Question:
He (the questioner) asks about a hadith in Sahih al-Bukhari 574. The hadith says: “Whoever prays the two cool prayers (al-bardayn) will enter Paradise.”
The question is: One of those prayers is Asr, but Asr time often feels very hot. There is no coolness then. So how should we understand the phrase “two cool prayers”?
What are the “two cool prayers”? The hadith uses the phrase al-bardayn, which literally means “the two cool times.”
Scholars explain that this refers to: Fajr prayer & Asr prayer
Fajr is clearly in the early morning when it is cool. But Asr may still feel warm. So why is it described as “cool”?
Answer:
To understand this, we must look at another hadith. The Prophetﷺ instructed that when the heat becomes extremely intense, the Dhuhr prayer should be delayed until it cools down a little.
This narration appears in Sahih al-Bukhari 538. The Prophetﷺ said: “Delay the Dhuhr prayer until it cools down.”
What does that mean? If Dhuhr begins around 12 noon, the heat at that time can be extremely intense. The sun is directly overhead, and the temperature may be unbearable.
The Prophetﷺ advised waiting until the heat reduces slightly before praying.
For example: At 12:00 PM the heat may be extremely intense. By 1:30 PM or 2:00 PM it becomes somewhat less severe. Even though it is still warm, compared to the extreme heat of noon it is relatively cooler.
Relative meaning of “cool”; In Arabic usage, “coolness” here is relative, not absolute. It does not mean the coolness of night or a hill station climate.
Rather it means: Compared to the scorching heat of midday, the time after that becomes relatively cooler. Since Asr occurs after Dhuhr, it comes after the worst heat has passed.
Therefore, it is described as one of the “cool prayers.” Another way to understand it. Think about it like this:
If midday heat is 40°C. Later in the afternoon it may drop to 33°C, that temperature may still feel warm but compared to the earlier extreme heat it is cooler. So, the hadith is using comparative language, not describing actual cold weather.
A misunderstanding people sometimes have Some people imagine “coolness” here as: the cold climate of mountain regions like Ooty or Kodaikanal or the chill of nighttime
That is not the intended meaning. In Islamic usage here, escaping the intense midday heat itself is considered coolness.