The Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) was keen to teach his ummah good things, and he would instruct them to do what would be beneficial to them. In this hadith, ‘Abdullah ibn ‘Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates that the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) instructed the Muslims to offer some of the supererogatory and sunnah prayers – such as Duha, qiyam al-layl, tahajjud and so on – in their houses. His aim was to encourage people to offer supererogatory prayers at home. It is narrated in al-Sahihayn from Zayd ibn Thabit (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) said: “The best prayer is the prayer that a man offers in his house, except for the prescribed prayers.” That is because this is furthest removed from showing off, and is a precaution against anything that could make the prayers null and void; it brings blessing (barakah) and mercy to the house, attracts angels to the house and drives devils away; thus these houses will be revived with the blessing of the prayer and what it involves of remembering Allah and calling upon Him. Then houses will not be made like graves, as if the people in them are dead and residing in graves. It was said that it may be that what is meant is: do not make your houses places that are only for sleeping, in which you do not pray, for sleep is the brother of death..