hadith is evidence that he slept at night (1), despite being awakened by the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, and that he argued with him until the Prophet turned away, saying:

“Yet man is more contentious than any other creature.”

(Surah al-Kahf: 54).

As for the claim, “It was from him that people learned the night prayer and voluntary prayers by day”: if by this he means merely that a Muslim learned this from him, then the same is true of every Companion, for each of them taught some people. But if he means that some Muslims learned this from him, this is a blatant lie (2), for most Muslims never saw him, yet they were already standing in prayer at night and offering voluntary prayers by day. The people of most Muslim lands conquered during the caliphates of Umar and Uthmān—may Allah be pleased with them both—such as Greater Syria, Egypt, the Maghreb, and Khurāsān, never saw him, so how could they have learned from him? The Companions had already been doing the same during the lifetime of the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, and it was from him that they learned it. This could only possibly be claimed of the people (3) of Kūfah.

It is well known that they had already learned (4) this from Ibn Masūd—may Allah be pleased with him—and others before Alī came to them *; they were among the foremost people in knowledge (5) and religious commitment even before Alī—may Allah be pleased with him—arrived among them. The Companions were likewise, as were Ibn Masūd’s disciples before he came among them * (6) in Iraq.