Also, if there is no fear of weakness for a weak person or illness for a sick person in the case of the Imam delaying the Isha prayer, such that their congregational prayer would be missed or delaying the prayer would make it difficult for them to attend the congregation, then it is recommended to delay the Isha prayer.

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) delayed the ‘Isha prayer one night, so Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) came out and said,“O Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), (please lead) the prayer; the women and children have fallen asleep.”So the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) came out while drops of water were falling from his blessed head and he was shaking water off both his sides. And he (peace and blessings be upon him) was saying,“If I did not fear that I would put my Ummah in hardship, I would have commanded them to perform (this prayer) at this time.”(Ibn Jurayj or ‘Umar) — one of the two — narrated these words:“This is the time, if I did not fear that I would put my Ummah in difficulty and hardship.”These are the words of the hadith of ‘Abdul Jabbar when he combined the narration from Ibn Jurayj and ‘Umar ibn Dinar. And when he narrated only from Ibn Jurayj, he said:“This is the time, if I did not fear that I would put my Ummah in hardship.”Ahmad ibn ‘Abdah, in his narration, stated these words:“If I did not fear that I would put the believers in hardship, I would have commanded them to perform this prayer at this time.”

Sayyiduna Ibn Umar (may Allah be pleased with them both) narrates that one night the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) delayed the ‘Isha prayer, so Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) called out to him and said,“(O Messenger of Allah,) the women and children have fallen asleep.”So the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) came to them and said:“None among the people of the earth is waiting for this prayer except you.”Imam Zuhri (may Allah have mercy on him) says that in those days only the people of Madinah used to offer this prayer.

Sayyiduna Ibn Umar (may Allah be pleased with them both) narrates that we were waiting for the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) for the ‘Isha prayer one night, when he came to us after a third of the night had passed. And we did not know what had kept him busy, whether it was something with his family or some other matter. When he came, he said:“Indeed, you are waiting for this prayer, and no followers of any other religion are waiting for it except you. And if I did not fear that it would be difficult for my Ummah, I would have led them (in this prayer) at this time.”Then he (peace and blessings be upon him) ordered the mu’adhdhin, so he gave the iqamah, and the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) led the prayer.

Sayyiduna Abu Sa'id Khudri (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates that we waited for the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) for the 'Isha prayer until about midnight. Then the Prophet (peace be upon him) came and led us in prayer and said: "Remain seated in your places. Indeed, people have gone to sleep. Indeed, from the time you have been waiting for the prayer, you have been in prayer continuously. And if it were not for the weakness of a weak person, the illness of a sick person, and the need of a needy person, I would have delayed this prayer until midnight." This is the narration of Bundar.

Sayyiduna Abu Barzah (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) disliked sleeping before the ‘Isha prayer and talking after it. This is the hadith of Ahmad bin Mani’. In the narration of Yahya bin Sa‘id, he says that Abu Minhal Siyār bin Salamah narrated to us that I was present with my father before Sayyiduna Abu Barzah Aslami (may Allah be pleased with him), so my father asked him,“How did the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) perform the obligatory prayers?”He replied,“He (peace and blessings be upon him) liked to delay the ‘Isha prayer, which you call ‘Atamah. And he (peace and blessings be upon him) disliked sleeping before ‘Isha and talking after it.”In the narration of Muhammad bin Ja‘far and ‘Abd al-Wahhab, «‏‏‏‏عَنْ اَبِی الْمِنْھَالِ» ‏‏‏‏ is present, while the text is similar to the narration of Yahya.

In this is evidence that the dislike expressed by the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) regarding sleeping before ‘Isha is in the case when the prayer has not been delayed.

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Ibn Umar (may Allah be pleased with them both) that one night the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) was occupied and delayed the ‘Isha prayer until we fell asleep, then we woke up, then we fell asleep again, then we woke up again, then the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) came out and said:“None among the people of the earth is waiting for prayer except you.”This is the narration of Muhammad bin Bakr. In the narration of Ibn Rafi’, it is mentioned: until we fell asleep in the mosque. In the hadith of Sayyiduna Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both), it is mentioned that Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) came out and said: O Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), lead the prayer, for the women and children have fallen asleep.

It is narrated from Sayyidah Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her) that one night the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) delayed the (‘Isha) prayer until most of the night had passed and the people of the mosque had fallen asleep. Then the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) came and led the prayer and said:“Indeed, this is its (proper) time, if I did not fear that I would put my Ummah in hardship.”In the narration of Abu Asim and Muhammad bin Kar, «‏‏‏‏حدثنی المغيرة بن حكيم» ‏‏‏‏“that is, instead of ‘akhbarani’ they said ‘haddathani’.”Imam Abu Bakr (may Allah have mercy on him) says that when the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) delayed the ‘Isha prayer until the people of the mosque had fallen asleep, and when the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) came to them, he did not rebuke them for sleeping before ‘Isha. And if sleeping before the ‘Isha prayer was disliked, while the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) had delayed the prayer, then the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) would have rebuked them for this action and reprimanded them for something that was not permissible for them. In the narration of Sayyiduna Jabir bin Abdullah (may Allah be pleased with him) regarding the times of prayer from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), he says about the time of the ‘Isha prayer on another night: We slept, then woke up, then we slept, then we woke up, then we slept several times.

Sayyiduna Ibn Umar (may Allah be pleased with them both) narrates that I heard the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) say: "The Bedouins should never prevail over you regarding the name of your prayer. Indeed, they used to delay (the prayer) because of milking their camels (and therefore called 'Isha prayer 'Atamah). Indeed, it is the 'Isha prayer."