6. Prayer in Ramadan

Yahya related to me from Malik from Ibn Shihab from Urwa ibn az-Zubayr from A'isha, the wife of the Prophet, may Allah bless him andgrant him peace, that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him andgrant him peace, prayed in the mosque one night and people prayedbehind him. Then he prayed the next night and there were more people.Then they gathered on the third or fourth night and the Messenger ofAllah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, did not come out tothem. In the morning, he said, "I saw what you were doing and the onlything that prevented me from coming out to you was that I feared thatit would become obligatory (fard) for you." This happened in Ramadan. Yahya related to me from Malik from Ibn Shihab from Abu Salamaibn Abd ar-Rahman ibn Awf from Abu Hurayra that the Messenger ofAllah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, used to exhort peopleto watch the night in prayer in Ramadan but never ordered itdefinitely. He used to say, "Whoever watches the night in prayer inRamadan with trust and expectancy, will be forgiven all his previouswrong actions." Ibn Shihab said, "The Messenger of Allah, mayAllah bless him and grant him peace, died while that was still thecustom, and it continued to be the custom in the caliphate of Abu Bakrand at the beginning of the caliphate of Umar ibn al-Khattab." Malik related to me from Ibn Shihab from Urwa ibn az-Zubayr thatAbd ar-Rahman ibn Abd al-Qari said, "I went out with Umar ibnalKhattab in Ramadan to the mosque and the people there were spreadout in groups. Some men were praying by themselves, whilst others werepraying in small groups. Umar said, 'By Allah! It would be better inmy opinion if these people gathered behind one reciter.' So hegathered them behind Ubayy ibn Kab. Then I went out with him anothernight and the people were praying behind their Qur'an reciter. Umarsaid, 'How excellent this new way is, but what you miss while you areasleep is better than what you watch in prayer.' He meant the end ofthe night, and people used to watch the beginning of the night inprayer." Yahya related to me from Malik from Muhammad ibn Yusuf that as-Sa'ib ibn Yazid said, "Umar ibn al-Khattab ordered Ubayy ibn Kab andTamim ad-Dari to watch the night in prayer with the people for elevenrakas.The reciterof the Qur'an would recite the Mi'in (a group ofmedium-sized suras) until we would be leaning on our staffs fromhaving stood so long in prayer. And we would not leave until theapproach of dawn." Yahya related to me from Malik that Yazid ibn Ruman said, "Thepeople used to watch the night in prayer during Ramadan for twenty-three rakas in the time of Umar ibn al-Khattab." Yahya related to me from Malik from Da'ud ibn al-Husayn that heheard al-Araj say, "I never saw the people in Ramadan, but that theywere cursing the disbelievers." He added, "The reciter of Qur'an usedto recite surat al-Baqara in eight rakas and if he did it in twelverakas the people would think that he had made it easy." Yahya related to me from Malik that Abdullah ibn Abi Bakr said,"I heard my father say, 'We finished praying in Ramadan and theservants hurried with the food, fearing the approach of dawn.' " Yahya related to me from Malik from Hisham ibn Urwa from hisfather that Dhakwan Abu Amr (a slave belonging to A'isha, the wife ofthe Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, who was freed byher after her death) used to stand in prayer and recite for her inRamadan.