An Inquiry Regarding Tahajjud (Hazrat Musleh Maud’s (ra) Narration)
Hazrat Musleh-e-Maud (ra), whilst narrating this incident, states:
“One night, the Holy Prophet (sa) visited the house of his son-in-law, Hazrat Ali (ra), and his daughter, Hazrat Fatimah (ra), and enquired, ‘Do you offer the Tahajud prayer?’ In other words, the prayer which is offered after waking up in the middle of the night. Hazrat Ali (ra) submitted, ‘O Messenger (sa) of Allah, we try to offer it, but at times, owing to the will of Allah, we remain asleep and miss the Tahajud prayer. The Holy Prophet (sa) stated, ‘You should offer the Tahajud prayer’ and then left to return home and whilst walking back, he kept repeating:
وَكَانَ الْاِنْسَانُ اَكْثَرَ شَيْءٍ جَدَلًا
This is a verse of the Holy Quran, which means that most often, one is reluctant to admit and acknowledge his error and offers all kinds of justifications in order to conceal his faults. In other words, Hazrat Ali (ra) and Hazrat Fatimah (ra) should have said that sometimes they commit the mistake [and oversleep], instead of saying that it is owing to the will of God Almighty that they remain asleep. Why did they attribute their error to Allah the Almighty.”
(Dibachah Tafsir al-Quran, Anwar al-Ulum, Vol. 20, pp. 389-390)
Further explaining this incident, Hazrat Musleh-e-Maud (ra) states:
“Hazrat Ali (ra) narrates an incident when on one occasion he responded to the Holy Prophet (sa) in a manner which had a slight tone of contentiousness, but instead of expressing any displeasure, the Holy Prophet (sa) gave such a beautiful response which perhaps Hazrat Ali (ra) continued to enjoy its sweet delight for the rest of his life and indeed the pleasure he derived from this was his right alone. But even now, when one carefully ponders over this expression of displeasure of the Holy Prophet (sa), they are left astounded.
“There is a tradition from Bukhari, in which Hazrat Ali (ra) narrates, ‘One night, the Holy Prophet (sa) visited me and Fatimah al-Zahra (ra), the daughter of the Holy Prophet (sa), and enquired whether we offered the Tahajud prayer. I replied, “O Messenger (sa) of Allah, our lives are in the hands of Allah and whenever He wills, He causes us to wake up.” Upon hearing this, the Messenger (sa) of Allah returned home and did not say anything to me. However, when he stood up and his back was towards me, I heard him say whilst he was tapping his hand on this thigh, “But of all things, man is most contentious.”’
“By Allah, look how beautifully the Holy Prophet (sa) explained to Hazrat Ali (ra) that he should not have responded in the manner he did. Had it been anyone else, firstly they would have responded back by saying that considering his position and rank, he had no right to give a response like that. Or, at the very least, he would have argued that what he had said was incorrect in that a person has no choice and that all of one’s actions are controlled by Allah the Almighty; He does so as He wills, including whether one offers their prayers or not. He would have argued that such a concept of compulsion was against the Holy Quran. However, the Holy Prophet (sa) did not respond in either manner, nor did he become angry or argue with Hazrat Ali (ra) in order to highlight his error. In fact, he turned to one side and expressed his astonishment at the fact that how one is always able to find a justification and becomes contentious. The reality of the matter is that this one statement of the Holy Prophet (sa) was filled with countless lessons and had it been anyone else, they would not have been able to convey a fraction of it even if they had argued a hundred times. From this hadith, we can derive many lessons which shed light on the various aspects of the Holy Prophet’s (sa) morals and it will be appropriate to mention them here.”
Hazrat Musleh-e-Maud (ra) further states:
“Firstly, it reveals just how much concern the Holy Prophet (sa) had for the adherence to religion and faith that he would personally visit the homes of his close relatives in the night and look after their needs in this regard. There are many people, who, although are virtuous themselves and also counsel others to do the same, but the condition of their own home is not in order. They do not have the potential to even reform the people within their own household and the famous proverbial expression, ‘Just below the lantern lies the darkness’ applies to these very people.
“In other words, their example can be likened to a lantern which grants light to its surroundings, but right beneath it remains darkness. Such people counsel others, but have no concern for their own home as to whether the people of their own household are deriving any benefit from their light. However, the Holy Prophet (sa) wished the members of his household to also partake of this spiritual light which he wanted to illumine the world with. For this, the Holy Prophet (sa) would constantly counsel them and regularly enquire from them and assess their condition. The moral training of one’s own household members is such a moral excellence that if the Holy Prophet (sa) did not possesses this, then this invaluable trait would have been devoid from his moral qualities. The second aspect which is evident [from this hadith] is the absolute conviction the Holy Prophet (sa) had in this teaching which he presented before the world. Not even for a single moment did the Holy Prophet (sa) ever entertain a doubt regarding this teaching. People level the allegation that, God-forbid, the Holy Prophet (sa) did not receive any divine revelation and only did all of this in order to mislead the people and thereby establish his own rule. However, this was certainly not the case.
“The Holy Prophet (sa) had such conviction in his prophetood and having been commissioned by God that one cannot find any such example in the world. It is possible that one can put on an act before people in order to prove their truthfulness; however, it is not possible that one would go in the late of hours of the night to the house of their own daughter and son-in-law and enquire whether they offered the prayer which one offers by waking up in the middle of the night and which is not even obligatory, but rather has been left for the believers to decide for themselves based on their circumstances.
“Thus, for the Holy Prophet (sa) to visit the house of his daughter and son-in-law at such a time and to encourage them to offer the Tahajud prayer proves the absolute conviction he had in this teaching which he wanted others to adhere to as well. Otherwise, in the case of a liar, he knows that someone may or may not follow his teaching, but he would never discreetly visit the home of his children and advise them to adhere to this teaching. In other words, whether one follows such a teaching is a different matter, but he would never advise his own children at such a time when no else is around to see.
“This could only be possible when a person’s heart is filled with conviction that without following this teaching, one cannot attain any excellence. (In other words, whether one follows a teaching or not is a different matter. However, to advise someone about this in the night and away from the sight of others can only happen if one has complete conviction that without this teaching one cannot attain the excellences of that faith or its teaching.)
The third aspect which is evident [from this hadith] is the very reason why I narrated this incident in that it shows how the Holy Prophet (sa) would show great patience whilst explaining matters to others and instead of quarrelling, he would make them realise their mistake with love and affection. In this particular incident, Hazrat Ali (ra) responded to the Holy Prophet’s (sa) question by saying that once they had fallen asleep, they had no control over themselves in order to wake up. (A person who is asleep has no control over himself.) Therefore, once he had fallen asleep, he no longer had any knowledge that a certain time had come and he must now do such and such thing. If Allah caused them to wake up, then they would offer the prayer because they had no other choice. (There were no alarm clocks at the time.)
“Undoubtedly, the Holy Prophet (sa) was surprised to hear this response because the level of faith that was instilled in the heart of the Holy Prophet (sa) was such that it would never allow such a thing to happen whereby the time for Tahajud would pass by and the Holy Prophet (sa) remained unaware of it. Therefore, the Holy Prophet (sa) simply turned the other way and said that man never acknowledges his mistake but becomes contentious. In other words, in future, they should not offer an excuse but instead make an effort so that they do not miss the time [for the Tahajud prayer]. Thus, Hazrat Ali (ra) states that from that day on, he never missed his Tahajud prayer.”
(Sirat al-Nabi, Anwar al-Ulum, Vol. 1, 588-590)