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.