Ishraaq Prayer: Time and Reward

Answer:

All perfect praise be to Allah. Blessings and peace be upon Prophet Mohammad: Shorooq prayer is called “Ishraaq Prayer” by the Shafitee jurists, and some of them said it is the Dhuha(Forenoon) prayer while others said it isn`t. Ar-Ramli Ashaafii(May his soul rest in peace) said: “ Dhuha prayer is Ishraaq prayer as stated in his father`s Fatwa.”{Nihayat Al-Mohtajj}. On his part, Ibn Hajjar Al-Haitami said it isn`t. This is as reported by Ash-Sharwaani in “His marginal annotation on Tuhfat Al-Mohtajj.” That is because Anas narrated that the Messenger of Allaah said: “Whoever prays the Fajr prayer in congregation and then he remains sitting mentioning Allaah until the sun rises, and then he prays two Rak’ahs, will receive the reward of one Hajj and one ‘Umrah. The narrator said: the Prophet, said ''Complete, complete, complete" [At-Tirmithi, and he graded it Hasan (good)]. At-Tibi said: “ I.e.: then he prayed after the sun had risen as high as a spear so as to avoid the time when praying isn`t recommended, and this prayer is called Ishraaq prayer, and it comes at the beginning of Dhuha(Forenoon) time. Kindly refer to the book “ Maraat Al-Mafateeh” by Mabarrkfoori. Jurists are of the view that the time of Ishraaq prayer starts after the sun rises as high as a spear i.e. approximately fifteen minutes after sunrise, so as to avoid praying at prohibited times. There are five prohibited times for performing voluntary prayer as have been clarified in detail in the Hadeeth of ‘Uqbah ibn ‘Amir as he said, "The Messenger of Allaah forbade us to pray or to bury our dead during three particular times: when the sun rises until it is high in the horizon, when it is at its meridian until its goes past it and the shadows of objects start to appear and when it starts to set until it sets completely.” [Muslim] A Muslim who observes this prayer at its recommended time will receive a reward from Allah, whether it is called Dhuha, or Ishraaq prayer.