In the name of Allah the Beneficent the Merciful
Peace, blessings and mercy of Allah be upon you.
Praise be to Allah, prayers and peace be upon His kind Messenger, family members, companions, and true followers till the Day of Judgment.
Calculating the night parts for the purpose of knowing the (`Ishaa) evening time, could be detected by either of the following ways: 1) The beginning of the night is at the sunset, and its end is at the rise of the dawn, and therefore, the last `Ishaa or evening time is at the midnight; or 2) The beginning of the night is at the sunset and its end is at the sunrise, and therefore, the last `Ishaa or evening time is at the third of the night. The dawn midnight equals almost the sun third of the night. However, calculating the night parts for the purpose of knowing the Divine Descent, for those who wish to pray, supplicate, and beseech Allah the Exalted at the time of Divine Descent to the First Heaven, could be detected by either of the two following ways: 1) The beginning of the night is at the sunset and its end is at the rise of the dawn, and therefore, the time of the Divine Descent is at the remaining third of the night; or 2) The beginning of the night is at the sunset and its end is at the sunrise, and therefore, the time of the Divine Descent is at the midnight. The sun midnight equals almost the dawn third of the night, should be understood from Sheikhul-Islam`s talk about this issue as it is conveyed in his book: Al-Ikhtiyarat: "And therefore, the night must be the one which its middle of its first third is the sunset, and its end is the sunrise, as well as the day which its middle is the first of sunrise, and its end is the sunset, because of the time division between day and night. The prophet`s saying, prayers and peace of Allah be upon him in one of two Hadiths: "Our Lord Descends to the First Heaven when it remains the third of the night", which ends with the dawn`s rise; and in the other Hadith when the middle of the night goes away, i.e. the night which ends with the sunrise, because if the sun night comes to its middle, then remains almost the dawn third of the night, and if it is said: defining the `Ishaa or evening time sometimes to the middle of the night, and some other times to its third, in this regard, then it would be al right". Allah knows best.
