The Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) was kind and compassionate towards the believers. This hadith explains one aspect of the Prophet’s compassion towards his ummah, namely his fear that the [voluntary] night prayer would be made obligatory, then the people would not be able to do it. In this report, ‘A’ishah (may Allah be pleased with her) narrates that the Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) went out one night, after half of the night had passed, and prayed in the mosque, and somemen followed his prayer, meaning that they prayed with him, following him in the prayer. The next morning, the people spoke to one another about the prayer that the Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) had prayed at night in the mosque. Then more people gathered, waiting for the Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him), then they prayed with him. Their number increased, night after night, and the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) saw that and was aware of it. Then on the fourth night, the mosque was filled to the brim and could hardly contain the worshippers, but the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) did not come out to pray with them in the night; rather he waited until he came out to pray Fajr. When he had finished praying Fajr, he turned to face the people, then he recited the Shahadah, affirming the oneness of Allah, then he said to the people, explaining and teaching them: “To proceed (Ammaba‘d): I was not unaware of your being here, but I feared that it would be made it obligatory for you, and you would not be able to do it.” In other words, I was aware that you were here in the mosque, waiting to pray in the dead of night, but I was afraid that Allah would make it obligatory for you, then it would be too burdensome and you would not be able to do it, so you would give it up, and thus you would have brought hardship and harm upon yourselves, as well as incurring sin..