“…‘O Allah, send blessings upon him; O Allah, forgive him; O Allah, have mercy on him.’

Concerning his words, ‘so long as he does not break hadath,’ some scholars say this means: so long as he does not perpetrate a misdeed in Islam, that is, he does not commit sin. Others maintain that it refers to any act that nullifies ablution; for when a person breaks his wudūʾ, his prayer is invalidated and he can no longer be regarded as being in prayer. In either case, the ḥadīth proves the virtue of waiting for the next prayer after finishing one prayer, and the merit of waiting for a prayer even when one has not just prayed. From this it is understood that a person should make a point of arriving early at the mosque.

The author then relates the incident in which the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) delayed the night prayer until halfway through the night—that is, he did not conclude it until midnight—while the Companions waited for him. When he finished, he said: ‘The people have prayed and gone to sleep, whereas you have remained in prayer so long as you were waiting for it.’ Thus, from the time ‘Ishāʾ became due until midnight—when the Prophet finally led the prayer—the Companions were waiting, yet they were still counted as being in prayer because of that waiting.

This ḥadīth therefore shows that it is preferable to delay the night prayer, except when doing so would burden the people; in that case, praying earlier is better. Accordingly, if a group—whether travelling or resident, and especially in a place where the congregational prayer is not regularly held—can pray together, it is recommended that they postpone ‘Ishāʾ until shortly before midnight. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said, ‘This would be its time were it not that I would impose hardship on my community.’ His practice with the night prayer was that if he saw the people had gathered, he would lead it promptly, and if he noticed they were slow in coming, he would delay it. Allah is the One who grants success.