Sayyiduna Anas bin Malik (may Allah be pleased with him), narrating the hadith of Isra, reports that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: Then I was taken up to the sixth heaven. Jibreel (peace be upon him) requested for it to be opened. It was asked: Who are you? He said: I am Jibreel. Then it was asked: Who is with you? He said: Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) is with me. Then it was asked: Has a message been sent to him? He said: Yes, a message has been sent to him. So the door was opened for us. Suddenly, I saw Hazrat Musa (peace be upon him). He welcomed me and prayed for my goodness and well-being, … … , then Allah Almighty revealed to me what He wished to reveal, and fifty prayers were made obligatory upon me in a day. On my return, when I passed by Hazrat Musa (peace be upon him), he said to me: Return to your Lord and ask for a reduction, your Ummah will not be able to perform these prayers, for I have tested the Children of Israel. So I returned to my Lord and said: O my Lord! Please lighten (the burden) for my Ummah. So Allah Almighty reduced five prayers. But when I returned to Musa (peace be upon him), he asked: What have you done? I said: Five prayers have been reduced. He said: Your Ummah will not be able to perform (forty-five) prayers, so return and ask your Lord for a reduction for your Ummah. So I kept going back and forth between my Lord and Musa (peace be upon him), and Allah Almighty kept reducing five prayers each time, until He said: O Muhammad! There are five prayers in a day and night, the reward for each prayer will be tenfold, so it is as if they are fifty prayers, because whoever intends to do a good deed but does not actually do it, it is still written as a good deed for him, and whoever intends to do a bad deed but does not actually commit it, no bad deed will be written for him, and whoever commits it, one bad deed will be written for him. So I descended and reached Musa (peace be upon him) and told him the whole detail. He said: Return to your Lord and ask for a reduction for your Ummah, for your Ummah will not be able to bear even this. But the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: I have gone to my Lord so many times that now I feel shy.
Hadith Referenceالفتح الربانی / بيان قصص أنبياء الله عليهم السلام / 10368
Hadith Gradingمحدثین:صحیح
Hadith Takhrij«أخرجه مسلم: 162، (انظر مسند أحمد ترقيم الرسالة: 12505 ترقیم بيت الأفكار الدولية: 12533»
Brief Explanation
Benefits: … Musa (alayhis salam) had practical experience with people, therefore he advised to have the number of prayers reduced.