with him—concerning the Ramadan night prayers, when he gathered the people behind a single reciter and said:
“What an excellent innovation this is! Yet the prayer they sleep through is better.”
The Messenger of Allah—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—had already established the Ramadan night prayers, saying:
“Allah has made fasting in Ramadan obligatory upon you, and I have established its night prayers as a Sunnah for you.”
During his lifetime—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—they would pray in separate groups: a man would pray alone, while another would lead a group, each group praying separately. The Prophet—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—also led them in congregational prayer on several occasions. He said:
“When a man prays with the imam until the imam finishes, he is credited with a whole night in prayer.”
However, he did not maintain this congregational prayer regularly, as with the five daily prayers, for fear that it would become obligatory upon them. After his death, they were safe from any additional obligation being imposed, so ʿUmar gathered them behind Ubayy ibn Kaʿb.
We must love the Prophet—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—so much that he is dearer to us than our own selves, our fathers, our sons, our families, and our wealth. We must honour and revere him, obey him inwardly and outwardly, be loyal to those who are loyal to him, and show enmity towards those who show enmity towards him. We must know that there is no path to Allah except by following him—may Allah bless him and grant him peace. No one can be a friend of Allah, or even a believer, or attain felicity and escape punishment, unless he believes in him and follows him inwardly and outwardly. There is no means of drawing near to Allah, Mighty and Majestic, except through faith in him and obedience to him.
He is the best of all earlier and later generations, the Seal of the Prophets, and the one singled out on the Day of Resurrection for the greatest intercession, by which Allah has distinguished him above all the other prophets. His are the Praiseworthy Station and the raised banner—the Banner of Praise. Adam and those