Musnad Ahmad

It is narrated from Hazrat Zararah (may Allah be pleased with him) that Hazrat Sa’d bin Hisham bin ‘Amir (may Allah be pleased with him) divorced his wife, then intended to go for jihad in the path of Allah, so he came to Madinah Munawwarah and intended to sell his land and other property so that he could buy weapons and horses with it and fight against the Romans until death. When he arrived in Madinah Munawwarah and met some people from among the people of Madinah, they forbade Hazrat Sa’d (may Allah be pleased with him) from doing so and informed him that during the blessed life of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), six men had also intended to do the same, but the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) had stopped them from doing so. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said, “Is there not an example for you in my life?” When the people of Madinah narrated this hadith to Hazrat Sa’d (may Allah be pleased with him), he took back his wife whom he had divorced and made people witnesses to his taking her back. Then he went to Hazrat Ibn ‘Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) and asked him about the Witr prayer of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him). Hazrat Ibn ‘Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) said, “Shall I not tell you of the person among the people of the earth who knows the most about the Witr prayer of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him)?” Hazrat Sa’d (may Allah be pleased with him) asked, “Who is that?” Hazrat Ibn ‘Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) said, “Hazrat ‘A’ishah (may Allah be pleased with her), so go to her and ask her, then come back to me and inform me of what she tells you.” (Hazrat Sa’d (may Allah be pleased with him) said) Then I went to Hazrat ‘A’ishah (may Allah be pleased with her) (and first I) came to Hakim bin Aflah and said to him, “Take me to Hazrat ‘A’ishah (may Allah be pleased with her).” He said, “I cannot take you to Hazrat ‘A’ishah (may Allah be pleased with her) because I had forbidden her from saying anything about those two groups (between ‘Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) and Mu’awiyah (may Allah be pleased with him)), but she did not listen and went ahead.” Hazrat Sa’d (may Allah be pleased with him) says, “I made him swear, so he set out with us to go to Hazrat ‘A’ishah (may Allah be pleased with her), and we sought permission. Hazrat ‘A’ishah (may Allah be pleased with her) granted us permission, and we presented ourselves before her. Hazrat ‘A’ishah (may Allah be pleased with her) recognized Hakim bin Aflah and said, ‘Is this Hakim?’ Hakim said, ‘Yes!’ Hazrat ‘A’ishah (may Allah be pleased with her) said, ‘Who is with you?’ Hakim said, ‘Sa’d bin Hisham.’ She (Hazrat ‘A’ishah (may Allah be pleased with her)) said, ‘Who is Hisham?’ Hakim said, ‘The son of ‘Amir.’ Hazrat ‘A’ishah (may Allah be pleased with her) prayed for mercy on ‘Amir and spoke good words about him. I said, ‘O Mother of the Believers! Tell me about the character of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him).’ Hazrat ‘A’ishah (may Allah be pleased with her) said, ‘Do you not read the Qur’an?’ I said, ‘I do.’ Hazrat ‘A’ishah (may Allah be pleased with her) said, ‘The character of the Prophet of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) was the Qur’an itself.’ Hazrat Sa’d says, ‘I intended to get up and leave and never ask anyone anything until I died. Then I thought and said, ‘Tell me about the (night) prayer of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him).’ Hazrat ‘A’ishah (may Allah be pleased with her) said, ‘Have you not read “O you who wraps himself [in clothing]” (Surah Al-Muzzammil)?’ I said, ‘Yes!’ Hazrat ‘A’ishah (may Allah be pleased with her) said, ‘Allah Almighty made standing in prayer at night obligatory at the beginning of this Surah, so the Prophet of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) and his noble Companions (may Allah be pleased with them) stood in prayer at night for a year, and Allah Almighty withheld the last part of this Surah in the heavens for twelve months, until Allah Almighty revealed the concession at the end of this Surah, so after the night prayer (Tahajjud) was made obligatory, it became voluntary.’ Hazrat Sa’d (may Allah be pleased with him) said, ‘We used to prepare the miswak and water for ablution for you, so Allah Almighty would awaken you at night whenever He wished, so you would use the miswak and perform ablution and pray nine rak’ahs. In these rak’ahs, you would not sit except after the eighth rak’ah, and you would remember Allah Almighty, praise Him, and supplicate to Him, then you would stand up and not say salam, then stand and pray the ninth rak’ah, then you would sit, remember Allah Almighty, praise Him, and supplicate to Him. Then you would say salam and make us hear your salam. Then after saying salam, you would pray two rak’ahs while sitting, so these became eleven rak’ahs. O my son! Then when the age of the Prophet of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) increased and his blessed body became heavier, he began to pray seven rak’ahs of Witr and two rak’ahs in the same manner as previously described, so these became nine rak’ahs.’