The Book of Prayer (Travellers)

Abu Huraira reported Allah's Apostle (may peace be upon him) as saying When any one of you gets up at night, he should begin the prayer with two short rak'ahs.

Ibn Abbas reported that when the Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) got up during the night to pray, he used to say: O Allah, to Thee be the praise Thou art the light of the heavens and the earth. To Thee be the praise; Thou art the Supporter of the heavens and the earth. To Thee be the praise; Thou art the Lord of the heavens and the earth and whatever is therein. Thou art the Truth; Thy promise is True, the meeting with Thee is True. Paradise is true, Hell is true, the Hour is true. O Allah, I submit to Thee; affirm my faith in Thee; repose my trust in Thee, and I reurn to Thee for repentance; by Thy help I have disputed; and to Thee I have come for decision, so forgive me my earlier and later sins, the sins that I committed in secret and openly. Thou art my God. There is no god but Thee.

This hadith has been narrated on the authority of Ibn 'Abbas through another chain of transmitters and with slight alteration of two words. Instead of the word Qayyam (Supporter, as used in the above hadith here the word) Qayyim (the Custodian) has been used, and he (further said): " What I did in secret." And in the hadith narrated by Ibn 'Uyaina there is some addition.

This hadith has been narrated by Ibn 'Abbas by another chain of transmitters and the words are nearly the same (as recorded in the above-mentioned hadith).

'Abd al-Rahman b. 'Auf reported: I asked 'A'isha, the mother of the believers, (to tell me) the words with which the Apostle of Allah (may peace be upon him) commenced the prayer when he got up at night. She said: When he got up at night he would commence his prayer with these words: O Allah, Lord of Gabriel, and Michael, and Israfil, the Creator of the heavens and the earth, Who knowest the unseen and the seen; Thou decidest amongst Thy servants concerning their differences. Guide me with Thy permission in the divergent views (which the people) hold about Truth, for it is Thou Who guidest whom Thou wilt to the Straight Path.

'Ali b. Abu Talib reported that when the Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) got up at night for prayer he would say: I turn my face in complete devotion to One Who is the Originator of the heaven and the earth and I am not of the polytheists. Verily my prayer, my sacrifice, my living and my dying are for Allah, the Lord of the worlds; There is no partner with Him and this is what I have been commanded (to profess and believe) and I am of the believers. O Allah, Thou art the King, there is no god but Thee, Thou art my Lord, and I am Thy bondman. I wronged myself and make a confession of my Sin. Forgive all my sins, for no one forgives the sins but Thee, and guide me in the best of conduct for none but Thee guideth anyone (in) good conduct. Remove sins from me, for none else but Thou can remove sins from me. Here I am at Thy service, and Grace is to Thee and the whole of good is in Thine hand, and one cannot get nearneststo Thee through evil. My (power as well as existence) is due to Thee (Thine grace) and I turn to Thee (for supplication). Thou art blessed and Thou art exalted. I seek forgiveness from Thee and turn to Thee in repentance: and when he would bow, he would say: O Allah, it is for Thee that I bowed. I affirm my faith in Thee and I submit to Thee, and submit humbly before Thee my hearing, my eyesight, my marrow, my bone, my sinew; and when he would raise his head, he would say: O Allah, our Lord, praise is due to Thee, (the praise) with which is filled the heavens and the earth, and with which is filled that (space) which exists between them, and filled with anything that Thou desireth afterward. And when he prostrated himself, he (the Holy Prophet) would say: O Allah, it is to Thee that I prostrate myself and it is in Thee that I affirm my faith, and I submit to Thee. My face is submitted before One Who created it, and shaped it, and opened his faculties of hearing and seeing. Blessed is Allah, the best of Creators; and he would then say between Tashahhud and the pronouncing of salutation: Forgive me of the earlier and later open and secret (sins) and that where I made transgression and that Thou knowest better than I. Thou art the First and the Last. There is no god, but Thee.

A'raj reported that when the Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) would start the prayer, he would pronounce takbir (Allah-o-Akbar) and then say: I turn my face (up to Thee), I am the first of the believers; and when he raised his head from ruku' he said: Allah listened to him who praised Him; O our Lord, praise be to Thee; and he said: He shaped (man) and how fine is his shape? And he (the narrator) said: When he pronounced salutation he said: O Allah, forgive me my ear- lier (sins), to the end of the hadith; and he did not say it between the Tashahhud and salutation (as mentioned above).

Hudhaifa reported: I prayed with the Apostle of Allah (may peace be upon him) one night and he started reciting al-Baqara. I thought that he would bow at the end of one hundred verses, but he proceeded on; I then thought that he would perhaps recite the whole (surah) in a rak'ah, but he proceeded and I thought he would perhaps bow on completing (this surah). He then started al-Nisa', and recited it; he then started Al-i-'Imran and recited leisurely. And when he recited the verses which referred to the Glory of Allah, he glorified (by saying Subhan Allah-Glory to my Lord the Great), and when he recited the verses which tell (how the Lord) is to be begged, he (the Holy Prophet) would then beg (from Him), and when he recited the verses dealing with protection from the Lord, he sought (His) protection and would then bow and say: Glory be to my Mighty Lord; his bowing lasted about the same length of time as his standing (and then on returning to the standing posture after ruku') he would say: Allah listened to him who praised Him, and he would then stand about the same length of time as he had spent in bowing. He would then prostrate himself and say: Glory be to my Lord most High, and his prostration lasted nearly the same length of time as his standing. In the hadith transmitted by Jarir the words are:" He (the Holy Prophet) would say:" Allah listened to him who praised Him, our Lord, to Thee i the praise."

'Abdullah reported: I prayed with the Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) and he lengthened it till I entertained an evil thought. It was said to him what that thought was. He said: I thought that I should sit down and forsake him.

A hadith like this has been narrated by A'mash with the same chain of transmitters.

'Abdullah (b. Mas'ud) reported that a mention was made of a man who slept the whole night till morning. He (the Holy Prophet) remarked: That is a man in whose ears (or in whose ear) the devil urinated.

Husain b. 'Ali narrated on the authority of (his father) 'Ali b. Abu Talib that the Apostle of Allah (may peace be upon him) came one night to see him ('Ali) and Fatimah (the daughter of the Holy Prophet) and said: Don't you observe (Tahajjud) prayer? I ('Ali) said: Messenger of Allah, verily our souls are in the hands of Allah and when He wants to awaken us, He awakens us. The Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) went back when I said this to him. He was striking his hand on his thigh while returning, and I heard him say: Verily the man disputes with many things.

Abu Huraira transmitted it from the Apostle of Allah (may peace be upon him): When any one of you goes to sleep, the devil ties three knots at the back of his neck, sealing every knot with:" You have a long night, so sleep." So if one awakes and mentions Allah, a knot will be loosened; if he performs ablution two knots are loosened; and if he prays (all) knots will be loosened, and in the morning he will be active and in good spirits; otherwise we will be in bad spirits and sluggish in the morning.

Ibn 'Umar reported Allah's Apostle (may peace be upon him) as saying: Observe some of your prayers in your houses and do not make them graves.

Ibn 'Umar reported Allah's Apostle (may peace be upon him) as saying: Pray in your houses, and do not make them graves.

Jabir reported Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) as saying: When any one of you observes prayer in the mosque he should reserve a part of his prayer for his house, for Allah would make the prayer as a means of betterment in his house.

Abu Musa reported Allah's Apostle (may peace be upon him) as saying: The house in which remembrance of Allah is made and the house in which Allah is not remembered are like the living and the dead.

Abu Huraira reported Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) as saying: Do not make your houses as graveyards. Satan runs away from the house in which Surah Baqara is recited.

Zaid b. Thabit reported: The Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) made an apartment with the help of the leaves of date trees or of mats. The Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) went out to pray in it. People followed him and came to pray with him. Then they again came one night and waited (for him), but the Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) delayed in coming out to them. And when he did not come out, they cried aloud and threw pebbles at the door. The Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) came out in anger and said to them: By what you have been constantly doing, I was inclined to think that it (prayer) might not become obligatory for you. So you must observe prayer (optional) in your houses, for the prayer observed by a man in the house is better except an obligatory prayer.

Zaid b. Thabit reported that the Apostle of Allah (may peace be upon him) made an apartment in the mosque of mats, and he observed in it prayers for many nights till people began to gather around him, and the rest of the hadith is the same but with this addition: " Had this (Nafl) prayer become obligatory for you, you would not be able to observe it."

'A'isha reported that the Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) had a mat and he used it for making an apartment during the night and observed prayer in it, and the people began to pray with him, and he spread it (the mat) during the day time. The people crowded round him one night. He (the Holy Prophet) then Eaid: O people, perform such acts as you are capable of doing, for Allah does not grow weary but you will get tired. The acts most pleasing to Allah are those which are done continuously, even if they are small. And it was the habit of the members of Muhammad's (may peace be upon him) household that whenever they did an act they did it continuously.

'A'isha is reported to have said that the Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) was asked about the act most pleasing to Allah. He replied: That which is done continuously, even if it is small.

Alqama reported: I asked 'A'isha, the mother of the believers, saying O mother of the believers, how did the Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) act? Did he choose a particular act for a particular day? She said: No. He act was continuous, and who amongst you is capable of doing what the Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) did?

'A'isha reported Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) as saying: The acts most pleasing to Allah are those which are done continuously, even if they are small. and when 'A'isha did any act she did it continuously.

Anas reported that the Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) entered the mosque (and he found) a rope tied between the two pillars; so he said: What is this? They said: It is for Zainab. She prays and when she slackens or feels tired she holds it. Upon this he (the Holy Prophet) said: Untie it. Let one pray as long as one feels fresh but when one slackens or becomes tired one must stop it. (And in the hadith transmitted by Zuhair it is:" He should sit down." )

A hadith like this has been narrated from the Apostle of Allah (may peace be upon him) on the authority of Anas by another chain of transmitters.

'Urwa b. Zubair reported that 'A'isha, the wife of the Apostle of Allah (may peace be upon him), told him that (once) Haula' dint Tuwait b. Habib b. Asad b. 'Abd al-'Uzzi passed by her (at the time) when the Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) was with her. I ('A'Isha) said: It Is Haula' bint Tuwait and they say that she does not sleep at night. Upon this the Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) said: (Oh) she does not sleep at night! Choose an act which you are capable of doing (continuously). By Allah, Allah would not grow weary, but you will grow weary.

'A'isha said: The Messenger of Allah (way peace be upon him) came to me when a woman was sitting with me. He said: Who is she? I said: She is a woman who does not sleep but prays. He said: Do such acts which you are capable of doing. By Allah, Allah does not grow weary but you will grow weary. The religious act most pleasing to Him is one the doer of which does it continuously. (And in the hadith transmitted by Abu Usama [the words are]:" She was a woman from Banu Asad." )

'A'isha reported Allah's Apostle (may peace be upon him) as saying: When anyone amongst you dozes in prayer, he should sleep, till sleep is gone, for when one of you prays while dozing he does not know whether he may be asking pardon or vilifying himself.

Abu Huraira reported Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) as saying: When any one of you gets up at night (for prayer) and his tongue falters in (the recitation) of the Qar'an, and he does not know what he is reciting, he should go to sleep.