Hadithcore
Sahih Muslim, 739
sahih

'A'isha thus reported about the (night prayer) of the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ):

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.

وَحَدَّثَنَا أَحْمَدُ بْنُ يُونُسَ، حَدَّثَنَا زُهَيْرٌ، حَدَّثَنَا أَبُو إِسْحَاقَ، ح وَحَدَّثَنَا يَحْيَى بْنُ يَحْيَى، أَخْبَرَنَا أَبُو خَيْثَمَةَ، عَنْ أَبِي إِسْحَاقَ، قَالَ سَأَلْتُ الأَسْوَدَ بْنَ يَزِيدَ عَمَّا حَدَّثَتْهُ عَائِشَةُ، عَنْ صَلاَةِ، رَسُولِ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم قَالَتْ كَانَ يَنَامُ أَوَّلَ اللَّيْلِ وَيُحْيِي آخِرَهُ ثُمَّ إِنْ كَانَتْ لَهُ حَاجَةٌ إِلَى أَهْلِهِ قَضَى حَاجَتَهُ ثُمَّ يَنَامُ فَإِذَا كَانَ عِنْدَ النِّدَاءِ الأَوَّلِ - قَالَتْ - وَثَبَ - وَلاَ وَاللَّهِ مَا قَالَتْ قَامَ - فَأَفَاضَ عَلَيْهِ الْمَاءَ - وَلاَ وَاللَّهِ مَا قَالَتِ اغْتَسَلَ ‏.‏ وَأَنَا أَعْلَمُ مَا تُرِيدُ - وَإِنْ لَمْ يَكُنْ جُنُبًا تَوَضَّأَ وُضُوءَ الرَّجُلِ لِلصَّلاَةِ ثُمَّ صَلَّى الرَّكْعَتَيْنِ ‏.‏

Isnad

8 transmitters
  1. 1Ahmed bin 'Abdullahal-Kufa · d. 227 AH
  2. 2Zuhayr bin Mua'wiya bin Hudayjal-Kufa,Bahrain · d. ~174 AH
  3. 3Abu Ishaq al-Sabay'ai'Hamadan,Kufa · d. ~129 AH
  4. 4Yahya bin Yahya bin BukayrNisapur,Khurasan,Hijaz,Iraq,Syria,Egypt · d. 226 AH
  5. 5Zuhayr bin Mua'wiya bin Hudayjal-Kufa,Bahrain · d. ~174 AH
  6. 6Abu Ishaq al-Sabay'ai'Hamadan,Kufa · d. ~129 AH
  7. 7al-Aswad bin Yazidal-Kufa · d. ~75 AH
  8. 8'Aisha bint Abi BakrMakkah/Medina · d. 57 AH/678 CE (17 Ramadan)
References2 variants
In-Book Reference
Book 6, Hadith 157
USC-MSA web (English) reference
Book 4, Hadith 1612 (deprecated numbering scheme)
Sharh · explanationclick to expand
The Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) would offer Qiyām al-Layl in his house as much as Allah willed him to pray. The Companions - and the Tābi‘is after them - were keen on knowing the details of his worship and would inquire about the acts of worship that the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) would perform at home which they could not see. In this Hadīth, the Tābi‘i Abu Is'hāq as-Sabī‘i informs that he asked the Tābi‘i Al-Aswad ibn Yazīd about what ‘Ā’ishah (may Allah be pleased with her) had told him with regard to the voluntary prayer of the Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) during the night. He told him that she had said: "He would sleep at the earlier part of the night" after the ‘Ishā’ prayer, in order to give his body its share of rest. And he would get up at the latter part of the night to fill it with prayer, Tahajjud, and Witr. This is the time in which Allah Almighty descends to the worldly heaven, as related in a Hadīth by Al-Bukhāri and Muslim, in which Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) reported that the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Our Lord, Glorified and Exalted, descends every night to the worldly heaven when the last third of the night remains and says: ‘Who supplicates Me so that I may answer him? Who asks Me so that I may give him? Who seeks forgiveness from Me so that I may forgive him?'" Then, when he finished his prayer in the night, he would fulfill his need for his wives, in case he had a need for them. In the version by An-Nasā’i: "he would go to his wife", which indirectly refers to copulation; and then he would then sleep. Thereafter, when the time of Fajr came and he heard the Adhān - the first call - he would 'jump' i.e., he would get up in a quick and active manner, and he would pour water over himself, taking a ritual bath if he was sexually impure from the copulation with his wives. In case he was not sexually impure, he would only make ablution and then offer two Rak‘ahs as the Sunnah of Fajr. By his words: "No by Allah, she did not say: He stood up" and "No by Allah, she did not say: He took a bath, and I know what she meant", the narrator means that he conveyed the very words said by ‘Ā’ishah (may Allah be pleased with her), which are: "and he poured water over himself"; and she did not say: "He took a bath". And he knows that by "he poured water", she meant: He took a bath. This shows his care and meticulousness in conveying what he heard as he heard it, not by its meaning. The Hadīth indicates that a sexually impure person may sleep without performing ablution. It shows the interest in worship and the active engagement in it, as denoted by the words "he jumped"..
Related hadiths1
Compare isnād across 1 related chains →