When the supper is brought and the prayer begins, one, should first take food.

Prayer said in a congregation is twenty-five degrees more excellent than prayer said by a single person. He (Abu Huraira further) said: The angels of the night and the angels of the day meet together. Abu Huraira said: Recite it you like:" Surely the recital of the Qur'an at dawn is witnessed" (al-Qur'an, xvii. 78).

The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) stood at `Arafah and said: `This is the place of standing and all of `Arafah is a place of standing.` Then he put Usamah behind him (on his mount) and moved on at a measured pace on his camel, and the people were urging their camels on, right and left. He did not turn to them, but he said: “Calmly, O people.` Then he came to Jam` and offered two prayers there - i.e., Maghrib and Isha`. Then he stayed there all night, and when morning came he stood at Quzah, and said: `This is Quzah. This is the place of standing and all of Jam’ is a place of standing.` Then he moved on and when he came to Muhassir, he struck his she-camel and she trotted until he crossed the valley, then he reined her in and put al-Fadl behind him (on his mount). He carried on until he came to the Jamrah. He stoned it, then he came to the place of sacrifice and said: “This is the place of sacrifice and all of Mina is a place of sacrifice.` Then a young woman of Khath`am came to him and said: My father is an old man and has become senile; he has lived until Allah made Hajj obligatory. Will it be acceptable if I perform Hajj on his behalf ? He said: `Yes; perform Hajj on behalf of your father.” And he turned al-Fadl`s neck. Al-`Abbas said to him: O Messenger of Allah (ﷺ), why did you turn the neck of your cousin? He said: `I saw a young man and a young woman and I was afraid that the Shaitan [might tempt] them.` A man came to him and said: O Messenger of Allah (ﷺ), I did tawaful-ifadah before shaving my head. He said: `Go ahead and shave your head or cut your hair, there is no problem.” And he came to Zamzam and said: `O Banu `Abdul-Muttalib, it is your right to draw water for pilgrims. Were it not that the people would overwhelm you, I would have drawn water myself.`

We prepared Nabidh for Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) in a waterskin, the upper part of which was tied and it (the waterskin) had a hole (in its lower part). We prepared the Nabidh in the morning and he drank it in the evening and we prepared the Nabidh in the night, and he would drink it in the morning.

Yahya related to me from Malik from Ibn Shihab that Abu Bakr ibn Sulayman ibn Abi Hathma said, "I have heard that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, prayed two rakas of one of the two day-ti me prayers, dhuhr or asr, and said the taslim after two rakas. Dhu'sh-Shamalayn said to him, 'Has the prayer been shortened, Messenger of Allah, or have you forgotten?' The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, 'The prayer has not been shortened and I have not forgotten.' Dhu'shShamalayn said, 'It was certainly one of those, Messenger of Allah.' The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, approached the people and said, 'Has Dh u'sh-Shamalayn spoken the truth?' They said, 'Yes, Messenger of Allah,' and the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, completed what remained of the prayer, and then said, 'Peace be upon you.' "

Some people dislike drinking whilst standing, but the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) did what I have done, and this is the wudoo’ of one who has not broken his wudoo’. An-Nazzal bin Sabrah said. I heard ‘Ali (رضي الله عنه)... and he narrated a similar hadeeth, except that he said: An earthenware jar with a handle was brought to him.

I heard the Prophet prohibiting them and afterwards saw him praying them. When he came in I sent the slavegirl to him telling her to say that Umm Salama sent this query, “Messenger of God, I heard you prohibiting these two, and I see you praying them.” He replied, “Daughter of Abu Umayya,* you have asked about the two rak'as after the afternoon prayer. Some people of ‘Abd Qais came and hindered me from praying the two rak'as which come after the noon prayer, so those are the two I have been praying.” * Abu Umayya was Umm Salama’s father. Although the slavegirl conveyed the query, the reply is given as if addressed directly to Umm Salama. (Bukhari and Muslim)

The Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) said: When the supper is served to any one of you and the prayer also begins. (in such a case) first take supper, and do not make haste (for prayer) till you have (taken the food).

The Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) said: Let the bedouin not gain upper band over you In regard to the name of your prayer, i. e. night prayer, for it is mentioned 'Isya' in the Book of Allah (i. e. the Qur'an). (The bedouin call it 'Atama because) they make delay in milling their she-camels.

I heard the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) say: Were it not that it would be too difficult for my ummah, I would have commanded them to use the siwak every time of prayer, and I would have delayed Isha` until the first third of the night had passed, because when the first third of the night has passed. Allah may he be exalted descends to the first heaven and stays there until dawn comes, and says: Is there any asking so that he might be given? Is there anyone praying so that he might be answered? Is there any sick person asking for healing so that he might be healed? Is there any sinner asking for forgiveness, so that he might be forgiven? A hadeeth like that of Abu Hurairah was narrated from `Ali bin Abi Talib (رضي الله عنه) from the Prophet (ﷺ) Abi Talib.

Humaid b. ‘Abd ar-Rahman b. ‘Auf said that one of the companions of the Prophet told how he decided when he was on a journey along with God’s Messenger that he must watch his prayer to see how he conducted it. When he had prayed the evening prayer, which is the 'atama, he lay down for a long period during the night, then awoke, looked at the horizon and said, “Our Lord, Thou hast not created this in vain…verily Thou dost not break Thy promise” (Al-Qur’an; 3:191,194). Then God's Messenger went to his couch from which he took out a toothstick, then poured out some water into a bowl from a skin vessel beside him, cleaned his teeth, and stood up and prayed, till it appeared to me that he prayed as long as he had slept. Then he lay down till it appeared to me that he slept as long as he had prayed. Then awakening and doing as he did the first time, he said the same as he had said. He did that three times before the dawn. Nasa’i transmitted it.

Do not let your animals and children go out when the sun sets until the first and the darkest part of the night is over, for the Satan is let loose with the sinking of the sun until the darkest part of the night is over.