that the Prophet, peace and blessings of God be upon him, said: "Pray between the time the twilight disappears and the first third of the night" (5). [And in her other hadith: "They used to pray between the time the first twilight disappears and the first third of the night"] (6). This is because the first third of the night reconciles the narrations, and since the reports regarding the addition conflict, the first third of the night is preferable. The second narration is that its end is the middle of the night. This is the view of al-Thawrī, Ibn al-Mubārak, Abū Thawr, the People of Opinion (aṣḥāb al-raʾy), and one of the two views of al-Shāfiʿī, based on what was narrated from Anas [ibn Mālik] (7) who said: The Messenger of God, peace and blessings of God be upon him, delayed the ʿIshāʾ prayer until the middle of the night. Narrated by al-Bukhārī (8). And from Abū Saʿīd al-Khudrī, who said: The Messenger of God, peace and blessings of God be upon him, said: "Were it not for the weakness of the weak and the illness of the sick, I would have ordered this prayer to be delayed until the middle of the night." Narrated by Abū Dāwūd and al-Nasāʾī (9). And in the hadith of ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿAmr, from the Prophet, peace and blessings of God be upon him, he said: "The time for ʿIshāʾ is until the middle of the night." Narrated by Abū Dāwūd (10). The most appropriate course—if God Almighty wills—is not to delay it past the first third of the night, but if one delays it until the middle of the night, it is permissible. What is after the middle is the time of necessity (ḍarūra), and the ruling regarding it is the ruling of