English Translation

Narrated Zurarah: Sa'd bin Hisham bin Amir wished to fight in the way of Allah, so he came to Madinah and intended to sell his land and orchard and the like in Madinah, so that with it he might buy weapons and horses and fight the Christians until death. Then when he came to Madinah and met the people of Madinah, they stopped him (i.e., that one should not completely abandon the affairs of the world and human needs to do this), and they informed him that in the lifetime of the Prophet (peace be upon him) six men had intended this, and he forbade them and said, "Is not my way good enough for you?" So when the people said this to him, he took back, in the presence of witnesses, his wife whom he had divorced. Then he came to Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) and asked him about the Witr of the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him). He said, "Shall I not tell you of a person who knows the Witr of the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) better than all the people of the earth?" He said, "Who is it?" Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) said, "It is the Mother of the Believers, Aishah as-Siddiqah (may Allah be pleased with her). So go to her, ask her, and then come and inform me of her answer." So I (Sa'd bin Hisham) left him and came to Hakim bin Aflah and asked him to take me to the Mother of the Believers, Aishah as-Siddiqah (may Allah be pleased with her). He said, "I do not go to her, for I forbade her from speaking regarding these two groups (i.e., the mutual fighting of the Companions), but she did not listen and went." (Sa'd bin Hisham) said: I adjured Hakim, and he was willing, and the two of us went to the Mother of the Believers, Aishah as-Siddiqah (may Allah be pleased with her), and informed her, and she gave permission, and we came into her presence. Then she said, "Is this Hakim?" He said, "Yes." So the Mother of the Believers, Aishah as-Siddiqah (may Allah be pleased with her), recognized him (i.e., by his voice from behind the screen). Then she said, "Who is with you?" Hakim said, "With me is Sa'd bin Hisham." She said, "Which Hisham?" Hakim said, "The son of Amir." Then she prayed for mercy upon him, and Qatadah said that he was martyred in the Battle of Uhud. Then I said, "O Mother of the Believers, tell me about the character of the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him)." She said, "Have you not read the Qur'an?" I (Sa'd) said, "Yes, indeed." She said, "The character of the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) was the Qur'an." She said: Then I intended to leave and resolved not to ask about anything until death. Then a thought came to me, and I said, "Tell me about the Messenger of Allah's (peace be upon him) rising at night (and praying)." The Mother of the Believers, Aishah as-Siddiqah (may Allah be pleased with her), said, "Have you not read 'Ya ayyuha al-muzzammil'?" I said, "Yes, indeed." She said, "Allah made standing in prayer at night obligatory at the beginning of this chapter. Then the Prophet (peace be upon him) and his Companions kept praying at night, and Allah withheld the conclusion (the last verses) of this chapter in the heaven for twelve months, until Allah revealed the end of this chapter and lightened it therein (i.e., He waived the obligation of tahajjud, and its being recommended remained). So after the night prayer (tahajjud) became obligatory, it became a matter of pleasure (i.e., voluntary)." Then I said, "O Mother of the Believers, tell me also about the Witr of the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him)." She said, "We used to keep the tooth-stick and the ablution water ready for him, and Allah would rouse him at night whenever He willed. Then he would use the tooth-stick and perform ablution, then pray nine rak'ahs. In them he would not sit except in the eighth rak'ah, and he would remember Allah and praise Him and supplicate (i.e., recite the tashahhud), then he would not give the salam but would stand up and pray the ninth rak'ah, then sit and remember Allah and praise Him and supplicate to Him, and then give the salam in such a way that he made us hear it (so that the sleepers would awaken). Then after the salam he would pray two rak'ahs while sitting — so these were eleven rak'ahs in all, O my son. Then when his age increased and his body put on flesh, he began to pray seven rak'ahs as Witr, and prayed the rak'ahs just as he prayed them before — so these were nine rak'ahs in all, O my son (i.e., seven Witr and tahajjud, and two rak'ahs after the Witr). And it was his habit that when he prayed any prayer, he would keep it constant, and when he was overcome by sleep or some pain, because of which he could not rise at night, he would pray twelve rak'ahs during the day (i.e., he would not pray the Witr — from this it is established that there is no making up of the Witr). And I do not know that the Prophet (peace be upon him) ever recited the entire Qur'an in a single night (from this, completing the Qur'an in one night is established as an innovation), nor do I know that he prayed the whole night until morning (i.e., without sleeping or resting at all), nor that he fasted an entire month except Ramadan." Then I went to Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) and related all this hadith to him, and he said, "Indeed the Mother of the Believers, Aishah as-Siddiqah (may Allah be pleased with her), spoke the truth." And he said, "Had I been with her, or had I gone to her, I would have heard this hadith face to face." Sa'd said, "Had I known that you do not go to her, I would never have told you her words." [Mukhtasar Sahih Muslim, Hadith: 390]