299 – Jābir reported: “The Messenger of Allah ﷺ once led the night prayer in Ramadan. The people then waited for him on the following night, but he did not come out and said, ‘I was afraid that witr might be made obligatory for you.’” Narrated by Ibn Ḥibbān (1).

Hadith grading:
This ḥadīth is authentic. Its original wording is found in al-Bukhārī 1129 and Muslim 761 on the authority of ʿĀʾishah: “The Prophet ﷺ prayed in the mosque and some people prayed behind him. On the second night he prayed again and more people gathered. On the third—or fourth—night they assembled, but the Messenger of Allah ﷺ did not come out to them. When morning came he said, ‘I saw what you did, yet nothing prevented me from coming out to you except my fear that it might be made obligatory for you.’ This occurred in Ramadan.”

In the chain of the present report appears Yaʿqūb al-Qummī. Some ḥadīth masters regarded him as weak while others considered him reliable, but the narration ultimately rests on its well-established origin, which is unquestionably sound.

Glossary:
• al-qābila: the coming night, i.e., the next night.
• khashītu: “I feared.” Khashyah denotes a stronger, more reverential fear than khawf, arising from the greatness of the one feared.
• yuktab: lit. “to be written”; here, “to be prescribed” or “made obligatory for you.”