Al-Tijani Rejects the Hadith: “Salah was Reduced from Fifty to Five”

Al Tijani Rejects the Hadith: “Salah was Reduced from Fifty to Five”

Amongst his deceptions is that he raises doubts concerning the most authentic hadith and a hadith which is accepted by both parties, i.e. the hadith which explains that salah was reduced from fifty salah to five. These are his exact words:

وأخرج البخاري في صحيحه قصة عجيبة وغريبة تحكي معراج النبي ولقاءه مع ربه ، وفيها يقول الرسول ثم فرضت عليّ خمسون صلاة فأقبلت حتى جئت موسى ، فقال: ما صنعت؟ قلت: فرضت عليّ خمسون صلاة . قال: أنا أعلم بالناس منك عالجت بني اسرائيـل أشد المـعالجة وإن أمتـك لا تـطيق، فـارجع إلى ربـك فسلـه، فرجعت فسألته فجعلها أربعين ، ثم مثله، ثم ثلاثين ثم مثله فجعل عشرين، ثم مثله فجعل عشراً، فأتيت موسى فقال: مثله فجعلها خمساً، فأتيت موسى فقال: ما صنعت؟ قلت جعلها خمساً فقال مثله، قلت فسلمت فنودي إني قد أمضيت فريضتي وخففت عن عبادي وأجزي الحسنة عشراً

Al Bukhari narrates a weird and ridiculous story in his Sahih regarding the Mi’raj (ascension to the heavens) of the Prophet salla Llahu ‘alayhi wa sallam and his meeting with his Rabb. The narration includes the following, “The Messenger salla Llahu ‘alayhi wa sallam said, ‘Then fifty salah were made compulsory upon me. I began returning, until I met Musa who asked, ‘What did you do?’

I replied, ‘Fifty salah have been made compulsory upon me.’

He said, ‘I am more aware regarding people than you. I had a tough time with the Bani Isra’il. Your Ummah will not manage. Return to your Rabb and ask Him (to reduce it).’

Thus, I returned and asked Him to reduce it, so He made it forty. Thereafter the same transpired and He brought it down to thirty. The same happened for a third time due to which He dropped it to twenty. After the fourth time, He reduced it to ten. When I got to Musa, he again said the same thing, so He made it five.

When I reached Musa, he asked, ‘What did you do?’

I replied, ‘He reduced them to five and I accepted.’

It was announced, ‘I have affirmed my command, decreased (the effort) for my slaves and the reward of virtue will be multiplied tenfold.’”

وفي رواية أخرى نقلها البخاري أيضاً، وبعد مراجعة محمد ربه عديد المرات وبعد فرض الخمس صلوات، طلب موسى من محمد أن يراجع ربه للتخفيف لأن أمته لا تطيق حتى الخمس صلوات ، ولكن محمد أجابه: قد استحييت من ربي .

نعم اقرأ وأعجب من هذه العقائد التي يقول بها علماء السنة والجماعة، ومع ذلك فهم يشنعون على الشيعة أتباع أئمة أهل البيت في القول بالبداء .

وهم في هذه القصة يعتقدون بأن الله سبحانه فرض على محمد وأمته خمسين صلاة، ثم بدا له بعد مراجعة محمد إياه أن يجعلها أربعين،ثم بدا له بعد مراجعة ثانية أن جعلها ثلاثين، ثم بدا له بعد مراجعة ثالثة أن جعلها عشرين ثم بدا له بعد مراجعة رابعة أن جعلها عشراً، ثم بدا له بعد مراجعة خامسة أن جعلها خمساً.

ومن يدري لولا استحياء محمد من ربه لجعلها واحدة، أو لأسقطها تماماً

Another narration, reported by al Bukhari as well, states that after Muhammad repeatedly went back to His Rabb, and after the number was fixed at five, Musa still told Muhammad to ask his Rabb to reduce it, as his Ummah would not even manage five salah. However, Muhammad replied by saying, “I feel shy of my Rabb”.

O reader, read and express your surprise at the beliefs held by the scholars of the Ahlus Sunnah wa l-Jama’ah. Despite this, they criticise the Shia, the followers of the Imams of the Ahlul Bayt on account of their belief in Bada ^[1]. On the basis of this story, they believe that Allah stipulated fifty salah upon the Ummah. Thereafter, upon the request of Muhammad, He thought it appropriate to reduce it to forty. After another request he realised that He should reduce it to thirty. A third request resulted in Him making it twenty, a fourth request ten and finally upon the fifth request He understood that He should keep it to five. Who knows, maybe if Muhammad was not shy of his Rabb, he might have brought it down to one, or He might have even cancelled them completely.^[2]

I seek Allah’s forgiveness regarding this foul statement. It is not due to their belief in bada that I am condemning them…

Al Tijani continues:

ولكن تشنيعي أنا لهذه القصة بالذات وهي – مساومة محمدربه في فرض الصلوات – لما فيها من نسبة الجهل إلى اللهومن انتقاص لشخصية أعظم إنسان عرفه تاريخ البشرية، وهو نبينا محمدإذ تقول الرواية بأن موسى قال لمحمد: أنا أعلم بالناس منك. وتجعل هذا الرواية الفضل والمزية لموسى الذي لولاه لما خفف الله عن أمة محمد . ولست أدري كيف يعلم موسى بأن أمة محمد لا تطيق حتى خمس صلوات في حين أن الله لا يعلم ذلك ويكلف عباده بما لا يطيقون فيفرض عليهم خمسين صلاة؟! وهل تتصوّر معي أخي القارئ كيف تكون خمسين صلاة في اليوم الواحد فلا شغل ولا عمل ، ولا دراسة ولا طلب الرزق ولا سعي ولا مسئوولية، فيصبح الإنسان كالملائكة مكـلف بالصلاة والعبـادة، ومـا عليك إلا بعملية حسابية بسيطة لتعرف عدم صحـة هذه الروايـة، فـإذا ضربـت عشر دقائق – وهو الوقت المعقول لإداء فريضة واحدة للصلاة الجماعة- في الخمسين فسيكون الوقت المفروض بمقدار عشر ساعات، وما عليك إلا بالصبر، أو أنك ترفض هذا الدين الذي يكلف أتباعه فوق ما يتحملون ويفرض عليهم ما لا يطيقون، ولعل أهل الكتاب من يهود ونصارى عذرهم مقبول في التمرد على موسى وعيسى ولكن أي عذر يبقى لهم في اتباع محمد الذي وضع عنهم اصرهم والأغلال التي كانت عليهم ، فإذا كان أهل السنة والجماعة يشنعون على الشيعة قولهم بالبداء، وأن الله سبحانه يبدو له فيغير ويبدل كيف يشاء فلماذا لا يشنعون على أنفسهم في قولهم بأن الله سبحانه يبدو له فيغير ويبدل الحكم خمس مرّات في فريضة واحدة وفي ليلة واحدة وهي ليلة المعراج …

I have problems with this story itself. How could Muhammad salla Llahu ‘alayhi wa sallam bargain with his Rabb regarding the stipulation of salah? That is an attribution of ignorance to Allah. Secondly, it belittles the greatest person known to human history, i.e., our Prophet-Muhammad salla Llahu ‘alayhi wa sallam. The narration says that Musa said to him, “I am more aware regarding people than you.” This narration attributes a distinguishing virtue and merit to Musa, as if to say that had it not been for him, Allah would have never lessened the salah upon the Ummah of Muhammad salla Llahu ‘alayhi wa sallam.

Further, I have no idea how Musa^[3] knew that the Ummah of Muhammad will not even be able to perform five salah, whereas Allah did not know that and He stipulated for them fifty! Can anyone assist me in trying to understand how would fifty salah fit in one day? Will there be no work, studies, seeking of sustenance, effort or responsibility? Humans would then be like the angels, having no responsibility except salah and worship!

All you need to do is a simple calculation of a (daily) schedule to realise the falseness of this narration.^[4] If you multiply ten minutes (the minimum time required to perform one compulsory salah with the congregation) by fifty, you will find that the compulsory salah require ten hours. Either you will need a lot of patience or you will bid farewell to this religion which burdens its followers with tasks beyond their capabilities. The Jews and Christians might be excused for rebelling against Musa and ‘Isa, but what excuse will they have for not following Muhammad salla Llahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, who removed their burdens and the difficulties which were placed upon them?

If the Ahlus Sunnah condemn the Shia for believing in Bada, i.e., Allah, the Most Sublime, learns (of happenings) and then changes (his decisions) according to His wish, then why do they not condemn themselves for believing that Allah, the Most Sublime, learnt and then changed His law five times in one night regarding one command, i.e. the night of Mi’raj?^[5]

Our comment: Allah is indeed above all shortcomings! The ignorance of Al Tijani is indeed extraordinary! He wishes to prove his point by saying that time does not permit for fifty salah to be performed in twenty-four hours, yet he does not raise an objection against his Imams, who were reported to perform one thousand raka’at in twenty-four hours! Al Hurr al ‘Amili has a chapter titled, “It is commendable to perform one thousand raka’at for the day and night, and if possible then for each of them”. In this chapter, he quotes nine ahadith from the Imams of the Ahlul Bayt. You may refer to it.^[6] Another chapter is titled, “It is commendable to perform one thousand raka’at for the day and night, and if possible then for each of them in the month of Ramadan as well as other months”.^[7] This chapter has one hadith.

Here is one of those ahadith. Abu Jafar al Baqir said:

والله إن كان علي (ع) ليأكل أكلة العبد -إلى أن قال- وكان يصلي في اليوم والليلة ألف ركعة .

By the oath of Allah, ‘Ali would eat the meal of a slave… and he would perform one thousand raka’at during the day and night.^[8]

Al Majlisi also reports:

وعنه أنه قال: كان علي بن الحسين يصلّي في اليوم والليلة ألف ركعة كما كان يفعل أمير المؤمنين ..

He also narrates, “‘Ali ibn Hussain would perform in one day and night one thousand raka’at, just as Amir al Mu’minin would do.”^[9]

The only case in which that would be possible, is if he performed salah like the pecking of a crow, which is the salah of the hypocrites. Undoubtedly, ‘Ali radiya Llahu ‘anhu was free from this. Why is there any objection against fifty salah, when this is the distinguishing act of the Shia? Their scholar al Saduq, reports from Abu Basir who reports from al Sadiq:

شيعتنا أهل الورع – إلى أن قال – وأهل الزهد والعبادة أصحاب إحدى وخمسين ركعة في اليوم والليلة!!!

Our Shia are scrupulous people… ascetics, and worshippers. They are the ones who perform fifty-one raka’at within every twenty-four hours.^[10]

In fact, the sum total of the compulsory and optional prayers adds up to fifty-one according to the Shia. Mirza Hussain al Ha’iri states in his book, under the chapter, “daily optional prayers”:

وأما النوافل اليومية فمجموعها ضعف مجموعة فرائضها، فهي 34 ركعة

The daily optional prayers add up to double the amount of the obligatory ones. They are 34 raka’at.^[11]

Another question that we would like to pose to al Tijani is, “Did you peek into the knowledge of the unseen to determine the manner in which the fifty obligatory salah were to be performed?” Let us rather try to work out a schedule in which one thousand raka’at could be performed. If we dedicate just two minutes to every rak’ah, we will need a minimum of two thousand minutes. If two thousand minutes are divided by sixty, we get a total of thirty-three hours. This is equivalent to one and a half days. When did the Imam find time to perform his obligatory salah? Did he have any time working, teaching, etc.?

Indeed, Allah’s words describe these people quite aptly. He says:

خَتَمَ اللّٰهُ عَلٰى قُلُوْبِهِمْ وَعَلٰى سَمْعِهِمْ وَ عَلٰى أَبْصَارِهِمْ غِشٰـوَةٌ

Allah has set a seal upon their hearts and upon their hearing, and over their vision is a veil.^[12]

Al Tijani said, “On the basis of this story, the Ahlus Sunnah believe that Allah stipulated fifty salah upon the Ummah. Thereafter, upon the request of Muhammad…”

Our comment: This type of narration is found in abundance in the fiqh, hadith, and tafsir books of the Shia. Their scholars have counted this as one of the miracles of the Prophet salla Llahu ‘alayhi wa sallam. We present to you, O objective reader, the narrations of those who are considered by them to be beyond mistakes and forgetfulness. Ibn Babuwayh al Qummi (al Saduq) reports from Hussain ibn ‘Alwan ibn ‘Amr ibn Khalid — Zaid ibn ‘Ali says:

سألت أبي سيد العابدين(ع) فقلت له يا أبت أخبرني عن جدّنا رسول الله لما عرج به إلى السماء أمره ربه بخمسين صلاة كيف لم يساله التخفيف عن أمته حتى قال له موسى بن عمران ارجع إلى ربك فاسأله التخفيف فإن أمتك لا تطيق ذلك فقال يا بني أن رسول الله كان لا يقترح على ربه ولا يراجعه في شيئ يأمره به فلما سأله موسى (ع) ذلك فكان شفيعاً لأمته إليه لم يجز له رد شفاعة أخيه موسى فرجع إلى ربه فسأله التخفيف إلى أن ردّها إلى خمس صلوات قال: قلت له يا أبه فلم لا يرجع إلى ربه ويسأله التخفيف عن خمس صلوات وقد سأله موسى(ع) أن يرجع إلى ربه ويسأله التخفيف؟ فقال له : يا بني أراد أن يحصل لأمته التخفيف مع أجر خمسين صلاة يقول الله من جاء بالحسنة فله عشرة أمثالها

I asked my father, the leader of the worshippers, “O my beloved father, tell me about our grandfather, the Messenger salla Llahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, when he was raised to the sky. Why did he not ask his Rabb to reduce the number for his Ummah when He ordered fifty salah, until Musa ibn ‘Imran told him, ‘Go back to your Rabb and ask Him to reduce it, as your Ummah will not manage that?’”

He replied, “O my beloved son, the Messenger salla Llahu ‘alayhi wa sallam would not object or negotiate anything with his Rabb. When Musa asked him that, he done so in the capacity of an intercessor on behalf of his Ummah. Thus, he did not want to reject the intercession of his brother, Musa. Therefore, he returned to his Rabb to ask him to reduce the amount until it was reduced to five salah.”

I asked him, “Why then did he not return to his Rabb to ask that it should be reduced from five, even though Musa asked him to do so?”

He replied, “He wished that his Ummah should be granted ease and still acquire the reward of fifty salah. Allah says, ‘Whoever comes [on the Day of Judgement] with a good deed will have ten times the like thereof [to his credit].’”^[13]

Your own Imam admits that this reduction was on account of the mercy and compassion of Allah towards His believing slaves. Why then do you display ignorance?

Al Tuwaysirkani comments on this narration:

أقول: والوجه أن من جاء من هذه الأمة المرحومة بالحسنة فله عشر أمثالها وقد مـرّ حديث مبسوط … وما يدل على سهولة أمر التوبة لهذه الأمة وصعوبتها على الأمم الماضية مضافاً إلى ما مـرّ فيه … ومما يشعر بفضل التوبة أن الله جعل صاحب اليمين أميراً على صاحب الشمال مما دلّ أن مطلق الحسنة من هذه الأمة يكتب لعامله عشراً

I say; the reason is that whoever from this Ummah, who have been shown mercy, does one good deed, he will be rewarded tenfold. A lengthy hadith has already passed… That which indicates the ease of repenting for this Ummah and the difficulty thereof for the previous Ummah’s compared to that which passed regarding it… the virtue of repentance is highlighted by the fact that Allah made the person of the right a leader over the person of the left. This indicates that a normal good act is written as ten acts for the one who carries it out from this Ummah.^[14]

We will suffice upon this verdict passed by their most revered jurist, the great Ayatollah al Mirza al Sheikh Jawad al Tabrezi in his book Sirat al Najah fi Ajwibat al Istifta’at:

قال السائل: ما رأيكم في الرواية التي يذكرها القمي في تفسيره، عن أبيه،عن ابن أبي عمير عن هشام بن سالم، عن أبي عبد الله (ع) التي يذكر أن النبي في انحداره ليلة المعراج مرّ على الكليم فسأله عما فرض الله تعالى على أمته، فأجابه خمسون صلاة فقال: إن أمتك لا تقدر عليها فأرجع إلى ربك … فرجع إلى ربه حتى بلغ سدرة المنتهى …. الرواية . هل هي معتبرة من جهة الدلالة أم لا ؟

قال سماحتهم التبريزي:( الرواية بحسب السند لا بأس بها، فقد رواها الصدوق في “الفقيه” أيضاً وقد رود في بعض الروايات، أن النبي طلب من ربّه تخفيف الصلاة عن الأمة، فخففها الله سبحانه إلى عشر ركعات، ثم أضاف إليها النبي سبع ركعات، وطلبه هذا الأمر من ربّه فهو لإشفاقه على الأمة، وأجاب ربّه إليه فهو كرامة له..

The person asked, “What is your opinion regarding the narration mentioned by al Qummi in his Tafsir from his father — Ibn Abi ‘Umair — Hisham ibn Salim — Imam Jafar? In it, he mentions that whilst the Messenger salla Llahu ‘alayhi wa sallam was descending on the night of Mi’raj, he came across al Kalim (Musa ‘alayh al Salam), who asked him what was it that Allah had ordained upon his Ummah. He replied that it was fifty salah. Al Kalim responded, “Your Ummah will not cope with that, return to your Rabb.” He returned to his Rabb, to the Sidrat al Muntaha… is this narration acceptable despite the indications therein?^[15]

The honourable al Tabrezi replied, “The narration has no short-coming as far as the chain is concerned. Al Saduq has also narrated it in al Faqih. Also, it appears in some narrations that the Prophet salla Llahu ‘alayhi wa sallam asked his Rabb to decrease the (amount of raka’at in) salah for his Ummah. Thus, Allah decreased it to ten raka’at. Then, he added on seven raka’at and asked his Rabb to accept this. Therefore, it is on account of his compassion for his Ummah and his Rabb accepted his request, so that is in honour of him.”

What is the opinion of Al Tijani regarding this narration and the verdict that was passed by his scholar? Will he be allowed to criticise the ahadith of the Imams of the Ahlul Bayt just as he accused and criticised al Bukhari and found fault with this authentic hadith? In this manner, it has become evident that al Tijani has very little knowledge regarding hadith and their narrators. He lacks the basic qualifications thereof. Therefore, do not be intimidated by his deviation, i.e., the ‘guidance’ that he claims to have found.

NEXT⇒ Conclusion

^[1] An absolutely blasphemous Shia doctrine which suggests that Allah, the All-Knowing, learns of events only as they happen, i.e. He does not have knowledge regarding matters prior to their occurrence.

^[2] Al Tijani most probably found guidance in Shi’ism as a result of them abrogating salah. In fact, they have discarded all the other acts as well claiming that “Wilayah is greater than salah”. Al Kulayni reports in his Kafi (2/18-21) from Imam al Baqir that he said:

بني الاسلام على خمس : على الصلاة ، والزكاة، والصوم ،والحج ، الولاية ، ولم ينادي بشيئ كما نودي بالولاية

Islam is based on five pillars; salah, zakat, sawm, hajj and Wilayah. Nothing has been announced as much as Wilayah.

Another narration (al Kafi 2/18) states:

بني الاسلام على خمسة أشياء : على الصلاة ، والزكاة،والحج، والصوم،والولاية قال زرارة : فقلت : وأي شيئ من ذلك أفضل؟ فقال الولاية أفضل!!

Islam is based on five pillars; salah, zakat, sawm, hajj and Wilayah.

Zurarah asked, “Which of them is most virtuous?”

He replied, “Wilayah.”

^[3] If you do not know, then that is indeed a calamity and if you do know, then the calamity is even greater! Do you not claim that your Imams have knowledge regarding the unseen? Al Kulayni has a chapter. “The imams know all that took place, and all that will take place, nothing remains hidden from them.” Here is one of their many narrations in which it is claimed that Jafar had more knowledge than Musa as well as Khidr! Saif al Tammar says:

كنّا مع أبي عبد الله جماعة من الشيعة في الحجر فقال: علينا عين؟ فالتفتنا يمنه ويسره فلم نر أحداً فقلنا: ليس علينا عين فقال: ورب الكعبة ورب البينة ثلاث مرّات لو كنت بين موسى والخضر لأخبرتهما أني أعلم منهما ولأنبأتهما بما ليس في أيديهما…

We, a group of Shia, were with Imam Jafar in the room. He asked, ‘Is there anyone spying on us?’ We looked to the right and left, but we did not see anyone so we said, “There is no one spying upon us.” He then said, ‘By the oath of the Rabb of the Ka’bah and the Rabb of proof (he said this thrice), if I was with Musa and Khidr, I would have told them that I am more learned than them and I would have informed them of things that they have no idea of.’

Refer to al Kafi (1/260-261 # 1), al Basa’ir (pg. 230 # 3). There is also a chapter in Basa’ir, ‘The Imams are more virtuous than Musa and Khidr’ Chapter 6 pg. 229; Tafsir al Burhan, 2/488 # 36; Tafsir al Safi, 3/252, Nur al Thaqalayn, 3/275.

Musa ‘alayh al Salam was aware that people like you will be found. You have switched from five salah to three. Al ‘Amili has a chapter in his book Wasa’il al Shia (3/160) titled, ‘The permissibility of joining two salah without a valid excuse’.

^[4] This is what ignorance and deviation does to a person. He has just ridiculed the narrations of the Ahlul Bayt, thereby destroying the religion of the Ahlul Bayt and doing away with their most authentic narrations. Take a lesson, o people of intelligence!

^[5] Li Akuna min al Sadiqin, pg. 152.

[6] Wasa’il al Shia, 3/71, the book on salah.

[7] Ibid., 5/176.

[8] Bihar al Anwar, 82/310 # 16.

[9] Bihar al Anwar, 41/15, # 6, 82/309 # 10.

^[10] Bihar al Anwar, 68/166 # 33, Mizan al Hikmah, 5/231 # 9931, Tafsir al Kanz, 8/472.

[11] Ahkam al Shia, 1/172.

^[12] Surah al Baqarah: 7

^[13] Al ‘Ilal, pg. 132 # 1, The reason why the Prophet salla Llahu ‘alayhi wa sallam did not ask his Rabb to reduce the number of salah from fifty for his Ummah until Musa asked him to, and the reason why he did not ask for any reduction after it was brought down to five; Bihar al Anwar, 3/320-321, 10/42-43, 82/257, 258, 297, 18/408, 303; Wasa’il al Shia, 3/7, 10-12; Ithbat al Huda, 1/257; al Masabih, 2/226 # 101; al Burhan, 2/393, 395, 397, 398; Tafsir al Kanz, 9/651; Man La Yahduruhu al Faqih, 1/125-126, 198 # 603; Nur al Thaqalayn, 3/111-112, 5/114 # 39; Tafsir al Qummi, 2/12; al Mizan, 13/6; al Anwar al No’maniyyah, 1/220; Rawdat al Wa’izin, 1/85; al Jawahir al Saniyyah, pg. 117.

[14] Al La’ali, 4/22-23, chapter the reason why fifty salah were made five but the reward of fifty will be written.

[15] Sirat al Najah fi Ajwibat al Istifta’at, 3/423, Question: 1233.

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