he would throw pebbles at those who did so (1). Others denied that the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, practised this, saying: The correct account is that he lay down after Witr and before the two units before Fajr, as explicitly stated in the hadith of Ibn ‘Abbās.

He said (2): As for the hadith of ‘Ā’ishah, the reports transmitted from Ibn Shihāb differ. Mālik (3) narrated from him: “When he finished—meaning the night prayer—he would lie down on his right side until the muezzin came to him, whereupon he would pray two brief units.” This explicitly places his lying down before the sunnah prayer before Fajr. Others (4) narrated from Ibn Shihāb: “When the muezzin finished the call to Fajr prayer, dawn had become apparent to him, and the muezzin came to him = he would rise and pray two brief units, then lie down on his right side.” They said: When Ibn Shihāb’s students differ, Mālik’s account should be accepted, for he was the most reliable of them in transmitting from Ibn Shihāb and had the strongest memory.

The others said: Rather, in this matter, those who differed with Mālik were correct. Abū Bakr al-Khatīb (5) said: Mālik narrated from al-Zuhrī, from ‘Urwah, from ‘Ā’ishah: “The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, would pray eleven units at night, making them odd with a single unit. When he finished, he would lie down on his right side until the muezzin came to him, whereupon he would pray two brief units.” ‘Uqayl, Yūnus, Shu‘ayb, Ibn Abī Dhi’b, al-Awzā‘ī, and others differed with Mālik, narrating from