It is narrated from Shurayh bin Ubaid Hadrami that Sayyiduna Abu Dharr Ghifari (may Allah be pleased with him) stated that the Noble Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) performed i'tikaf in the mosque during the last ten days of Ramadan. When he (peace and blessings be upon him) offered the Asr prayer on the twenty-second day, he said: "Tonight, insha’Allah, we will stand (in prayer), so whoever among you wishes to stand, let him do so." This was the twenty-third night. Thus, the Noble Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) led the ‘Isha prayer in congregation after darkness had fallen, until a third of the night had passed, then he (peace and blessings be upon him) went (to his tent). When the twenty-fourth night came, he (peace and blessings be upon him) neither stood (in prayer) nor said anything. But when the twenty-fifth night was to come, he (peace and blessings be upon him) stood after Asr on the twenty-fourth day of Ramadan and said: "Tonight, insha’Allah, we will stand (in prayer), so whoever among you wishes to stand, let him do so." So he (peace and blessings be upon him) stood in prayer that night until a third of the night had passed, then he (peace and blessings be upon him) went (to his tent). On the twenty-sixth night, he (peace and blessings be upon him) neither stood (in prayer) nor said anything. When he (peace and blessings be upon him) offered the Asr prayer on the twenty-sixth day, he (peace and blessings be upon him) stood and said: "Tonight, insha’Allah, we will stand (in prayer), so whoever wishes to stand, let him do so." Sayyiduna Abu Dharr Ghifari (may Allah be pleased with him) says: So we showed patience and steadfastness in standing (for prayer). The Noble Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) led us in prayer until two-thirds of the night had passed, then he (peace and blessings be upon him) went to his chamber. I said: "O Messenger of Allah! We are eager that you lead us in prayer until morning." But he (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "O Abu Dharr! When you pray with the Imam and return at the time when the Imam returns, it will be written for you as if you stood (in prayer) for the whole night." Abu Abdur Rahman says: I found this hadith written in my father’s (Imam Ahmad’s) book in his own handwriting.

It is narrated from Jubair bin Nufair Hadhrami that Sayyiduna Abu Dharr Ghifari (may Allah be pleased with him) says: We fasted the month of Ramadan with the Noble Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), and it happened that he (peace and blessings be upon him) did not perform Qiyam (night prayer) with us for the whole month, until seven nights remained. Then he (peace and blessings be upon him) performed Qiyam with us (on the twenty-third night) until one third of the night had passed. He (peace and blessings be upon him) did not perform Qiyam on the twenty-fourth night. After that, on the twenty-fifth night, he (peace and blessings be upon him) led such a long Qiyam that nearly half the night had passed. Sayyiduna Abu Dharr Ghifari (may Allah be pleased with him) said that the companions requested: O Messenger of Allah! If only you would lead us in prayer for the rest of the night as well. But he (peace and blessings be upon him) said: When a person stands in prayer with the Imam until he leaves, the reward for standing (in prayer) for the rest of the night is written for him. Then he (peace and blessings be upon him) did not lead us in Qiyam on the twenty-sixth night, but he did lead us in Qiyam on the twenty-seventh night. He (Abu Dharr) says that he (peace and blessings be upon him) sent a message to his family (to gather for Qiyam), and other people also gathered. Then he (peace and blessings be upon him) led us in such a long prayer that we began to fear that perhaps today we would miss Falah. Jubair bin Nufair says: I asked Sayyiduna Abu Dharr (may Allah be pleased with him), what does Falah mean? He said: It means Suhoor (pre-dawn meal).

It is narrated from Naeem bin Ziyad Abi Talha Al-Anmari that he heard Nu’man bin Bashir (may Allah be pleased with him) saying while standing on the pulpit of Homs, that he performed Qiyam with the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) in the month of Ramadan on the twenty-third night until one third of the night had passed, and on the twenty-fifth night until half the night had passed, and on the twenty-seventh night, the standing was so long that we began to think we would not be able to have suhoor. He says: We used to call suhoor“Falah.”We used to consider the seventh night to mean the twenty-seventh night, but you say that the twenty-third night is the seventh, so now I do not know who is more correct, us or you?

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Zaid bin Thabit (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Noble Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) made a small room with a mat in the mosque and prayed in it at night. When people found out, they also gathered, but then they could not hear the voice of the Noble Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). They thought that he (peace and blessings be upon him) had fallen asleep, so some people started coughing so that he (peace and blessings be upon him) would come out to them. Then he (peace and blessings be upon him) said: I am aware of what you have been doing. The real matter is that I fear this standing (in prayer) may be made obligatory upon you, and if it is made obligatory, you will not be able to maintain it. Therefore (I say that) O people! Pray in your homes. A man's prayer in his house is the best deed, except for the obligatory prayer.

Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Sa’d (may Allah be pleased with him) says that I asked the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him): Is it better for me to pray at home or in the mosque? He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: Do you not see my house? It is very close to the mosque, but still, praying at home is more beloved to me than praying in the mosque, except for the obligatory prayer (which should be performed in the mosque).

Sayyiduna Jabir bin Abdullah (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates from Sayyiduna Ubayy bin Ka'b (may Allah be pleased with him) that a man came to the Noble Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) and said: O Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), I performed an action last night. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) asked: What action was that? He said: There were some women with me at home, they said to me: You recite the Qur'an and we do not, so lead us in prayer. Thus, I led them in eight rak'ahs and witr. In response, the Noble Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) remained silent. They say: We considered the silence of the Noble Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) as a sign of his approval.

Abu Salamah bin Abdur Rahman bin Awf says: I asked Sayyidah Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her) about the prayer of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) in Ramadan. She said: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) did not pray more than eleven rak‘ahs in Ramadan or outside of Ramadan. He (peace and blessings be upon him) would pray four rak‘ahs, so do not ask about their beauty and length, then he (peace and blessings be upon him) would pray four rak‘ahs, so do not ask about their beauty and length, then he (peace and blessings be upon him) would pray three rak‘ahs. Sayyidah Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her) says: I said: O Messenger of Allah! Do you sleep before praying Witr? He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: Aisha! Indeed, my eyes sleep, but my heart does not sleep.

Abu Salamah bin Abdur Rahman bin Awf (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates that he asked Sayyidah Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her): Mother! Tell me about the prayer of the Noble Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). She said: Whether it was Ramadan or other than Ramadan, the prayer of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) used to be thirteen rak‘ahs, among which two rak‘ahs were the Sunnah of Fajr. I said: Tell me about the fasts of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). She said: The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) used to fast continuously until we would say that now he will always fast, but then he (peace and blessings be upon him) would leave off fasting (in succession) until we would say that now he will abandon fasting. And I did not see the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) fasting in any month as much as he fasted in Sha‘ban. Rather, it should be said that he fasted the whole of Sha‘ban, except for a few days.