Assalamu Alaykum Wa Rahmatullahi Wa Barakatuh
All praise and gratitude are due to Allah SWT. May the blessings and peace of Allah SWT be upon His Messenger PBUH.
There are differences of opinion with the schools of thought regarding the end time of the Ishaa prayer. The difference of opinion stems out of what may seem like a contradiction between multiple Hadith narrations surrounding this topic. The most correct way to approach the matter is to understand the narrations holistically.
The prayer times are mostly derived from the Hadith of Jibreel (AS) where he prayed with the Prophet (PBUH) over two days. The first day, the Prophet (PBUH) and Jibreel (AS) prayed at the beginning of each prayer time, and on the second at the end of each prayer time.
The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: Jibreel (ﷺ) led me in prayer at the House (i.e. the Ka’bah). He prayed the noon prayer with me when the sun had passed the meridian to the extent of the thong of a sandal (i.e. the sun had just passed the meridian); he prayed the afternoon prayer with me when the shadow of everything was as long as itself; he prayed the sunset prayer with me when one who is fasting breaks the fast; he prayed the night prayer with me when the twilight had ended; and he prayed the dawn prayer with me when food and drink become forbidden to one who is keeping the fast. On the following day he prayed the noon prayer with me when his shadow was as long as himself; he prayed the afternoon prayer with me when his shadow was twice as long as himself; he prayed the sunset prayer at the time when one who is fasting breaks the fast; he prayed the night prayer with me when about the third of the night had passed; and he prayed the dawn prayer with me when there was a fair amount of light. Then turning to me he said: Muhammad, this is the time observed by the prophets before you, and the time is anywhere between two times. (Sunnan Abi Dawud: 393)
However, this is not the only hadith that has been narrated regarding prayer times. There are other narrations that specify the Prophet delaying the Ishaa prayer to the first third of the night or half the night.
‘Abdullah b. ‘Umar said: We waited one night in expectation of God’s Messenger for the last prayer of the evening, and he came out to us the first third of the night had passed, or later; we did not know whether he had been occupied with family business, or something else. When he came out he said, “You are waiting for a time of prayer for which the followers of no other religion wait, and were it not that it would impose a burden on my people, I would normally pray with them at this time.” He then gave orders to the mu’adhin who declared that the time for prayer had come, and then prayed (Mishkat al-Masabih: 616).
There is also a hadith narrated by Abu Huraira where the Prophet PBUH said, “A prayer’s time [endures] so long as the next prayer’s time does not enter” (Muslim).
And in another narration, the Prophet PBUH said, “There is no remissness (or negligence) in sleep, it is only when one is awake that there is remissness when you delay saying the prayer till the time for the next prayer comes” (Sunnan Abi Dawud: 441).
From the first two narrations quoted above, one can derive that Ishaa prayer time ends with the first third of the night. However, we can also derive from the subsequent narrations that the Ishaa prayer does not end until the next prayer (Fajr) enters. This is also true as the legal rulings surrounding the timing of the prayer are in line with such timings. For example, a person who accepts Islam one hour before Fajr is obligated to pray the Ishaa prayer. In the same vein, a woman whose menses ends one hour before Fajr is obligated to pray the Ishaa prayer.
To summarise, the prayer time for Ishaa has 4 categories.
- Virtuous
- Preferred
- Permissible
- Exception
The virtuous time for Ishaa prayer is directly after the ahan has been made and the time for Ishaa enters. However, it is permissible to wait after this time momentarily if it is for some purposes, such as to wait for a jama’ah prayer, or increase the number of people in a jama’ah.
The preferred time to pray is after the first category to the first third of the night.
The permissible time to pray Ishaa is until Fajr time ushers in.
The exception is to pray Ishaa during the time for Maghreb prayer, when one combines the prayer for travel or excessive rain.
Imam An-Nawawi has also clarified that whilst the time until the first third or middle of the night is the time of choice for performing Ishaa, the time of permissibility is until Fajr. It should be noted, however, that according to the Hanbali school, it is forbidden to delay the Ishaa prayer beyond the preferred time without a valid excuse. (Al-Bayhaqi in As-Sunan, Al-Mardawi in Al-Insaaf).
Whilst maintaining the permissibility to pray Ishaa any time before Fajr, one should strive to pray Ishaa in its virtuous and preferred times as this is the Sunnah of the Prophet PBUH.
And Allah knows best.