What Is As-Salat Al-Wusta (The Middle Prayer)?
Question:
What Is As-Salat Al-Wusta?
Answer:
As-Salat Al-Wusta is the 'Asr Prayer. In an authentic Hadith, the Prophet sallAllaahu 'alayhi wa sallam said during the battle of Khandaq,
"They have kept us busy from As-Salat Al-Wusta." (Al-Bukhari no.4111 and Muslim no.627)
Without a doubt, that is the 'Asr prayer. "Wusta" literally means the middle number, but here it means the best.
Shaykh Muhammad bin Saalih al-`Uthaymeen
Fatawa Islamiyah, vol.7, p.107, DARUSSALAM