The Holy Quran with Five Volume Commentary (Vol 1) — Page 382
CH. 2 AL-BAQARAH PT. 2 حفِظُوا عَلَى الصَّلَواتِ وَالصَّلوة Watch over Prayers, and. 239 الوسطى وَقَوْمُوا لِلهِ قَتِينَ. the middle Prayer, and stand before Allah submissively. 245 "23:10; 70:35. particularly; but it may, in its broader significance, apply to all-husbands, wives and guardians. 245. Important Words: married people to be regular and punctual in their Prayers. the Middle Prayer) has) الصلوة الوسطى حفظ watch is derived from حافظوا They say abi. e. he preserved it, or he guarded or protected it, or he prevented it from perishing or means, he حفظ القرآن becoming lost memorized the Quran, i. e. he learned it by heart. (means, he watched over the thing; he attended to it carefully and constantly (Tāj). (submissively) is derived from for which see 2:117. The word conveys, among others, three important meanings: (1) standing motionless, (2) refraining from speech and (3) standing submissively (Lane). All these meanings are applicable here. Commentary: been differently explained. According to some commentators it is the Tahajjud Prayer, and according to others, it is the morning Prayer, while according to yet others, it is the late afternoon or 'Așr Prayer. The latter view is supported by some of the sayings of the Holy Prophet. For it is on record that on his missing the right time of the ‘Așr Prayer, when engaged in repelling the repeated attacks of the enemy in the Battle of the Ditch, and having been obliged to combine it with the Maghrib or the sunset Prayer, the Holy Prophet is reported to have said: "May God curse the Jews (who were mostly responsible for this battle)! They have prevented us from saying our Middle Prayer in time" (Bukhārī). Truly speaking, however, the "Middle Prayer" is the Prayer which happens to fall within busy hours. In the above-quoted tradition, the Holy Prophet called the 'Asr the "Middle Prayer," because it fell within extraordinarily busy hours. The Quran has placed this verse here to point out firstly, that married life, and for that matter any life however busy, should not make man slack in the observance of Prayers, and secondly, that like this verse, the Middle Prayer urging is one which is surrounded by This verse which stresses the importance of, and regularity in, Prayers appears to be rather oddly placed, being wedged in between verses relating to conjugal relations. But the very context of it explains the deep philosophy of its meaning. After marriage one is apt to become a little lax in Prayers, particularly the supererogatory Tahajjud Prayer (said in the latter part of the night). Besides, family life multiplies the cares of both man and woman. Hence, the necessity of 382