The middle prayer (al-salat al-wusta)

On 'guard the prayers and the middle prayer,' Sha'rawi sets out ways to identify the middle prayer. He holds that the law left it unnamed so that the believer guards all the prayers, and he reports that many scholars take it to be Maghrib. ^{1 2}

Sha'rawi notes the command to guard the prayers in al-Baqara 238, and holds that naming the middle prayer after the general command singles it out for special care. He takes 'wusta' to mean what lies between two sides in balance. ^{1 2}

He lists several: by count, as the third of the five; by the order of prescription, Dhuhr first, then Asr, Maghrib, Isha and Fajr, which makes Maghrib the middle; by rak'at, Fajr two, Dhuhr, Asr and Isha four, Maghrib three, which makes Maghrib the middle; and by the angels present, which he links to Fajr or Asr. ^{2 3}

Sha'rawi says God hid it so that each prayer may be the one a believer guards, as the Night of Power was left unnamed so that it became many nights. ³

The positions here are Sha'rawi's own and his report of scholars who take Maghrib, whom he does not name on this page. The jurists' and exegetes' texts, the academic view and any non-Sunni view have not yet been checked, so none is attributed beyond Sha'rawi's commentary.