The Book of Prayer - Travellers

كتاب صلاة المسافرين وقصرها

Chapter 17: Night prayers and the number of rak`ah offered by the Prophet (saws) at night, and that Witr is one rak`ah, and a one-rak`ah prayer is correct

'A'isha reported

Never did the earlier part of the dawn find the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) but sleeping in my house or near me.

'A'isha reported

When the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) had prayed the two rak'ahs (Sunan) of the dawn prayer, he would talk to me if I was awake, otherwise he would lie down.

A hadith like this has been narrated by 'A'isha by another chain of transmitters.

'A'isha reported

The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) used to pray in the night and when he observed Witr, he said to me: O 'A'isha, get up and observe Witr.

'A'isha reported that the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) used to offer prayer at night while she lay in front of him, and when the Witr prayer was yet to be observed, he would awaken her and she observed Witr.

'A'isha reported

The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) observed the Witr prayer every night and he completed Witr at the time of dawn.

Masruq reported on the authority of 'A'isha that she said that the Messenger Of Allah (ﷺ) used to observe the Witr prayer every night, maybe in the early part of night, at midnight and in the latter part, finishing his Witr at dawn.

'A'isha reported that the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) used to observe Witr every night, and he would (at times) complete his Witr at the end of the night.

Chapter 18: Night prayer, and the one who sleeps and misses it or is sick

Sa'd b. Hisham b. 'Amir decided to participate in the expedition for the sake of Allah, so he came to Medina and he decided to dispose of his property there and buy arms and horses instead and fight against the Romans to the end of his life. When he came to Medina, he met the people of Medina. They dissuaded him to do such a thing, and informed him that a group of six men had decided to do so during the lifetime of the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) and the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) forbade them to do it, and said

Is there not for you a model pattern in me? And when they narrated this to him (Sa'd b. Hisham), he returned to his wife, though he had divorced her and made (people) witness to his reconciliation. He then came to Ibn 'Abbas and asked him about the Witr of the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ). Ibn 'Abbas said: Should I not lead you to one who knows best amongst the people of the world about the Witr of the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ)? He said: Who is it? He (Ibn 'Abbas) said: It is 'A'isha. So go to her and ask her (about Witr) and then come to me and inform me about her answer that she would give you. So I came to Hakim b. Aflah and requested him to take me to her. He said: I would not go to her, for I forbade her to speak anything (about the conflict) between the two groupS, but she refused (to accept my advice) and went (to participate in that corflict). I (requested) him (Hakim) with an oath to lead me to her. So we went to 'A'isha and we begged permission to meet her. She granted us permission and we went in. She said: Are you Hakim? (She recognised him.) He replied: Yes. She said: Who is there with you? He said: He is Sa'd b. Hisham. She said: Which Hisham? He said: He is Hisham b. 'Amir. She blessed him ('Amir) with mercy from Allah and spoke good of him (Qatada said that he died as a martyr in Uhud). I said: Mother of the Faithful, tell me about the character of the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ). She said: Don't you read the Qur'an? I said: Yes. Upon this she said: The character of the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) was the Qur'an. He said: I felt inclined to get up and not ask anything (further) till death. But then I changed my mind and said: Inform me about the observance (of the night prayer) of the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ). She said: Did you not recite:" O thou wrapped up"? He said: Yes. She said: Allah, the Exalted and the Glorious, made the observance of the night prayer at the beginning of this Surah obligatory. So the Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him and his Companions around him observed this (night prayer) for one year. Allah held back the concluding portion of this Surah for twelve months in the Heaven till (at the end of this period) Allah revealed the concluding verses of this Surah which lightened (the burden of this prayer), and the night prayer became a supererogatory prayer after being an obligatory one. I said: Mother of the Faithful, inform me about the Witr of the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ). She said: I used to prepare tooth stick for him and water for his ablution, and Allah would rouse him to the extent He wished during the night. He would use the tooth stick, and perform ablution, and would offer nine rak'ahs, and would not sit but in the eighth one and would remember Allah, and praise Him and supplicate Him, then he would get up without uttering the salutation and pray the ninth rak'ah. He would then sit, remember, praise Him and supplicate Him and then utter a salutation loud enough for us to hear. He would then pray two rak'ahs sitting after uttering the salutation, and that made eleven rak'ahs. O my son, but when the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) grew old and put on flesh, he observed Witr of seven, doing in the two rak'ahs as he had done formerly, and that made nine. O my son, and when the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) observed prayer, he liked to keep on observing it, and when sleep or pain overpowered him and made it impossible (for him) to observe prayer in the night, he prayed twelve rak'ahs daring the day. I am not aware of Allah's Prophet (ﷺ) having recited the whole Qur'an during one single night, or praying through the night till morning, or fasting a complete month, except Ramadan. He (the narrator) said: I then went to Ibn 'Abbas and narrated to him the hadith (transmitted from her), and he said: She says the truth If I went to her and got into her presence, I would have listened to it orally from her. He said: If I were to know that you do not go to her. I would not have transmitted this hadith to you narrated by her.

Zurara b. Aufa said that Sa'd b. Hisham divorced his wife, and then proceeded to Medina to sell his property, and the rest of the hadith is the same.

Sa'd b. Hisham reported

I went to 'Abdullah b. 'Abbas and asked him about the Witr prayer, and the rest of the hadith is the same as recorded in this event. She (Hadrat 'A'isha) said: Who is that Hisham? I said: Son of 'Amir. She said: What a fine man 'Amir was! He died as a martyr in the Battle of Uhud.

Zurara b. Aufa reported that Sa'd b. Hisham was his neighbour and he informed him that he had divorced his wife and he narrated the hadith like the one transmitted by Sa'd. She ('A'isha) said

Who is Hisham? He said: The son of 'Amir. She said: What a fine man he was; he participated in the Battle of Uhud along with the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ). Hakim b. Aflah said: If I ever knew that you do not go to 'A'isha, I would not have informed you about her hadith (So that you would have gone to her and heard it from her orally).

'A'isha reported that when the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) missed the night prayer due to pain or any other reason, he observed twelve rak'ahs during the daytime.

'A'isha reported that when the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) decided upon doing any act, he continued to do it, and when he slept at night or fell sick he observed twelve rak'ahs during the daytime. I am not aware of Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) observing prayer during the whole of the night till morning, or observing fast for a whole month continuously except that of Ramadan.

'Umar b. Khattab reported Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) as saying

Should anyone fall asleep and fail to recite his portion of the Qur'an, or a part of it, if he recites it between the dawn prayer and the noon prayer, it will be recorded for him as though he had recited it during the night.

Chapter 19: Salat al-Awwabin (the prayer of the penitent) is when the young camels feel the heat of the hot sand

Zaid b. Arqam, on seeing some people praying in the forenoon, said

They well know that prayer at another time than this is more excellent, for Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) said: The prayer of those who are penitent is observed when your weaned camels feel the heat of the sun.

Zaid b. Arqam reported that the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) went out to the people of Quba' and saw them observing prayer; upon this he said

The prayer of the penitent should be observed when the young weaned camels feel heat of the sun.

Chapter 20: The night prayers are two by two, and Witr is one rakah at the end of the night

Ibn 'Umar reported that a person asked the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) about the night prayer. The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said

Prayer during the night should consist of pairs of rak'ahs, but if one of you fears morning is near, he should pray one rak'ah which will make his prayer an odd number for him.

Salim reported on the authority of his father that a person asked the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) about the night prayer. He said

It consists of pairs of rak'ahs, but if one fears morning is near, he should make it an odd number by praying one rak'ah.

'Abdullah b. 'Umar reported

A man stood up and said. Messenger of Allah, how is the night prayer? The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: The night prayer consists of pair, but if you apprehend the rise of dawn, make it odd number by observing one rak'ah.