'A'isha observed that the Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) used to observe prayer in the night and the last of his (night) prayer was Witr.

Allah sent (the Prophet) Muhammad and said:-- 'Say, No wage do I ask of you for this (Qur'an) nor am I one of the pretenders (i.e. a person who pretends things which do not exist). (38.68) When Allah's Apostle saw Quraish standing against him, he said, "O Allah! Help me against them by afflicting them with seven years of famine similar to the seven years (of famine) of Joseph. So they were afflicted with a year of drought that destroyed everything, and they ate bones and hides. (One of them said), "And they ate hides and dead animals, and (it seemed to them that) something like smoke was coming out of the earth. So Abu Sufyan came to the Prophet and said, "O Muhammad! Your people are on the verge of destruction! Please invoke Allah to relieve them." So the Prophet invoked Allah for them (and the famine disappeared). He said to them. "You will revert (to heathenism) after that." `Abdullah then recited: 'Then watch you for the Day that the sky will bring forth a kind of smoke plainly visible.......but truly you will revert (to disbelief).' He added, "Will the punishment be removed from them in the Hereafter? The smoke and the grasp and the Al-Lizam have all passed." One of the sub-narrater said, "The splitting of the moon." And another said, "The defeat of the Romans (has passed).

The Prophet said, "Look for (the Night of Qadr).

Yahya related to me from Malik from Hisham ibn Urwa from his father that Umar ibn al-Khattab wrote to Abu Musa al-Ashari that he should pray asr when the sun was still pure white so that a man could ride three farsakhs (before maghrib) and that he should pray Isha during the first third of the night, or, if he delayed it, then up until the middle of the night, and he warned him not to be forgetful.

Yahya related to me that Malik said, "I heard that Umar ibn al- Khattab said, 'A night in Rukba (a valley near Taif,) is more preferable to me than ten nights in ash-Sham.' "

Malik said, "He meant to lengthen and preserve their lives because of the severity of the plague in ash-Sham ."

Allah's Apostle was presented with two cups one containing wine and the other milk on the night of his night journey at Jerusalem. He looked at it and took the milk. Gabriel said, "Thanks to Allah Who guided you to the Fitra (i.e. Islam); if you had taken the wine, your followers would have gone astray.

The Prophet (p.b.u.h) offered the funeral prayer of a man one night after he was buried, he and his companions stood up (for the Prayer). He had asked them about him before standing, saying, "Who is this?" They said, "He is so and so and was buried last night." So all of them offered the funeral prayer.

Abu Dawud said: Malik was asked about the saying of the Prophet: "Provisions for the road what will serve for a day a night." He said: He should honor him, present him some gift, and protect him for a day and night, and hospitality for three days.

Once I went to Abu- Sa`id Al-Khudri and asked him, "Won't you come with us to the date-palm trees to have a talk?" So Abu Sa`id went out and I asked him, "Tell me what you heard from the Prophet about the Night of Qadr." Abu Sa`id replied, "Once Allah's Apostle performed I`tikaf (seclusion) on the first ten days of the month of Ramadan and we did the same with him. Gabriel came to him and said, 'The night you are looking for is ahead of you.' So the Prophet performed the I`tikaf in the middle (second) ten days of the month of Ramadan and we too performed I`tikaf with him. Gabriel came to him and said, 'The night which you are looking for is ahead of you.' In the morning of the 20th of Ramadan the Prophet delivered a sermon saying, 'Whoever has performed I`tikaf with me should continue it. I have been shown the Night of "Qadr", but have forgotten its date, but it is in the odd nights of the last ten nights. I saw in my dream that I was prostrating in mud and water.' In those days the roof of the mosque was made of branches of date-palm trees. At that time the sky was clear and no cloud was visible, but suddenly a cloud came and it rained. The Prophet led us in the prayer and I saw the traces of mud on the forehead and on the nose of Allah's Apostle. So it was the confirmation of that dream."

The Prophet (saws) said: The time limit for wiping over the socks for a traveller is three days (and three nights) and for a resident it is one day and one night.

Abu Dawud said: Another version adds: Had we requested him to extend (the period of wiping), he would have extended.

The Prophet (saws) entered al-Ji'ranah. He came to the mosque (there) and prayed as long as Allah desired; he then wore ihram. Then he rode his camel and faced Batn Sarif till he reached the way which leads to Medina. He returned from Mecca (at night to al-Ji'ranah) as if he had passed the night at Mecca.

The Qur'an is recited in every prayer and in those prayers in which Allah's Apostle recited aloud for us, we recite aloud in the same prayers for you; and the prayers in which the Prophet recited quietly, we recite quietly. If you recite "Al-Fatiha" only it is sufficient but if you recite something else in addition, it is better.

I asked Abu Sa`id, and he was a friend of mine, (about the Night of Qadr) and he said, "We practiced I`tikaf (seclusion in the mosque) in the middle third of the month of Ramadan with the Prophet . In the morning of the 20th of Ramadan, the Prophet came and addressed us and said, 'I was informed of (the date of the Night of Qadr) but I was caused to forget it; so search for it in the odd nights of the last ten nights of the month of Ramadan. (In the dream) I saw myself prostrating in mud and water (as a sign). So, whoever was in I`tikaf with me should return to it with me (for another 10-day's period)', and we returned. At that time there was no sign of clouds in the sky but suddenly a cloud came and it rained till rainwater started leaking through the roof of the mosque which was made of date-palm leaf stalks. Then the prayer was established and I saw Allah's Apostle prostrating in mud and water and I saw the traces of mud on his forehead."

Whenever the Prophet finished the (morning) prayer, he would face us and ask, "Who amongst you had a dream last night?" So if anyone had seen a dream he would narrate it. The Prophet would say: "Ma sha'a-llah" (An Arabic maxim meaning literally, 'What Allah wished,' and it indicates a good omen.) One day, he asked us whether anyone of us had seen a dream. We replied in the negative. The Prophet said, "But I had seen (a dream) last night that two men came to me, caught hold of my hands, and took me to the Sacred Land (Jerusalem). There, I saw a person sitting and another standing with an iron hook in his hand pushing it inside the mouth of the former till it reached the jawbone, and then tore off one side of his cheek, and then did the same with the other side; in the meantime the first side of his cheek became normal again and then he repeated the same operation again. I said, 'What is this?' They told me to proceed on and we went on till we came to a man Lying flat on his back, and another man standing at his head carrying a stone or a piece of rock, and crushing the head of the Lying man, with that stone. Whenever he struck him, the stone rolled away. The man went to pick it up and by the time he returned to him, the crushed head had returned to its normal state and the man came back and struck him again (and so on). I said, 'Who is this?' They told me to proceed on; so we proceeded on and passed by a hole like an oven; with a narrow top and wide bottom, and the fire was kindling underneath that hole. Whenever the fire-flame went up, the people were lifted up to such an extent that they about to get out of it, and whenever the fire got quieter, the people went down into it, and there were naked men and women in it. I said, 'Who is this?' They told me to proceed on. So we proceeded on till we reached a river of blood and a man was in it, and another man was standing at its bank with stones in front of him, facing the man standing in the river. Whenever the man in the river wanted to come out, the other one threw a stone in his mouth and caused him to retreat to his original position; and so whenever he wanted to come out the other would throw a stone in his mouth, and he would retreat to his original position. I asked, 'What is this?' They told me to proceed on and we did so till we reached a well-flourished green garden having a huge tree and near its root was sitting an old man with some children. (I saw) Another man near the tree with fire in front of him and he was kindling it up. Then they (i.e. my two companions) made me climb up the tree and made me enter a house, better than which I have ever seen. In it were some old men and young men, women and children. Then they took me out of this house and made me climb up the tree and made me enter another house that was better and superior (to the first) containing old and young people. I said to them (i.e. my two companions), 'You have made me ramble all the night. Tell me all about that I have seen.' They said, 'Yes. As for the one whose cheek you saw being torn away, he was a liar and he used to tell lies, and the people would report those lies on his authority till they spread all over the world. So, he will be punished like that till the Day of Resurrection. The one whose head you saw being crushed is the one whom Allah had given the knowledge of Qur'an (i.e. knowing it by heart) but he used to sleep at night (i.e. he did not recite it then) and did not use to act upon it (i.e. upon its orders etc.) by day; and so this punishment will go on till the Day of Resurrection. And those you saw in the hole (like oven) were adulterers (those men and women who commit illegal sexual intercourse). And those you saw in the river of blood were those dealing in Riba (usury). And the old man who was sitting at the base of the tree was Abraham and the little children around him were the offspring of the people. And the one who was kindling the fire was Malik, the gatekeeper of the Hell-fire. And the first house in which you have gone was the house of the common believers, and the second house was of the martyrs. I am Gabriel and this is Michael. Raise your head.' I raised my head and saw a thing like a cloud over me. They said, 'That is your place.' I said, 'Let me enter my place.' They said, 'You still have some life which you have not yet completed, and when you complete (that remaining portion of your life) you will then enter your place.' "

(the wife of the Prophet) Allah's Apostle used to pray (at night) in Ramadan.

The Prophet (saws) asked AbuBakr: When do you observe the witr?

He replied: I observe the witr prayer in the early hours of the night.

The Prophet (saws) asked Umar: When do you observe the witr?

He replied: At the end of the night.

He then said to AbuBakr: This has followed it with care; and he said to Umar: He has followed it with strength.

Abu Dawud said: That "it was given to servants to drink" means before it spoiled.

Abu Dawud said: Abu 'Umar Yahya al-Bahrani.

We presented ourselves along with Ibn `Abbas at the funeral procession of Maimuna at a place called Sarif. Ibn `Abbas said, "This is the wife of the Prophet so when you lift her bier, do not Jerk it or shake it much, but walk smoothly because the Prophet had nine wives and he used to observe the night turns with eight of them, and for one of them there was no night turn."

The Prophet (saws) said: May Allah have mercy on a man who gets up at night and prays, and awakens his wife; if she refuses, he should sprinkle water on her face. May Allah have mercy on a woman who gets up at night and prays, and awakens her husband; if he refuses, she would sprinkle water on his face.

Whenever Allah's Apostle intended to go on a journey, he used to draw lots among his wives and would take with him the one on whom the lot fell. He also used to fix for everyone of his wives a day and a night, but Sauda bint Zam`a gave her day and night to `Aisha, the wife of the Prophet intending thereby to please Allah's Apostle.

The Prophet (p.b.u.h) said, "Allow women to go to the Mosques at night."

The Prophet forbade going to one's family at night (on arrival from a journey).

The tradition (No 5045, about Tasbih Fatimah) has been transmitted by Ali to the same effect through a different chain of narrators.

This version adds: Ali said: I did not leave them (Tasbih Fatimah) since I heard them from the Messenger of Allah (saws) except on the night of Siffin, for I remembered them towards the end of the night and then I uttered them.

Yahya related to me from Malik from Yahya ibn Said from Ibn Shihab that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, stood up in the night and looked at the horizon of the sky. He said, "What treasures has the night opened? What trials have occurred? How many are dressed in this world and will be naked on the Day of Rising. Warn the women in their rooms."

On the night Allah's Apostle was taken on a night journey (Miraj) two cups, one containing wine and the other milk, were presented to him at Jerusalem. He looked at it and took the cup of milk. Gabriel said, "Praise be to Allah Who guided you to Al-Fitra (the right path); if you had taken (the cup of) wine, your nation would have gone astray."

Yahya related to me from Malik from Yahya ibn Said from Ata ibn Abi Rabah that a mawla of Asma bint Abi Bakr told him, "We arrived at Mina with Asma bint Abi Bakr at the end of the night, and I said to her, 'We have arrived at Mina at the end of the night,' and she said, 'We used to do that with one who was better than you.' "

The Prophet was vigilant one night and when he reached Medina, he said, "Would that a pious man from my companions guard me tonight!" Suddenly we heard the clatter of arms. He said, "Who is that? " He (The new comer) replied, " I am Sa`d bin Abi Waqqas and have come to guard you." So, the Prophet slept (that night).

Yahya related to me from Malik from Yahya ibn Said from Abd ar- Rahman ibn Hurmuz that Abdullah ibn Buhayna said, "The Messengerof Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, prayed dhuhr with us and he stood straight up after two rakas without sitting. When he had finished the prayer, he did two sajdas and then said the taslim after that."

Malik said, concerning someone who forgot in his prayer and stood up after he had completed four rakas and recited and then went into ruku and then, when he raised his head from ruku, remembered that he had already completed (his prayer), "He returns to a sitting position and does not do any sajda. If he has already done one sajda I do not think he should do the other. Then when his prayer is finished he does two sajdas from the sitting position after saying the taslim."

`Abdullah said, "Whenever we prayed behind the Prophet we used to recite (in sitting) 'Peace be on Gabriel, Michael, peace be on so and so. Once Allah's Apostle looked back at us and said, 'Allah Himself is As-Salam (Peace), and if anyone of you prays then he should say, at-Tahiyatu li l-lahi wa ssalawatu wa t-taiyibat. As-salamu `alalika aiyuha n-Nabiyu wa rahmatu l-lahi wa barakatuh. Assalamu `alaina wa `ala `ibadi l-lahi s-salihin. (All the compliments, prayers and good things are due to Allah; peace be on you, O Prophet, and Allah's mercy and blessings [be on you]. Peace be on us an on the pious subjects of Allah). (If you say that, it will reach all the subjects in the heaven and the earth). Ash-hadu al-la ilaha illa l-lah, wa ash-hadu anna Muhammadan `Abduhu wa Rasuluh. (I testify that there is no Deity [worthy of worship] but Allah, and I testify that Muhammad is His slave and His Apostle).

Once Allah's Apostle delayed the `Isha' prayer till `Umar informed him that the women and children had slept. The Prophet came out and said, "None except you from amongst the dwellers of earth is waiting for this prayer." In those days, there was no prayer except in Medina and they used to pray the `Isha' prayer between the disappearance of the twilight and the first third of the night.