights one should wait for performing fajr prayer until the spread of light is visible on the horizon. Most of Marja's do not have such a fatwa.

Bayn al-Tulu'ayn

The time between the fajr and the sunrise is called "bayn al-tulu'ayn" (بین الطلوعین; between the two rises. rise of fajr and sunrise). It is one of the most important and meritorious times in a day. There are many Hadiths narrated from the infallible Imams (a) concerning the significant merits of staying awake and worshiping in this time.[5]

Rulings

Rulings related to fajr are found in various jurisprudential chapters such as: salat, sawm, hajj, matajir (buying and selling) and marriage. Some of these rulings are as follows:

  • According to the majority of jurists, the jurisprudential day starts with al-fajr al-sadiq, and the night finishes by it.[6] Thus, al-fajr al-sadiq is the end of the time for performing night prayer (the recommended prayer of the night)[7] and the beginning of the time for fajr prayer.[8] Likewise, one who wants to fast must restrain from doing the acts that invalidate the fast from fajr.[9]
  • The time for performing Friday ghusl begins from fajr of Friday.
  • The time of nafila of morning (supererogatory prayers of morning) begins after finishing night prayer; however, it is recommended to postpone nafila of morning until the first fajr (al-fajr al-kadhib).[11]
  • According to the majority of jurists, staying knowingly in the state of janaba until the fajr in the month of Ramadan is forbidden and cause invalidity of fasting and also compulsion of Qada and kaffara (compensation) for that day.[12]
  • Sleeping,[14] having sexual intercourse,[15] and doing business[16] are makruh (disliked) from fajr to sunrise.

Notes

  1. ↑ ʿAmīd, Farhang-i Fārsī-i ʿAmīd.
  2. ↑ Fāḍil Lankarāni, Nihāyat al-taqrīr, vol. 1, p. 152.
  3. ↑ وَكُلُوا وَاشْرَبُوا حَتَّىٰ يَتَبَيَّنَ لَكُمُ الْخَيْطُ الْأَبْيَضُ مِنَ الْخَيْطِ الْأَسْوَدِ مِنَ الْفَجْرِ (Quran 2:187)
  4. ↑ Khomeinī, al-Rasāʾil al-ʿashr, p. 199.
  5. ↑ Majlisī, Biḥār al-anwār, vol. 102, p. 297; Ṭūsī, Miṣbāḥ al-mutahajjid, vol. 1, p. 512.
  6. ↑ Majlisī, Biḥār al-anwār, vol. 83, p. 74-75; Baḥrānī, al-Ḥadāʾiq al-nāḍira, vol. 6, p. 54,55; Najafī, Jawāhir al-kalām, vol. 7, p. 219-220.
  7. ↑ Najafī, Jawāhir al-kalām, vol. 7, p. 210-211.
  8. ↑ Najafī, Jawāhir al-kalām, vol. 7, p. 96.
  9. ↑ Najafī, Jawāhir al-kalām, vol. 16, p. 384.
  10. ↑ Najafī, Jawāhir al-kalām, vol. 5, p. 7.
  11. ↑ Shahīd al-Awwal, al-Bayān, p. 109.
  12. ↑ Najafī, Jawāhir al-kalām, vol. 16, p. 236.
  13. ↑ Najafī, Jawāhir al-kalām, vol. 19, p. 85; Shahīd al-Thānī, al-Rawḍat al-bahiyya, vol. 2, p. 275-277.
  14. ↑ Ḥurr al-ʿĀmilī, Wasāʾil al-Shīʿa, vol. 6, p. 496.
  15. ↑ Najafī, Jawāhir al-kalām, vol. 29, p. 56.
  16. ↑ Najafī, Jawāhir al-kalām, vol. 22, p. 456.

References

  • ʿAmīd, Ḥasan. Farhang-i Fārsī-i ʿAmīd. [n.p]: [n.n], [n.d].
  • Baḥrānī, Yūsuf al-. Al-Ḥadāʾiq al-nāḍira fī aḥkām al-ʿitrat al-ṭāhira. Qom: Muʾassisat al-Nashr al-Islāmī, [n.d].
  • Fāḍil Lankarāni, Muḥammad. Nihāyat al-taqrīr fī mabāhith al-ṣalāt. 3rd edition. Qom: Intishārāt-i Fiqh, 1430 AH.
  • Ḥurr al-ʿĀmilī, Muḥammad b. al-Ḥasan al-. Wasāʾil al-Shīʿa. Qom: Muʾassisat Āl al-Bayt (a), 1409 AH.
  • Khomeinī, Sayyid Rūḥ Allāh. Al-Rasāʾil al-ʿashr. [n.p]: [n.n], [n.d].
  • Majlisī, Muḥammad Bāqir al-. Biḥār al-anwār. Tehran: Dār al-Kutub al-Islāmīyya, [n.d].
  • Najafī, Muḥammad al-Ḥasan al-. Jawāhir al-kalām fī sharḥ sharāʾiʿ al-Islām. Beirut: Dār Iḥyāʾ al-Turāth al-ʿArabī, [n.d].
  • Shahīd al-Awwal, Muḥammad b. Makkī. Al-Bayān. Qom: Bunyād-i Imām Mahdī (a), 1412 AH.
  • Shahīd al-Thānī, Zayn al-Dīn b. ʿAlī. Al-Rawḍat al-bahiyya fī sharḥ al-lumʿat al-Dimashqiyya. Qom: Maktabat al-Dāwarī, [n.d].
  • Ṭūsī, Muḥamamd b. al-Ḥasan al-. Miṣbāḥ al-mutahajjid wa silāḥ al-mutaʿabbid. Beirut: Muʾassisat Fiqh al-Shīʿa, 1411 AH.


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