Bayhaqi 4810 — One who prays witr with nine or seven sits in the last

Zurarah bin Awfa narrates from Sa'd bin Hisham (may Allah have mercy on them both) that he divorced his wife, then set out for Madinah in order to sell his household goods, buy weapons with them, join the jihad against the Romans, and keep fighting until his martyrdom. He says: A group of people from my tribe met me, and they related that in the time of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) six men had intended the same thing, but the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Is there not a good example for you in me?" He (peace and blessings be upon him) forbade them from that. So Sa'd bin Hisham called them to witness that he was taking his wife back. Then he returned to us and told us that he had come to Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) and asked about the witr, and he said: Shall I not tell you of the one who, of all people, knows best about the witr of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him)? I said: Yes! Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) said: Go to Sayyidah Aishah (may Allah be pleased with her) and ask about the witr of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), then come back and tell me too what she answers you. Sa'd bin Hisham (may Allah have mercy on him) says: I came to Hakim bin Aflah (may Allah have mercy on him) and took him along with me. He said: I will not go near her; I had forbidden her from saying anything about these two factions, but she refused anything except going on with her view about them. So I adjured him. Sa'd bin Hisham (may Allah have mercy on him) says: Hakim bin Aflah came with me and we reached Sayyidah Aishah (may Allah be pleased with her), and Sayyidah Aishah (may Allah be pleased with her) said: Hakim? She recognised him, and Hakim said: Yes. Sayyidah Aishah (may Allah be pleased with her) asked: Who is with you? He said: Sa'd bin Hisham. She said: The son of Amir? May Allah have mercy on him. And she said: Amir was a good man. I said: O Mother of the Believers! Tell me about the character of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). She said: Have you not read the Qur'an? I said: Of course! She said: The character of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) was the Qur'an itself. Sa'd bin Hisham (may Allah have mercy on him) says: I intended to get up, then it occurred to me to ask about the night prayer of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), and Sayyidah Aishah (may Allah be pleased with her) said: Have you not read this surah: "O you who are wrapped in garments" [Surah al-Muzzammil: 1]? I said: Of course! She said: Allah Almighty made the night prayer obligatory at the beginning of this surah, so the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) and his (peace and blessings be upon him) Companions (may Allah be pleased with them) stood in prayer at night for a year, until their feet became swollen, and Allah Almighty held back the ending of this surah for twelve months; then Allah Almighty revealed the lightening (of the burden) at the end of this surah, and so the night prayer became voluntary after having been obligatory. Sa'd bin Hisham (may Allah have mercy on him) says: I intended to get up again, then it occurred to me to ask about the witr of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). I said: O Mother of the Believers! Tell me about the witr of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). She said: We used to prepare his (peace and blessings be upon him) tooth-stick (miswak) and water for ablution, then Allah Almighty would wake the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) at whatever part of the night He wished. He (peace and blessings be upon him) would use the miswak and perform ablution, then pray eight rak'ahs, not sitting in any of them except the eighth; in it he would sit, remember Allah and supplicate, and then stand up without saying the salam. Then he would pray the ninth rak'ah, then sit, praise and glorify Allah, remember Him and supplicate; then he (peace and blessings be upon him) would say a salam loud enough for us to hear. Then, after the salam, he would pray two rak'ahs sitting. O my son, that made eleven rak'ahs. Then when the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) grew older and his body became heavier, he (peace and blessings be upon him) prayed seven witr and after the salam offered two rak'ahs sitting. O my son, that made nine rak'ahs. When the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) prayed a prayer, he liked to keep doing it constantly; and when sleep, pain or illness kept him (peace and blessings be upon him) from the night prayer, he (peace and blessings be upon him) would offer twelve rak'ahs during the day. And I do not know that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) ever recited the whole Qur'an in a single night until morning, or stood the whole night in prayer until morning, or fasted a whole month other than Ramadan. I came to Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) and narrated this hadith to him, and he said: Sayyidah Aishah (may Allah be pleased with her) has spoken the truth; if I were to visit her, I would speak with her face to face.