It is narrated from Sayyiduna Abu Sa'id Khudri (may Allah be pleased with him), he says: We waited for the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) one night for the 'Isha prayer, until about half the night had passed. Then the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) came and led us in prayer and said: Remain seated in your places, for indeed (the people of other mosques) have performed this prayer and gone to sleep, while you, from the time you have been waiting for this prayer, have been in prayer itself. And if it were not for the weakness of the weak, the illness of the sick, and the need of the needy, I would have delayed this prayer until half the night.

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Abu Bakrah (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) delayed the ‘Isha prayer until one third of the night for eight or nine nights. One day, Sayyiduna Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) said: O Messenger of Allah! If you would lead us in this prayer earlier, it would be better for standing in prayer at night. So after that, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) would lead this prayer earlier. ‘Abd al-Samad mentioned seven nights and ‘Affan mentioned nine nights.

Asim bin Humaid Shakuni, who was among the companions of Sayyiduna Mu'adh bin Jabal (may Allah be pleased with him), narrates that Sayyiduna Mu'adh (may Allah be pleased with him) said: One day we were waiting for the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) for the 'Isha prayer, but he delayed, until we began to think that he would not come out at all, and some of us said: He (peace and blessings be upon him) has already performed this prayer and will not come out now. Meanwhile, the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) arrived, and we said: O Messenger of Allah! We had begun to think that you would not come out at all, and some among us started saying that you had already performed the prayer and would not come out. Upon hearing this, the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: Perform this prayer late, for indeed, through it you have been given superiority over all other nations; no nation before you has performed this prayer.

Ibn Jurayj says: I asked Ata, "Which time do you prefer for me to perform the Isha prayer in congregation or individually?" He said: I heard Sayyiduna Abdullah ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with him) narrate: One night, the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) delayed the performance of the Isha prayer until the people fell asleep and then woke up again. Then Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) stood up and said, "(O Messenger of Allah!) The prayer." So the Prophet of Allah came out. It is as if I can still see him, with drops of water dripping from his head, and he (peace and blessings be upon him) had placed his hand on one side of his head, and he (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "If I did not consider it difficult for my Ummah, I would have commanded them to perform this prayer at this time."

(Second chain) There is a similar narration, except that in it: Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) said: O Messenger of Allah! The women and children have fallen asleep, so you (peace and blessings be upon him) came and said: If I did not fear hardship upon my ummah, I would have commanded them to perform this prayer at this time.

It is narrated from Sayyida Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her), she says: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) delayed the ‘Isha prayer one night, until Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) called out to him: The women and children have fallen asleep. Then the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) came and said: Other than you, there is no one among the people of the earth who is performing this prayer at this time. At that time, only the people of Madinah were performing the prayer. In another narration, it is mentioned: This was before the spread of Islam.

It is narrated from Sayyida 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 a large part of the night had passed and the people of the mosque had fallen asleep. Then he (peace and blessings be upon him) came, led the prayer, and said: This would be the time for this prayer, if it were not difficult for my Ummah.

Sayyiduna Taliq (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates that the Noble Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: The (true) Fajr is not that in which the light rises vertically in the horizon, rather it is that in which the red light spreads horizontally across the horizon.

Sayyidah Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her) narrates that believing women used to perform the Fajr prayer with the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), while they were wrapped in their cloaks, then they would return to their homes and no man could recognize them because of the darkness.

Abu Rabi’ says: I was with Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) at a funeral, when he heard the sound of a man crying out loudly, so he sent a message to him and had him silenced. I said: O Abdur Rahman! Why did you have him silenced? He said: Crying in this manner causes pain to the deceased until he is placed in the grave. Then I said: I pray Fajr with you, and when I finish this prayer (because of the darkness) I cannot see the face of the one sitting next to me, but sometimes it happens that you make light? He said: I saw the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) do the same, and I like to pray this prayer in the same way as I saw the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) pray it.