Likewise, it is established in the two Sahīh collections, through reports from Ibn ‘Abbās, ‘Ā’ishah, and others, that the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace,

“would perform ablution for the night prayer, then offer the dawn prayer with that same ablution,”

even though he would sleep until he snored. He would say:

“My eyes sleep, but my heart does not sleep.”

Thus, it is established with the utmost authenticity that he would sleep and then offer the obligatory prayer with the same ablution he had performed for the voluntary prayer. How, then, can it be said that he performed ablution for every prayer?

It is also established in the Sahīh that:

“He, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, offered the noon prayer. Then the delegation of ‘Abd al-Qays came to him, and attending to them kept him from offering the two rak‘ahs after the noon prayer until he had offered the afternoon prayer, without performing fresh ablution.”

Sometimes he would offer an obligatory prayer followed by a voluntary prayer; sometimes a voluntary prayer followed by an obligatory prayer; and sometimes one obligatory prayer followed by another—all with a single ablution. Likewise, at night in Ramadan, the Muslims offered multiple prayers behind him with a single ablution. During his lifetime, the Muslims would perform ablution and then continue praying so long as their ablution remained unbroken, as related in authentic hadiths. It has not been reported from him—through either a sound or a weak chain of transmission—that he commanded them to perform ablution for every prayer.