Questioner: What happens nowadays, oh Shaikh, in Ramadan in the last ten nights of shortening the prayer. The Qiyam prayer in the first part of the night and a Qiyaam in the last part of the night. This has become a continuous order/system?
Shaikh: Innovaion
Questioner: Alright, how should it be? That is if we wanted to establish the Sunnah and make it easy for the people, what do we do?
Shaikh: Mention to them what Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) said: “That which you delay is better“. That is: He ordered Ubayy ibn K’ab (may Allah be pleased with him) to establish the night prayer for the people after Isha. So he did it and when Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) came out he realized:
نعمة البدعة هي والتي ينامون عنها أفضل
What an excellent Bid’a (i.e. innovation) this is; but the prayer which they do not perform, but sleep at its time is better than the one they are offering [Bukhari no. 2010]
Questioner: That is they should remain in the situation which they were upon before the ten days?
Shaikh: Yes”.
[Silsilatul-Huda wan-Noor no. 719]
Translated by
Faisal Ibn Abdul Qaadir Ibn Hassan
Abu Sulaymaan
