The Prophet's Worship and Night Prayer

Among the most moving chapters of the Shama'il are those describing the Prophet's worship — particularly his night prayer, Tahajjud. These narrations come primarily from Aisha and others who lived in proximity to him, witnesses to what happened in the stillness of the night when no congregation was watching.

Aisha reported that the Prophet would pray at night until his feet became swollen. When she asked him why he did this, given that Allah had forgiven him his past and future errors, he replied: 'Should I not be a grateful servant?' This exchange appears in both the Shama'il and the major hadith collections, and the scholars wrote extensively about it. The Prophet's worship was not driven by fear of punishment or desire for reward alone, but by a love and gratitude that needed expression. He worshipped because not worshipping was inconceivable to him.

His night prayer would typically begin after sleeping a portion of the night. He would wake in the early hours, perform wudu quietly, and begin praying. Hudhayfa ibn al-Yaman reported spending a night with the Prophet in prayer, and found that the Prophet recited Surah al-Baqarah, then Al Imran, then al-Nisa in a single unit of prayer — standing so long that the entire second chapter of the Quran passed in one standing, then adding more. His recitation was slow and measured. He would pause at every verse of mercy to ask for it, and at every verse of punishment to seek refuge.

His prostrations were long. Aisha was asked about the length of his prostrations, and she said that one could recite fifty verses before he would rise. He was reported to say in his prostrations things that his Companions later sought to memorize and repeat: 'How perfect You are, O my Lord, and I praise You. O Allah, forgive me.'

Despite this depth of personal worship, his night prayer was not so long that he created hardship for those praying behind him in the congregation. He explicitly said: 'When one of you leads people in prayer, he should keep it brief, for among them are the weak, the sick, and the elderly. But when he prays alone, let him lengthen it as he wishes.' He embodied both sides of this instruction: intense in his private prayer, considerate in his leading of others.

Ramadan intensified what was already a life of worship. He is described in the Shama'il and related narrations as 'charging' in Ramadan — the Arabic word has the sense of urgency and energy — spending even greater portions of the night in prayer, Quran recitation, and dhikr. He would do i'tikaf — retreat in the mosque — in the last ten nights of Ramadan, and he would wake his family to pray as well.

The Companions who narrated these details did so because they had seen something they could not remain silent about: a man to whom Jannah was guaranteed, who had been forgiven entirely, who could have rested in confidence — and who instead stood until his feet were swollen in the darkness, because of what he understood about Allah. They preserved these narrations as an invitation and a challenge for every believer who came after.