such-and-such [person], he used to perform the night prayer, then he abandoned the night prayer." Agreed upon (124).
Section: It is permissible to perform voluntary prayer (tatawwu') in congregation (125) or individually, because the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) did both. Most of his voluntary prayers were performed alone. He prayed with Hudhayfah once, with Ibn 'Abbas once, and with Anas, his mother, and the orphan once. He led his companions in prayer at the house of 'Utban once, and led them for three nights during Ramadan. We shall mention most (126) of these reports in their proper places, God willing. They are all authentic and excellent.
240- Issue; He said: (It is permitted to perform voluntary prayer while sitting.)
We do not know of any disagreement regarding the permissibility of performing voluntary prayer while sitting, and that performing it standing is better. The Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) said: "Whoever prays standing, it is better, and whoever prays sitting, he has half the reward of the one standing." Agreed upon (1). In a wording by Muslim: "A man's prayer while sitting is half of the prayer" (2). 'Aisha said: The Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) did not die until much of his prayer was while he was sitting (3).
= 6/43, 55, 84, 95, 109, 128, 174, 189, 233, 244, 250. (124) Extracted by al-Bukhari, in: The chapter on what is disliked regarding abandoning the night prayer, from the Book of Tahajjud. Sahih al-Bukhari 2/68. And Muslim, in: The chapter on the prohibition of fasting perpetually, from the Book of Fasting. Sahih Muslim 2/814. (125) In the original manuscript: "in a congregation". (126) Omitted from: The original manuscript. (1) This is how the author mentioned it, but Muslim did not extract it; see: Tuhfat al-Ashraf 8/184. He only extracted the following [hadith], which will come later. This hadith was extracted by al-Bukhari, in: The chapter on the prayer of the one sitting, and the chapter on the prayer of the one sitting by gesture, from the Book of Shortening Prayer. Sahih al-Bukhari 2/59. And Abu Dawood, in: The chapter on the prayer of the one sitting, from the Book of Prayer. Sunan Abi Dawood 1/218. And al-Tirmidhi, in: The chapter on what has been narrated regarding the prayer of the one sitting... etc., from the chapters on prayer. 'Aridat al-Ahwadhi 2/165, 166. And al-Nasa'i, in: The chapter on the superiority of the prayer of the one standing over the prayer of the one sleeping, from the Book of Night Prayer. Al-Mujtaba 3/183. And Ibn Majah, in: The chapter on the prayer of the one sitting being half of the prayer of the one standing. Sunan Ibn Majah 1/388. And Imam Ahmad, in: Al-Musnad 4/433, 435, 442, 443. (2) Extracted by Muslim, in: The chapter on the permissibility of voluntary prayer standing and sitting, from the Book of Travelers' Prayer. Sahih Muslim 1/507. It was also extracted by Abu Dawood, in: The chapter on the prayer of the one sitting, from the Book of Prayer: 1/218. And Imam Ahmad, in: Al-Musnad 2/192, 193, 203. (3) Extracted by Muslim, in: The chapter on the permissibility of voluntary prayer standing and sitting, from the Book of Travelers' Prayer. Sahih Muslim =
