4- It is permissible to invoke God’s curse upon an oppressor in proportion to the wrong he has committed, for this is a form of lawful retribution.

5- The scholars state that this narration proves one may not report a hadith merely in paraphrase; the exact wording must be preserved. Ibn Masʿūd himself hesitated between saying, “may Allah fill” and “may Allah stuff,” and would not settle on just one of the two expressions even though their meanings coincide.

Hadith 6

ʿAbd Allah ibn ʿAbbās (may Allah be pleased with them both) said: “The Prophet ﷺ delayed the night (ʿishāʾ) prayer until deep into the night. ʿUmar then came out and said, ‘Prayer, O Messenger of Allah! The women and children have fallen asleep.’ The Prophet emerged, water still dripping from his head, and said, ‘Were it not that I would burden my community—or people—I would have commanded them to observe this prayer at this very hour.’”

Lexical note

“Aʿtama” means that he entered into al-ʿatamah, the dark part of the night; that is, he postponed the ʿishāʾ prayer until the red twilight had vanished and performed it in the darkness.

Overall meaning

The Prophet ﷺ delayed the ʿishāʾ prayer until a large portion of the night had passed, and the women and children—who cannot endure a lengthy wait—had fallen asleep. ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb therefore said, “Prayer, for the women and children have fallen asleep.” The Prophet then came out of his house to the mosque with water from his ritual bath dripping from his head and explained that, in principle, delaying the ʿishāʾ prayer is better. Yet, because of the hardship it would impose on those waiting, he refrained from making it obligatory: “Were it not that I would burden my ummah, I would have ordered them to perform this prayer at this late hour.”

Scholarly disagreement

The scholars have differed concerning the ʿishāʾ prayer: is it better to perform it at the beginning of its time or to delay it? Some scholars favor the first view, reasoning that the Prophet ﷺ usually prayed it early and only postponed it on a few occasions—either to demonstrate permissibility or because of an excuse; had delaying it been superior, he would have done so regularly. The majority, however, consider delaying it preferable, citing the many authentic hadiths that support this position.