Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) narrates: I spent the night at the house of my maternal aunt, Sayyida Maymunah (may Allah be pleased with her). During the night, the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) stood up. He relieved himself, then washed his face and both hands, then he slept again. Then he woke up, came to the water-skin, opened its mouth, and performed ablution which was moderate; he did not wash the limbs more than necessary, he completed the ablution, then he stood up and began to pray. I also got up and pretended as if I had just woken up, disliking that you (the Prophet) might think I was observing you. I got up and performed ablution. The Prophet (peace be upon him) was praying; I came and stood on his left side. He took hold of my ear and turned me to his right side. The prayer of the Prophet (peace be upon him) was completed in thirteen rak‘ahs. He lay down and slept until he began to snore. When he slept, he would snore. Then Sayyiduna Bilal (may Allah be pleased with him) came to call him for prayer. The Prophet (peace be upon him) got up, prayed, and did not perform ablution again, and in this (prayer) he recited this supplication:“O Allah! Place light in my heart, place light in my sight, place light in my hearing, place light on my right, place light on my left, place light above me, place light beneath me, place light in front of me, place light behind me, and increase light for me.”The narrator named Kurayb states: I met someone from the children of Sayyiduna Abbas (may Allah be pleased with him), and he narrated this hadith to me, in which these words were also mentioned:“Place (light) in my muscles, my flesh, my blood, my hair, and my skin.”He also mentioned two other qualities.

Sayyidah Aisha Siddiqa (may Allah be pleased with her) narrates: I always found him sleeping with me at the time of suhoor. By "him," she meant the Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him).

Aswad reports: I asked Sayyida Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her) about the (voluntary) night prayer of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him): She replied: The Prophet (peace be upon him) would sleep in the early part of the night, then he would continue to perform voluntary prayers until when the time of suhoor approached, he would perform witr. Then he would return to his bed, and if he had the desire that a man has for his wife, he would fulfill it. When he heard the call to prayer, he would get up quickly; if he was in a state of major impurity, he would perform ghusl, otherwise he would perform wudu and proceed for the prayer. (Imam Ibn Hibban, may Allah have mercy on him, says:): There is no contradiction in these narrations, even though apparent and meaningful differences may be perceived. The reason is that the Prophet (peace be upon him) performed different numbers of voluntary prayers at night; on one night he would perform them in one manner, and on another night in a different manner. So, whichever way a companion saw the Prophet (peace be upon him) performing the prayer, he narrated it, and reported what he observed. Allah Almighty sent His beloved as a teacher for his ummah both verbally and practically, so the variation in the Prophet’s (peace be upon him) actions regarding the night prayers guides us to the fact that a person has the choice in this matter: whichever method the Prophet (peace be upon him) adopted for his night prayers, a person may perform voluntary prayers according to any one of those methods. It is not the case that he is obliged to follow only one of those methods and cannot follow all of them.

Ya’la Mawla narrates: He asked the noble wife of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him), Sayyida Umm Salama (may Allah be pleased with her), about the night (voluntary) prayer of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him): So Sayyida Umm Salama (may Allah be pleased with her) informed: The Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) would perform the ‘Isha prayer, then he would continue to recite tasbih, then after that, during the night, whenever Allah willed, he would continue to perform prayer, then after finishing the prayer, he would sleep for as long as he had prayed, then he would wake up from this sleep and continue to pray for as long as he had slept, and his last prayer would continue until the break of dawn.

Sa’d bin Hisham Ansari narrates: He asked Sayyidah Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her) about the (voluntary) night prayer of the Prophet (peace be upon him). She replied: When the Prophet (peace be upon him) had performed the ‘Isha prayer, he would offer two short rak’ahs, then he would sleep. The water for his ablution and his miswak would be placed near his head. Then he would wake up and use the miswak, then perform ablution and offer prayer. He would first offer two short rak’ahs, then he would offer eight rak’ahs in which he would recite almost equal portions (of the Qur’an). He would make them odd by performing a ninth rak’ah. Then he would sit and offer two rak’ahs. When the Prophet (peace be upon him) grew older and his body became heavier, he started offering six rak’ahs instead of eight, and would make them odd by performing a seventh rak’ah. Then he would sit and offer two rak’ahs in which he would recite Surah Al-Kafiroon and Surah Az-Zalzalah.

Abdullah bin Amr (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates that the Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "O Abdullah bin Amr! Do not be like that person who used to offer voluntary prayers at night but then abandoned the night prayer." (Imam Ibn Hibban, may Allah have mercy on him, says:) In this narration, there is evidence that it is permissible for a person to say something about another person in his absence, which, if that person were to hear it, would make him sad, as long as the intention of the speaker is not to disparage him but rather to warn someone else in some regard.

Lady Aisha Siddiqa (may Allah be pleased with her) narrates: Whenever the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) performed any deed, he would do it regularly. If he slept at night or could not perform the night prayers due to illness, he would perform twelve rak'ahs during the day. Lady Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her) narrates: I never saw the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) performing voluntary prayers for the entire night until dawn, nor did I ever see him fasting continuously for a whole month except in the month of Ramadan. (Imam Ibn Hibban, may Allah have mercy on him, says:) This narration contains evidence that Witr is not obligatory, because if it were obligatory, he would have performed the thirteen rak'ahs of the night during the day.

Sayyiduna Umar bin Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates that the Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Whoever sleeps before performing his regular practice (wird) or something from it remains, then if he recites it between the Fajr prayer and the Zuhr prayer the next day, it will be recorded for him in his book of deeds just as if he had recited it at night."

Lady Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her) narrates: Whenever the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) performed any deed, he would do it regularly. Lady Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her) narrates: When the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) would sleep without performing the night (voluntary) prayers or was unable to perform them due to illness, he would offer twelve rak'ahs during the day. I never saw the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) performing voluntary prayers for the entire night until dawn, nor did I see him fasting for a whole month except in the month of Ramadan.

Sayyida Aisha Siddiqa (may Allah be pleased with her) narrates: When the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) was unable to perform the night voluntary prayers due to sleep, or if he dozed off, then he would perform twelve rak'ahs during the day.