Musannaf Ibn Abi Shaybah 3379 — Whether the later Isha is hastened

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Mu'adh bin Jabal (may Allah be pleased with him) that he said: One day we waited a long time for the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) to come for the Isha prayer, but he was so late that a man began to say: He has already prayed and will not come out. Then he came, and a man said: O Messenger of Allah, we thought that you had already prayed and would not come now. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Offer this prayer in the darkness, for through it you have been given excellence over all other nations; the nations before you did not offer this prayer."