The Contradiction of Muhammad’s Alleged Heavenly Journey and the Obligation of Prayer

By Dr. Maxwell Shimba, Shimba Theological Institute

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Introduction

One of the most defining pillars of Islamic practice is Salat (ritual prayer). Muslims today pray five times a day as a central act of worship and as a sign of obedience to Allah. The traditional narrative links this fivefold obligation to Muhammad’s alleged heavenly journey (al-Isra’ wal-Mi’raj), in which Allah is said to have commanded prayer. Yet, when we examine the Qur’an—the supposed revealed word of Allah—we encounter an unexpected contradiction. The Qur’an clearly speaks of three daily prayer times, not five. This chapter explores the origins of this discrepancy, the role of Hadith in reshaping Islamic ritual practice, and the theological implications of Muslims following Muhammad’s word over Allah’s.

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The Qur’anic Mandate: Three Daily Prayers

The Qur’an frequently exhorts believers to establish prayer (aqim al-salat), but the specific times mentioned are strikingly few.

• Morning Prayer (Fajr)

  “So glorify Allah when you enter the morning and when you enter the evening.”
  (Surah Ar-Rum 30:17)

• Evening Prayer (Maghrib)

  “Establish prayer at the two ends of the day and at the approach of the night.”
  (Surah Hud 11:114)

• Night Prayer (Isha)

  “Establish the prayer at the decline of the sun until the darkness of the night, and the recitation of dawn.”
  (Surah Al-Isra 17:78)

From these passages, a clear pattern emerges: three obligatory times of prayer—morning, evening, and night. Early commentators such as al-Tabari and Fakhr al-Din al-Razi acknowledged these verses but later reconciled them with the Hadith tradition to justify five prayers.

The Qur’an itself never explicitly commands five daily prayers. Therefore, the fivefold system rests entirely on post-Qur’anic tradition.

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The Hadith Narrative: Muhammad’s Negotiated Revelation

According to Sahih Bukhari and Sahih Muslim, the five prayers originated in Muhammad’s alleged journey through the heavens. Initially, Allah demanded fifty prayers a day. Muhammad, descending from heaven, was advised by Moses to request reductions. After several rounds of bargaining, Allah settled on five.

Several issues emerge from this narrative:

1. Allah’s Inconsistency – A supposedly omniscient deity first commands fifty prayers, then reduces them upon negotiation, which undermines divine perfection.

2. Moses’ Superior Wisdom – Moses, not Muhammad, appears as the wise counselor, making the ritual obligation more practical.

3. Contradiction with the Qur’an – While the Qur’an prescribes three prayers, the Hadith insists on five.

This reveals the Hadith’s role as a corrective to the Qur’an, raising the question: Which holds ultimate authority—Allah’s revelation or Muhammad’s tradition?

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Historical Development of Islamic Prayer

Early Islamic history provides additional evidence of threefold prayer. Scholars such as Joseph Schacht and Patricia Crone note that early Muslims likely adapted prayer patterns from Jewish communities in Arabia, where morning and evening prayers were common. Christians, too, practiced regular prayer at set hours, often three times daily (cf. Daniel 6:10; Acts 3:1).

The fivefold system appears to have solidified later, under the influence of Hadith codification in the 8th–9th centuries CE. The reliance on oral traditions, many collected over a century after Muhammad’s death, reveals how ritual practice in Islam evolved to emphasize Muhammad’s authority over and above the Qur’an.

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Theological Contradictions

The discrepancy between the Qur’an and the Hadith creates several theological dilemmas:

1. Authority Crisis – If Allah revealed three prayers in the Qur’an, but Muhammad later imposed five through Hadith, then Muhammad becomes a co-legislator with Allah.

2. Reliability of Revelation – A perfect God should not contradict Himself. If the Qur’an is final revelation, it should not require supplementation by Hadith.

3. Muslim Obedience – In practice, Muslims obey Muhammad’s words (Hadith) more than Allah’s (Qur’an). This elevates Muhammad to near-divine authority.

This duality resembles a form of ditheism—the recognition of two sources of law, Allah and Muhammad, both competing for supremacy.

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Comparative Perspective: Prayer in Judaism and Christianity

Understanding Islamic prayer in a broader religious context highlights its derivative nature.

• Judaism: The Hebrew Bible records Daniel praying three times a day (Daniel 6:10). Rabbinic Judaism later established Shacharit (morning), Mincha (afternoon), and Maariv (evening), a threefold pattern strikingly similar to the Qur’an’s prescriptions.

• Christianity: Early Christians continued Jewish prayer cycles, often praying morning, noon, and evening. Acts 3:1 records Peter and John going to the temple “at the hour of prayer,” which was the ninth hour (afternoon). Monastic communities expanded this into seven canonical hours, but the threefold system remained a biblical base.

• Islam: The Qur’an reflects the same threefold tradition. The fivefold prayer system introduced later via Hadith appears as an expansion, lacking Qur’anic foundation.

Thus, Islam’s practice is best understood as a divergence from the Jewish-Christian pattern, driven more by Hadith tradition than divine revelation.

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Hadith Reliability and Its Problems

The reliance on Hadith for five daily prayers exposes a broader issue: the questionable reliability of Hadith literature. Compiled over a century after Muhammad’s death, Hadith collections were subject to fabrication, political influence, and sectarian conflict.

Even Muslim scholars such as al-Bukhari rejected hundreds of thousands of reports as spurious before producing his “authentic” collection. Yet, the very fact that Hadith are needed to supplement or even override the Qur’an raises questions about whether Islam’s central rituals rest on divine authority at all.

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Conclusion

The contradiction between the Qur’an’s instruction of three daily prayers and the Hadith’s imposition of five highlights a central flaw within Islamic theology. If Allah’s Qur’an is truly sufficient, why must Hadith dictate central acts of worship? The Mi’raj story, far from being evidence of divine majesty, exposes inconsistency, negotiation, and human intervention in shaping Islam’s most fundamental practices.

In the end, Muslims are faced with a choice: obey Allah’s Qur’an, which commands three prayers, or obey Muhammad’s Hadith, which commands five. The overwhelming preference for Hadith demonstrates that in practice, Muslims follow Muhammad over Allah. This undermines the claim of Islam as a purely monotheistic religion and reveals the human construction at its core.

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📖 References

• The Qur’an: Surah Hud 11:114; Surah Al-Isra 17:78; Surah Ar-Rum 30:17–18; Surah Taha 20:130.

• Sahih Bukhari, Book 8, Hadith 345.

• Sahih Muslim, Book 1, Hadith 309.

• Joseph Schacht, The Origins of Muhammadan Jurisprudence (Oxford University Press, 1950).

• Patricia Crone & Michael Cook, Hagarism: The Making of the Islamic World (Cambridge University Press, 1977).

• W. Montgomery Watt, Muhammad at Mecca (Oxford University Press, 1953).

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