Sunan Ibn Majah
Sunan Ibn Majah 200
حَدَّثَنَا أَبُو كُرَيْبٍ، مُحَمَّدُ بْنُ الْعَلاَءِ حَدَّثَنَا عَبْدُ اللَّهِ بْنُ إِسْمَاعِيلَ، عَنْ مُجَالِدٍ، عَنْ أَبِي الْوَدَّاكِ، عَنْ أَبِي سَعِيدٍ الْخُدْرِيِّ، قَالَ قَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ ـ صلى الله عليه وسلم ـ " إِنَّ اللَّهَ لَيَضْحَكُ إِلَى ثَلاَثَةٍ لِلصَّفِّ فِي الصَّلاَةِ وَلِلرَّجُلِ يُصَلِّي فِي جَوْفِ اللَّيْلِ وَلِلرَّجُلِ يُقَاتِلُ - أُرَاهُ قَالَ - خَلْفَ الْكَتِيبَةِ " .
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
Abu Kurayb Muhammad ibn al-Ala reported to us: Abdullah ibn Ismail reported to us, from Mujalid, from Abu al-Waddak, from Abu Said al-Khudri, who said: The Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him and grant him peace) said, ‘Allah indeed smiles upon three: the person standing in a row for prayer, the man who prays in the depths of the night, and the man who fights—he thought, he said—behind the battalion.’
Notes and open questions — unreviewed
The narrator expresses uncertainty (‘I think he said’) concerning the phrase about fighting behind the battalion.