And the response may be given on several grounds:

First: demand substantiation. One asks: What evidence establishes the authenticity of this hadith? Where is its chain of transmission? In which Muslim book was it transmitted? Which hadith scholar has declared it authentic?

Second: all those versed in hadith know with immediate certainty that this is a lie fabricated against the Messenger of Allah—may Allah bless him and grant him peace. Even someone with the slightest knowledge of hadith knows that it is a lie that no Muslim has transmitted in any of his books—neither collections of authentic hadith, nor Sunan, Musnad, or Mu‘jam works, nor shorter hadith collections. No chain of transmission is known for it, whether authentic or weak. Rather, it is an obvious lie.

Third: it is established that people offered night prayers during Ramadan in the Prophet’s lifetime—may Allah bless him and grant him peace. It is also established that he led the Muslims in congregational prayer for two or three nights.

In the two Sahīh collections, Ā’ishah—may Allah be pleased with her—reported that the Prophet—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—“went out in the middle of one night and prayed, and some men followed him in prayer. In the morning, people spoke about it, and a larger number gathered. He prayed, and they prayed with him. In the morning, people spoke about it again, and on the third night the number of people in the mosque increased. The Messenger of Allah—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—came out and offered his prayer. On the fourth night, the mosque could no longer accommodate those who had gathered, but the Messenger of Allah—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—did not come out to them. Some men began calling out, ‘The prayer!’ Yet he did not come out to them until he came out for the dawn prayer. When he had finished the dawn prayer, he turned to the people and pronounced the testimony of faith. Then he said: ‘Now then, your presence was not hidden from me,