Lady Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her) narrates that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) went out of the house at midnight and performed voluntary prayers in the mosque. Some of the noble companions also prayed with him. In the morning, people kept discussing this matter among themselves. Then, when the third night came, the number of worshippers in the mosque increased. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) came from his house to the mosque and performed the prayer, and the people also prayed with him. Then, when the fourth night came, the people did not come to the mosque in full, so the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) did not come to them. Some people started calling out, "Prayer, prayer," but the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) did not come out; rather, he remained inside. Until the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) came out for the Fajr prayer. When he had completed the Fajr prayer, he stood up, turned his blessed face towards the companions, recited the tashahhud, praised and glorified Allah, and then said: "To proceed: Indeed, your coming was not hidden from me, but I feared that the night prayer might be made obligatory upon you, and then you would be unable to perform it." And the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) would encourage and instill eagerness in them to perform voluntary prayers in Ramadan without making it obligatory. He (peace and blessings be upon him) used to say: "Whoever fasts in Ramadan with faith and seeking reward, his previous sins will be forgiven." Then the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) passed away, and during the caliphate of our master Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) and the early years of the caliphate of our master Umar (may Allah be pleased with him), the method of the night prayer remained the same. Until Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) gathered the people behind Ubayy ibn Ka'b (may Allah be pleased with him) for prayer, so he led the people in prayer. In this way, for the first time, people gathered for Qiyam al-Layl in Ramadan.