علم الزمن والوقت
In a branching research, researchers can apply the rules we set out based on authentic Nobel Sunnah in order to create the Prophet’s daily schedule, by taking into account all the situations and all expectations. Such academic work requires tracking Sunnah scripts one after another and benefiting from any possible piece of it, in order to prove the existence of such deeds before; this is what can be called as: historicizing Prophet’s daily life or daily scheduling jurisprudence.
It is obvious that fundamental research is not aimed at comprehending all the branches, yet at explaining the approach and general fundamentals, therefore, it will focus on providing the latest research obtained as samples up to now, in order to make a general induction of Hadith scripts for other tasks.
| The Second Period: Between Isha and Fajr Prayer |
It is the longest night period, most of which is devoted for the Almighty Allah, some of it for the family and some others for self needs … these special deeds can be introduced as follow:
Congregational Prayer of Isha:
In the light of the previous chapter (1), Isha prayer is confirmed in Muslim’s daily schedule, as stated by the Almighty in the Holy Qur’an: “Establish regular prayers – at the sun’s decline till the darkness of the night” [Isra chapter; verse No. 78]. It is also reported by the Hadiths that the Apostle (peace be upon him) prayed and commanded people for congregational prayer of Isha at the mosque and reminds that it represents a heavy burden for hypocrites, according to Abu Huraira May Allah be pleased with him who said: “The Apostle of Allah found some people absenting from certain prayers and he said: I intend that I order (a) person to lead people in prayer, and then go to the persons who do not join the (congregational prayer) and then order their houses to be burnt by the bundles of fuel. If one amongst them were to know that he would find a fat fleshy bone he would attend the night prayer” (2).
Women are also allowed to attend Isha prayer in congregation, which can be included in their daily schedule, as long as it does not refrain them from fulfilling other tasks or committing a sin, we learn from Zainab Thaqafiya who reported that “The Messenger of Allah peace be upon him said: When any one of you (women) participates in the ‘Isha’ prayer, she should not perfume herself that night” (3).
Two Rakat after Isha Prayer:
A number of Hadiths tackled this subject, like the one reported by Ibn Umar: “that the Prophet peace be upon him, prays two rakat before Dhuhr ……… in addition to two after Isha prayer” (4), which represent the supererogatory prayers sustained by the Apostle peace be upon him, as stated by Aisha May Allah be pleased with her, who said “he prays four rakat before Dhuhr prayer … then prays Isha in congregation, then enters the house to pray two other Rakat” (5).
Qiyam al-Lyl (Night Prayer):
There are authentic Hadiths reported about the Prophet’s night payers, their difference in terms of the number of rakat, time and whether or not they are compulsory for him (6); “however, the general rule pertaining to the Apostle’s night periods is: flexibility and freedom of moving from one task to another; in Al-Muzzammil chapter, choices take place: “Stand (to prayer) by night, but not all night, Half of it,- or a little less, Or a little more; and recite the Quran in slow, measured rhythmic tones” … Aisha’s Hadith can be the best example for such diversivity and choices, Ghudaif ibn Harith said: “… I then asked whether he observed a witr in the early or the latter part of the night, and she replied, “He often observed it in the early part and often in the latter part of the night.” Thereupon I said, “God is most great. Praise be to God who has given latitude in the matter!” (7).
Qiyam al-Layl is established upon two rules: sustainability and …… according to the Hadith reported by Aisha that “when the Messenger of Allah peace be upon him offered a prayer, he liked to continue to offer it, and when sleep, sickness, or pain distracted him from praying Qiyam Al-Lail, he would pray twelve rak’ahs during the day” (8). Sustainability rule is manifested in the Hadith reported by Abd Allah ibn Amr ibn al-As, who said: The Messenger of Allah Peace be upon him said to me, “O ‘Abdullah! Do not be like so-and-so; he used to get up at night for optional prayer but abandoned it later” (9). Sanʻanī explained this Hadith in this statement “we learn that it is recommended to sustain performing good deeds without negligence, in the meanwhile, it is disliked to give up on worship” (10). It is also understood that sustaining all good and charitable activities is well recommended.
He disfavored talking after Isha prayer:
The Prophet peace be upon him “hated sleep before Isha and talking after it” (11).
In the previous chapter, we explained the statement of staying up and tackled its rulings and categories, (12), Ibn Abi Shaybahh wrote a chapter entitled: dislike of staying up late after sunset” he derived underneath a number of Marfu and Mawquf Hadiths, including a number of Prophet’s sayings narrated about dislike of staying up late, like:
– The hadith of: “The Messenger of Allah rebuked us for staying up (talking) after the ‘Isha” (13).
– Kharsha ibn Har said I saw Umar ibn al-khattab punishing people for staying up late talking and says: you talk in the early night period and sleep at the end of it (14).
Perhaps one of the negative effects for the development of technology like electricity, television and cinema, the night became a period of committing sins except for …, people suffered from staying up late and weakened their sight sense and their bodies with useless shows and episodes exposed in a permanent routine rhythm.
Staying up with his spouses:
Although the Apostle peace be upon him disliked the talk after Isha prayer, however, his family members were exempted in pursuit of giving them their right, he would stay up with them whenever it is necessary, as proved by Sunnah: Ibn Abbas May Allah be pleased with him said: “when I was spending a night in the house of my maternal aunt Maimunah, the Messenger of Allah peace and prayer be upon him talked to his spouse then slept, in the last third of the night, he looked at the sky then said “Behold! in the creation of the heavens and the earth” (15).
Staying up for education or running Muslims’ public affairs:
Al-Bukhari allotted a number of chapters about permissible stay up, such as: “chapter: To speak about (religious) knowledge at night” (16), “chapter: Talking about the Islamic jurisprudence and good things after the ‘Isha prayer” (17), “chapter: To talk to the family members and the guests after Isha prayer” (18) and narrated a number of hadiths that tackled this subject, for instance, the Hadith narrated by Anas who said: “Once we waited for the Prophet (PBUH) till it was midnight or about midnight. He came and led the prayer, and after finishing it, he addressed us and said, ‘All the people prayed and then slept and you had been in prayer as long as you were waiting for it.” Al-Hasan said, “The people are regarded as performing good deeds as long as they are waiting for doing good deeds” (19).
In Al-Musannaf (compilations of hadiths) Umar reported that “The Messenger peace be upon him used to stay up at night talking with Abu Bakr May Allah be please with him discussing some affairs of the Muslims, and I was with him” (20).
Al-Qaradawi pointed out that a Muslim person “can spend some time doing personal affairs before going to sleep like meeting others and giving compliment” (21). For Al-Khalidi, he prefers devoting after Isha prayer for knowledge, then warns of falling into the trap of time wasters, he says: “beware of keeping yourselves busy with unnecessary activities like going to the cinema or attending theater performances and plays” (22).
Research in psychology stated that the time before going to sleep can be best for reviewing and rehearsing a subject; because the mind continues to function in the first stage of sleep” (23).
His needs to his spouses:
The first rule that took place in the Apostle’s (PBUH) needs to his spouses following the rule of night prayer is about flexibility, by allocating no specific time for them, according to the hadith reported by Aisha, Ghudaif ibn Harith asked “Did the Messenger of Allah peace be upon him perform Ghusl at the beginning of the night or at the end?’ She said: ‘Both. Sometimes he performed Ghusl at the beginning and sometimes at the end.’ I said: ‘Praise be to Allah who has made the matter flexible” (24)
A number of other hadiths tackled such flexibility and diversification, depending on his needs, his personal and his family circumstances (25), these hadiths proved that the Apostle peace be upon him does not consider abandoning women as a religious act, he rather considers man’s needs to his spouse as part of religion, he says “and in the bud`i [sexual act] of each one of you there is a charity.” They said, “O Messenger of Allah, when one of us fulfils his carnal desire will he have some reward for that?” He (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said, “Do you not see that if he were to act upon it [his desire] in an unlawful manner then he would be deserving of punishment? Likewise, if he were to act upon it in a lawful manner then he will be deserving of a reward” (26)
Some narrations reported the story of the three men who wanted to establish dominant times in their lives, by removing nighttime, day-meal time, and spouses’ time forever. The Apostle peace be upon him rationalized their vision on the matter as well as on the daily schedule, by explaining that Allah’s baptism is the natural situation in Islam; baptized time is therefore the fundamental time in our Nobel faith and balance is required in the Muslim’s life.
The hadith was reported as follow: “Three men came to the houses of the wives of the Prophet (PBUH) to inquire about the worship of the Prophet (PBUH). When they were informed, they considered their worship insignificant and said: “Where are we in comparison with the Prophet (PBUH) while Allah has forgiven his past sins and future sins”. One of them said: “As for me, I shall offer Salat all night long.” Another said: “I shall observe Saum (fasting) continuously and shall not break it”. Another said: “I shall abstain from women and shall never marry”. The Prophet (PBUH) came to them and said, “Are you the people who said such and such things? By Allah, I fear Allah more than you do, and I am most obedient and dutiful among you to Him, but still I observe fast and break it; perform Salat and sleep at night and take wives. So whoever turns away from my Sunnah does not belong to me” (27).
Sleeping Early & Sleeping in the Middle of the Night:
The Apostle may sleep early in order to wake up for the prayer and may also sleep in the middle of the night, according to the hadith: “he would sleep in the early part of the night and keep awake in the latter part. If he then wished intercourse with his wife he satisfied his desire, and then went to sleep” (28). The Apostle PBUH usually sleeps early -but makes some exceptions when necessary- according to scientists, it is best to go to bed earlier in the night; research is currently talking about the ideal time to sleep rather than the number of hours of sleep, an old wisdom says “sleeping early and waking up early can make you healthier richer and wiser. One hour before midnight is worth three hours after midnight … it was discovered that 70% of our deep dreamless sleep (29) takes place during the first part of the night” (30).
A number of researchers conducted a comparative study between a number of young adults who go to be bed at different times, and sleep between 3 and 4 hours a night, and a group of others who have a specific time to sleep; the results of the experiment indicated that the second group enjoy more psychological and physical health than the first group members and not only feel rejoiced but also expressed their emotions that they enjoy a quite and comfortable sleep, in addition to feeling highly active during day time” (31).
In chronobiology, scientists point out that sleep is not related to “a specific hour (9 pm for instance), yet related to Aisha prayer time” (32). The person who “restricts his sleep for after Aisha prayer time rather than a specific time will not suffer from insomnia, his artificial sleep hours changes gradually and consistently with the thermal hour and therefore will be face no insomnia” (33).
The time during which none is allowed to enter his house:
In the light of asking permission to enter during the three situations of undress, including the periods of: after Aisha prayer time and before Fajr prayer (34) … the hadith reported that none entered in on the Apostle’s house before Fajr prayer time, “I learned to pray 10 Rakat from the Prophet peace be upon him … in addition to two rakat before Sobh prayer time, during which none is allowed to enter in on the Apostle peace be upon him” (35).
If the Almighty Allah did not protect His Honorable Messenger in his daily program using such rules, he will face an immense hardship by people and many people will constantly visit his house, knowing that he may get ashamed, however the Almighty Allah revealed from heaven this verse to highlight his rule: “Such (behaviour) annoys the Prophet: he is ashamed to dismiss you, but Allah is not ashamed (to tell you) the truth” [Al-Ahzab chapter: verse 53]. This protection to the Prophet’s house, his spouses and his daily schedule from those who may dominate it is a guarantee for the continuity of the Message, for not violating the sanctity of the Messenger peace be upon him and for striking a balance between various aspects of his daily life.
A Number of Prohibitions and Commands in the Middle of the Night:
The Apostle peace be upon him forbad a number of matters and commanded a number of others during nighttime, all of which contribute to setting the Muslim’s daily schedule, empower his view towards time, the way to deal with it and the way to fill it with righteous deeds, according to the hadith narrated by Imam Muslim: “When night falls, restrain your children (from going out) because at such time the devils spread about. After a period of time has passed, let them be. Shut your doors and mention Allah’s name, for verily the devil does not open a shut door, tie up your water-skins and mention Allah’s name, cover your vessels with anything and mention Allah’s name and put out your lamps” (37).
According to the hadith, it is commanded to be careful at night, both from moral damages like: demons and sins or material like microbes and fires … in addition to relying upon the Almighty Allah and invocating him in every steps taken forward in order to ensure a psychological stability and fearing only the Almighty Allah, providing that means are adopted for that.
It is a protection for children against the evils of the streets, by monitoring them at home, which is one of their rights, because usually if a child gets used to going outside at night for playing, it will be developed as a habit for life, which will spoil his personality and induce him for harm and evilness, which is observed in many Islamic countries today. However, in the west, much of this depravity is managed under what can be called “civility” and media in particular was used to spread ethical and sexual misconduct.
In the book entitled “Television: The Plug-in Drug” Marie Winn states that the daily routine of a child has changed “By making television available as a tool to raise a child, then out of a sudden the child spends from two to three, four and up to six or seven hours a day in a kind of activity that is neither sleeping nor playing, but rather something in between. It is an activity characterized by absorbing strange audio-visual products accompanied by unfamiliar behaviors shared by young children: silence, laziness and mental passivity” (38).
The number of evening deeds that we collected by tracking the Apostle’s hadiths are gathered in this table:
| Praying Isha in congregation | ||||
| Supererogatory prayers, invocation, night prayer, two rakat in his house before Fajr prayer | Sleeping early Sleeping in the middle of the night | Staying up late with education | Staying up late for Muslims’ public affairs | Staying with his spouses |
| Staying up talking and discussing after Isha prayer is forbidden There are two cases of undress: after Isha prayer and before Fajr prayer Beware of causing a number of moral and material damages |
| The Performed Deeds between Isha and Fajr Prayer According to Holy Sunnah |
Whoever studies the Holy hadiths narrated about the Prophet peace be upon him will be amazed by the multi-tasks performed by the Apostle during this period and by his ability to move from one task to another. However, some previous attempts ignored some aspects and focused on others that are as important as those they ignored…
The Apostle peace be upon him moved from one task to another and fulfilled his assignments with neither exaggeration nor negligence, he may be flexible in some situations and strict in others … therefore, we cannot estimate his sleep duration, the time he stands for the night prayer, the number of his rakat and his invocation, and the verses of the Holy Qur’an he recites every night.
The Apostle persisted with some deeds, like: prayer, sleep with a slight difference for some considerable and specific circumstances and did not persist with other deeds like: staying up with his spouses or with education. There are other deeds that were not mentioned in this presentation, the branching research can extract all aspects of Apostle’s, his companions’ and spouses’ nighttime, in general, the righteous good deeds during the Prophet’s era took all of their day and made it a prosperous and unique era.
Written by: Dr. Babaami
Trasnlated by: Toufik Achour
Article title in Arabic: أعمال الرسول صلى الله عليه وسلم بين العشاء والفجر
1 – Look above – P70 and the following pages.
2 – Narrated by Raby; book of prayer times; chapter1/P80, No. 182. It was also reported by Muslim; the Book of Mosques and Places of Prayer, chapter of Congregational prayer and the statement. of missing it.
3 – Reported by Ibn Muslim, book of women going out to the mosque, chapter 1/ P328, No. 443.
4 – Already extracted and authenticated.
5 – Already extracted and authenticated
6 – Look – Al-Shafi’i: the Mother; chapter 1/ P86, Al-Jassas, Rules of the Qur’an; chapter 3/ P701, Ibn Hazm;
7 – Narrated by Muslim; Book of Menstruation, chapter: It is permissible for one who is junub to sleep; Vol 6/ P200, No. 307.
8 – Narrated and reviewed by Ibn Khuzayma, chapter 2/ P194, No. 1179.
9 – Agreed-upon Hadith.
10 – San’ani, Muhammad Ibn Isma’il (died in 1182 A.H./ 1768), Subul Al-Salam: Sharh Bulugh al-Maram (original: Al-Hadeeth Publishing House) Jami’ al-Fiqh edition, Harf company, UAE; 1999; chapter / P350.
11 – Narrated by Al-Bukhari, already extracted and authenticated.
12 – Look above – P274- in the book of “Nayl Al-Awtar” written by Al-Shawkani, chapter 2/ P20, there is a script that sums up the ruling and combines the hadiths wherein “people of knowledge including Prophet’s (PBUH) companions and followers varied upon staying up after Isha prayer, as some of them disliked it, while others allowed it when it is necessary to take knowledge; therefore, this hadith indicates that staying up after Isha prayer is not disfavored for public or personal interest. The way to combine them is by directing the hadiths of prohibition to permissible speech to that which has a benefit to the speaker. It is also said that the evidence for the dislike of talking and staying up after Isha prayer is in general specified with evidence of permissibility of speaking and staying up afterwards in matters related to the interests of Muslims. Al-Nawawi said: The scholars agreed that hadith is disliked, except for what can be devoted for good deeds. It was said: The reason for the dislike is what staying up late leads to sleeping till the end of the night and missing Sobh prayer in congregation, or performing it at the time of virtues or standing up for the prayer or reciting the Qur’an and none is safe from laziness during the day during which, duties and worships are is required”
13 – Ibn Abi Shyba: classified; chapter 2/ P180, No. 110.
14 – Ibn Abi Shyba, the same source.
15 – Narrated by Al-Bukhari; Book of Prophetic Commentary of the Qur’an, chapter of “Behold! in the creation of the heavens and the earth”.
16 – Narrated by Al-Bukhari; chapter 1 / P55.
17 – Narrated by Al-Bukhari; chapter 1 / P216.
18 – The same source.
19 – Narrated by Al-Bukhari; Book of prayer times, chapter of Talking about the Islamic jurisprudence and good things after the ‘Isha prayer; Vot 1/ No. 575.
20 – Ibn Abi Shaybah; Al-Musannaf classified; chapter 2/ P 111.
21 – Al-Qaradawi: Time in the Life of a Muslim
22 – Al-Khalidi: “Al-Khtta Al-Baraqa = The Bright Plan”.
23 – Patrick et Marzé : Comment développer sa mémoire, p51.
24 – Already extracted and authenticated.
25 – Including the hadith reported by Aisha “He used to sleep in the early part of the night, and woke up in the latter part. If he then wished intercourse with his wife, he satisfied his desire, and then went to sleep; and when the first call to prayer was made he jumped up (by Allah, she, i. e. ‘A’isha, did not say” he stood up” ), and poured water over him (by Allah she, i. e. ‘A’isha, did not say that he took a bath but I know what she meant) and if he did not have an intercourse, he performed ablution, just as a man performs ablution for prayer and then observed two rak’ahs”, narrated by Muslim ; Book of Prayer –Travelers-, Chapter of Qiyam Al-Lail (Voluntary Prayers at Night).
26 – Narrated by Muslim, Book of Zakat; Chapter of The word charity (Sadaqah) may apply to all good deeds Ma’ruf, chapter 2 / P697, No. 9355.
27 – Narrated by Al-Bukharu; Book of Marriage, Chapter of Awakening the Desire for Marriage; chapter 3/ P1949, No. 4776.
28 – Narrated by Muslim, already extracted and authenticated.
29 – From a medical point of view, this stage of sleep is the stage of restful sleep “muscles are relaxed, the heart is slow to beat, blood pressure is low and does not fluctuate, breathing is slow and comfortable, and the eyes do not move.” El Sherbiny: Insomnia is an illusion that has cure; P24, Lyon: a hundred and one bedtime tips; P12-13, Schuller: Les insomnies et le sommeil, P49-50.
30 – Dreams: their interpretation and their connotations, Neris Di; Alem al-Kutub, Cairo.
31 – El Sherbiny: Insomnia is an Illusion that has Cure; P13.
32 – The Same Source; P43.
33 – The Same Source, P43-44.
34 – Look above, P276.
35 – already extracted and authenticated.
