(Establish worship at the two ends of the day and in some watches of the night. Lo! good deeds annul ill deeds…) [11:114].
Master Abu Mansur al-Baghdadi informed us> Abu 'Amr ibn Matar> Ibrahim ibn 'Ali> Yahya ibn Yahya> Abu'l-Ahwas> Simak> Ibrahim> 'Alqamah> al-Aswad> 'Abd Allah who said: “A man came to the Prophet, Allah bless him and give him peace, and said: 'O Messenger of Allah, I have fondled a woman at the end of Medina. However, I have touched her without making love to her; here I am, sentence me to whatever judgment you see fit!' 'Umar exclaimed: 'Allah had concealed your sin if only you had kept it concealed'. The Prophet, Allah bless him and give him peace, did not answer him. The man left. Another man went after him, called him back and recited to him this verse. One man asked: 'O Messenger of Allah, is this for him specifically?' He said: 'No, it is for all people' ”. This was narrated by Muslim from Yahya ibn Yahya and by Bukhari from Yazid ibn Zuray'.
'Amr ibn Abi 'Amr informed us> Muhammad ibn Makki> Muhammad ibn Yusuf> Muhammad ibn Isma'il> Bishr ibn Yazid ibn Zuray'> Sulayman al-Taymi> Abu 'Uthman al-Nahdi> Ibn Mas'ud who reported that a man kissed a woman after which he went to the Prophet, Allah bless him and give him peace, and informed him of what he did. Allah, exalted is He, then revealed this verse (Establish worship at the two ends of the day and in some watches of the night…) up to the end of the verse. The man asked: “Does this apply specifically to me?” He said: “It applies to whoever practises it from among my community”.
Muhammad ibn Musa ibn al-Fadl informed us> Muhammad ibn Ya'qub al-Umawi> al-'Abbas al-Duri> Ahmad ibn Hanbal al-Marwazi> Muhammad ibn al-Mubarak> Suwayd> 'Uthman ibn Mawhab> Musa ibn Talhah> Abu'l-Yusr ibn 'Amr who said: “A woman whose husband was sent with an army by the Prophet, Allah bless him and give him peace, came to me and said: 'I want to buy one silver coin worth of dates'. I liked the woman and so I said: 'I have in the house dates which are much better than these, so come with me'. I touched her and kissed her. I then went to the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, and related to him what happened. He said to me: 'You have betrayed a man who is fighting for the sake of Allah in relation to his wife with the like of this'. And he put his head down on me. I thought I was of the dwellers of hellfire and that Allah would never forgive me. But then Allah, exalted is He, revealed (Establish worship at the two ends of the day and in some watches of the night…). The Prophet, Allah bless him and give him peace, sent for me and recited it to me”.
Nasr ibn Bakr ibn Ahmad al-Wa'iz> Abu Sa'id 'Abd Allah ibn Muhammad al-Sijzi> Muhammad ibn Ayyub al-Razi> 'Ali ibn 'Uthman> Musa ibn Isma'il> 'Ubayd Allah ibn 'Asim (the wording is that of 'Ali)> Hammad ibn Salamah> 'Ali ibn Zayd> Yusuf ibn Mahran> Ibn 'Abbas who said: “A man went to 'Umar and said: 'A woman came to buy from me, I took her inside an antechamber and did with her everything except intercourse'. 'Umar said: 'Woe unto you, her husband is absent fighting for the sake of Allah!' I said: 'Yes, he is!' He said: 'Go to Abu Bakr [and see what he says]'. He went to Abu Bakr and he said exactly as 'Umar said. He said: 'Go to the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, and ask him'. He went to the Prophet, Allah bless him and give him peace, and related to him what he had already related to Abu Bakr and 'Umar. The Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace said: 'Is her husband away fighting for the sake of Allah?' When the man confirmed it, the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, did not speak with him. This verse was then revealed (Establish worship at the two ends of the day and in some watches of the night. Lo! good deeds annul ill deeds…), and the man asked: 'O Messenger of Allah, is this for me specifically or is it for everyone?' 'Umar struck his chest and said: 'No, it is for everyone'. The Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, laughed and said: ' 'Umar is right!' ”.
Abu Mansur informed us> Muhammad ibn Muhammad al-Tusi> 'Ali ibn 'Umar al-Hafiz> al-Husayn ibn Isma'il al-Mahamili> Yusuf ibn Musa> Jarir> 'Abd al-Malik ibn 'Umayr> 'Abd al-Rahman ibn Abi Layla> Mu'adh ibn Jabal who reported that he was sitting with the Prophet, Allah bless him and give him peace, when a man came and said: “O Messenger of Allah, what do you say about a man who touches a woman who is unlawful for him to touch, such that he does everything that a man usually does with his lawfully wedded wife, except that he does not have intercourse with her?” The Prophet, Allah bless him and give him peace, said to him: “Perform minor ritual ablutions properly and then stand up to pray”. Then, Allah, exalted is He, revealed this verse (Establish worship at the two ends of the day and in some watches of the night…) up to its end. Mu'adh ibn Jabal asked: “Is this for him specifically or for all Muslims?” He replied: “It is for all Muslims”.
Master Abu Tahir al-Ziyadi informed us> Hajib ibn Ahmad> 'Abd al-Rahim ibn Munib> al-Fadl ibn Musa al-Sinani> Sufyan al-Thawri> Simak ibn Harb> Ibrahim> 'Abd al-Rahman ibn Yazid> Ibn Mas'ud who said: “A man came to the Prophet, Allah bless him and give him peace, and said: 'O Messenger of Allah, I have fondled a woman except that I did not sleep with her'. Allah, exalted is He, revealed [as a response] (Establish worship at the two ends of the day and in some watches of the night. Lo! good deeds annul ill deeds)”.
Asbab Al-Nuzul by Al-Wahidi , trans. Mokrane Guezzou