It has also been said that not a single night passed without their praying during it. On this interpretation, what is meant is sleeping through the entire night. This interpretation is weak, however, because sleeping through the night is forbidden, since the ‘Ishā’ prayer is obligatory. Allah Most High says:

“Only those believe in Our signs who, when reminded of them, fall down in prostration and glorify their Lord with praise, without arrogance. Their sides forsake their beds as they call upon their Lord in fear and hope, and they spend from what We have provided them. No soul knows what joy has been kept hidden for them as a reward for what they used to do.”

In the hadith of Mu‘ādh, he said, “O Messenger of Allah, tell me of a deed that will admit me to Paradise and keep me far from the Fire.”

He replied, “You have asked about a momentous matter, yet it is easy for whomever Allah makes it easy: worship Allah without associating anything with Him, establish prayer, give zakat, fast Ramadan, and perform pilgrimage to the House.”

Then he said, “Shall I direct you to the gates of goodness? Fasting is a shield, charity extinguishes sin as water extinguishes fire, and so does a man’s prayer in the depths of the night.” Then he recited, “Their sides forsake their beds as they call upon their Lord in fear and hope, and they spend from what We have provided them,” continuing until he reached “do.”

Then he said, “Shall I not tell you of the head of the matter, its pillar, and its pinnacle? The head of the matter is Islam, its pillar is prayer, and its pinnacle is jihad in the cause of Allah.”

Then he said, “Shall I tell you what holds all of that together?”

I said, “Yes.” He took hold of his tongue and said, “Restrain this.”

I said, “O Messenger of Allah, will we really be held accountable for what we say?”

He replied, “May your mother be bereaved of you, O Mu‘ādh! What casts people into the Fire on their faces—or he said, on their noses—except the harvests of their tongues?”