1106 — Abū Muhammad Yahyā ibn Muhammad ibn Sāʿid also narrated to us, saying: Ahmad ibn Yahyā al-Awdī narrated to us, saying: Zayd ibn al-Hubāb narrated to us. Ibn Sāʿid said: Ahmad ibn Mansūr ibn Sayyār also narrated to us, saying: Ibn Abī Maryam narrated to us. They both said: Ibn Lahīʿa narrated to us, from Bakr ibn Sawāda, from Ziyād ibn Nuʿaym al-Hadramī, from Wafāʾ ibn Shurayh al-Hadramī, from Ruwayfiʿ ibn Thābit al-Ansārī, who said: The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said—or, in Zayd ibn al-Hubāb’s wording, “I heard the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, say”—“Whoever says, ‘O Allah, bless Muhammad and place him in the seat brought near to You on the Day of Resurrection,’ my intercession will be assured for him.”

Ibn Sāʿid said: “This distinction—the sitting upon the Throne—we neither reject nor engage in dispute ⦗1617⦘ over. Nor, concerning any hadith that contains a distinction for the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, do we say anything by which it would be rejected or denied.”

Ibn Sāʿid said: “This hadith is close in meaning to the reports stating that He will seat him upon the Throne.”

Muhammad ibn al-Husayn, may Allah have mercy on him, said: If someone asks, “What is meant by the words of Allah, majestic and exalted: ‘And during part of the night, pray with it as an additional devotion ⦗1618⦘ for you’ [al-Isrā: 79]? Is this an additional devotion for the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, to the exclusion of everyone else? Is night prayer obligatory upon others, or is it an additional devotion exclusive to him?”

The answer is: Its meaning is excellent. Know that night prayer was obligatory upon the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, and upon his community. This is stated in the words of Allah, majestic and exalted: “O you wrapped in your cloak! Stand in prayer through the night, except a little: half of it—or subtract a little from that, or add to it—and recite the Quran with measured recitation” [al-Muzzammil: 2]. The Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, and his community would therefore perform it, but calculating the portions of the night for prayer was difficult for the believers. Allah the Generous then graciously favored His Prophet and his community by abrogating the obligation of night prayer for him and for them. This is stated in His words, majestic and exalted: “Allah determines the night and the day. He knew that you would not be able to keep count of it, so He turned to you in mercy. Recite, then, whatever is easy for you of the Quran,” and so on to the end of the surah.

Thereafter, night prayer became optional: whoever wished performed it, and whoever wished refrained from it, provided that he fulfilled his obligatory duties as Allah, majestic and exalted, had commanded him. Whoever performs it, Allah, majestic and exalted, expiates his misdeeds through it.

As for His words, majestic and exalted, “as an additional devotion for you” [al-Isrā: 79], they mean that Allah, majestic and exalted, has forgiven your past and future sins, so you have no sins to be expiated. Rather, your night prayer and all your acts of obedience serve to increase your ranks with your Lord, majestic and exalted, as an added merit for you. As for the rest of your community, whatever acts of obedience they perform—whether night prayer or otherwise—they perform them as expiation for sins. But you have no sins for night prayer to expiate. It is an added merit for you, O Muhammad.