Women in early Islam: The Holy Prophet’s daughter reminded about tahajjud

Collected by Amtushakoor Tayyaba Ahmed

Included in the comprehensive series of Friday Sermons delivered over the past few years by Hazrat Khalifatul Masih V^aa, there are many incidents relating to the family of the Holy Prophet^sa. Reading or hearing about these incidents gives us insight into the dealings of the Holy Prophet^sa with his wives, daughters and other female relatives. 

It puts into practice, in the best possible manner, the teachings of the Holy Quran, and it gives many of us comfort to see how Allah the Almighty would like our families to be. The discussion of these events by Hazrat Khalifatul Masih^aa clarifies many allegations made against Islam, especially those relating to early Islamic history, and, in this series of collections, regarding women.

The Holy Prophet’s reminder to Hazrat Ali and Hazrat Fatima about tahajjud

Hazrat Khalifatul Masih^aa explained in the Friday Sermon of 27 October 2023:

An incident of the Holy Prophet^sa drawing the attention of his daughter and son-in-law towards the tahajjud prayer is recorded in Sahih al-Bukhari as follows:

“Hazrat Ali^ra relates that one day the Holy Prophet^sa visited him and his own daughter, Hazrat Fatima^ra, and said: ‘Do both of you not offer the prayer?’ I replied: ‘O Messenger^sa of Allah! Our lives are in the hands of Allah. He wakes us whenever He desires to do so.’ (This is in relation to the tahajjud prayer.) Hazrat Ali^ra says that the Holy Prophet^sa did not respond to this and left. While the Holy Prophet^sa was leaving, I heard him saying the following whilst striking his thigh with his hands:

وَکَانَ الإِنْسَانُ أَکْثَرَ شَىْءٍ جَدَلاً‏

‘But of all things man is most contentious’ (Surah al-Kahf, Ch.18: V.55).” (Sahih al-Bukhari, Kitab at-tahajjud, Hadith 1127)

Hazrat Musleh-e-Maud^ra has recorded the details of this incident in the following manner:

“One evening, the Holy Prophet^sa visited his son-in-law, Hazrat Ali^ra, and his daughter, Hazrat Fatima^ra, and said: ‘Do you offer the tahajjud prayer? Hazrat Ali^ra replied: ‘O Messenger^sa of Allah! We try to offer it. However, if, by the will of Allah, we remain asleep, then it is missed.’ The Holy Prophet^sa said: ‘You should offer the tahajjud prayer!’ He then stood up and returned to his home, and on his way out, he repeatedly said:

وَکَانَ الإِنْسَانُ أَکْثَرَ شَىْءٍ جَدَلاً‏

[“But of all thing,s man is most contentious.” (Surah al-Kahf, Ch.18: V.55)]

“This is a verse of the Holy Quran which means that a person is often afraid to admit their mistake and covers their flaw by presenting various excuses. What it meant was that instead of Hazrat Ali^ra and Hazrat Fatima^ra saying that they err at times, instead they said that ‘when Allah desires for us not to wake up, we remain asleep.’ They attributed their weakness to Allah the Almighty.” (Dibacha Tafsir-ul-Quran, Anwar-ul-Ulum, Vol. 20, pp. 389-390)

Expounding on this incident further, in one instance, Hazrat Musleh-e-Maud^ra says:

“Hazrat Ali^ra relates an incident of his, which mentions that on one occasion, he responded to the Holy Prophet^sa in a manner which carried a tone of argumentation and confrontation, but instead of the Holy Prophet^sa being upset or displaying anger, he responded in such a subtle manner, that perhaps Hazrat Ali^ra enjoyed the beauty of these words until the very last days of his life.  Moreover, it was his due right to derive pleasure from it. Even today, whenever a wise person learns of how exquisitely the Holy Prophet^sa expressed his displeasure, it leaves them astounded. 

“Hazrat Ali^ra relates, ‘One evening, the Holy Prophet^sa visited me and Fatimat al-Zahra^ra, the daughter of the Holy Prophet^sa, and said: ‘Do you not offer the tahajjud prayer?’ I replied: ‘O Messenger^sa of Allah! Our lives are in the hands of Allah the Almighty and whenever He desires to wake us, we wake up.’ Upon hearing this, the Holy Prophet^sa returned without saying anything to me. Then, whilst he turned to leave, he struck his own thigh and said, ‘But of all things, man is most contentious.’

“Glory be to Allah! How extraordinary was the way in which the Holy Prophet^sa explained to Hazrat Ali^ra that he should not have responded in this manner. If it were someone else [responding], they first would have started arguing, that ‘look at my position and status and look at your answer; do you have any right to dismiss my words in such a fashion?’ If this were not the case, then, at the very least, they would have argued, ‘your claim is completely false, which is that a human is compelled in that all their actions are in Allah’s control; and that He forces you to act however He wills, and if He wishes, He either enables you to pray or He does not.’ The Holy Prophet^sa could have said that the question of compulsion is completely against the Holy Quran. The Holy Prophet^sa could have said all of this. But he did not adopt these two methods; neither did he get upset at him, nor did he argue with Hazrat Ali^ra to highlight his mistake. Rather, he moved to one side and expressed shock at his answer, saying, ‘people are very strange: they take a particular point which benefits them and begin to argue over it.’

“In reality, this simple statement of the Holy Prophet^sa was so impactful that even a hundred arguments of another person are no match in comparison. We can learn many things from this hadith.” (Sirat-un-Nabi, Anwar-ul-Ulum, Vol. 1, pp. 588-590)

Hazrat Musleh-e-Maud^ra further analyses this and states:

“Different aspects of the Holy Prophet’s^sa morals come to light through this, and it is appropriate to mention them here.

“Firstly, we see how much the Holy Prophet^sa cared for the spiritual well-being of those close to him, in that he would visit them at night [to advise them]. There are many people who are pious themselves and exhort others to be pious as well, but the condition of their own homes is dire. They do not even have the ability to reform the people of their own households. There is a well-known idiom regarding such people that ‘there is darkness underneath the lamp.’

“This means that just as a lamp illuminates everything in its surroundings, but darkness remains below it, in the same way, these people go around advising others, but they do not worry about whether the people in their own houses are benefitting from their light. But the Holy Prophet^sa was mindful of the fact that his relatives should be illuminated by the light which he wished to spread throughout the world. He vowed to take on this responsibility, for which he would test them and teach them. Moral reformation of one’s relatives is an outstanding trait, and if this quality was not found within the Holy Prophet^sa, there would be a significant deficiency in his morals. But since he possessed the most excellent of morals, that is why this trait was found within him in abundance.

“The second point we understand is that the Holy Prophet^sa had complete conviction in the teachings which he presented to the world, and he did not doubt these teachings for even a moment. Some people allege – God forbid – that in order to deceive the entire world and establish his kingdom, the Holy Prophet^sa created this whole enterprise. Otherwise, he did not receive any revelations (some orientalists used to write this, and the disbelievers in the Holy Prophet’s^sa time used to say this as well.) This was not the case; rather, the Holy Prophet^sa had such firm conviction in his prophethood and appointment by God that we find no parallel of this in the entire world. Because it can be assumed that the Holy Prophet^sa may have acted with pretence in order to prove his truthfulness to the people, but it cannot be imagined that a person goes to his daughter and son-in-law, especially at night, and enquires as to whether they engage in this form of worship as well; a prayer which has not been made mandatory, but rather the observance of which God has left to the choice of the believer as to whether one wakes up in the middle of the night to observe.

“For the Holy Prophet^sa to go out and encourage his daughter and son-in-law to also offer the tahajjud prayers is a testament to his complete conviction in the teaching he wished to impart to the people. Otherwise, a liar who knows that following or rejecting his teaching is inconsequential could never advise his children to adhere to it, and that too at such a hidden time [of night]. (It would be the same result in either case. Such a person would not be able to advise his children to follow his teachings.) This can only occur if a person’s heart is convinced that excellence cannot be achieved without adhering to the teaching.

“The third matter is the very reason why this incident has been presented, which is that the Holy Prophet^sa explained everything with incredible patience. Instead of quarrelling, he would point out the errors of others with love and tenderness. On this particular occasion, Hazrat Ali^ra sought to avert the Holy Prophet’s^sa question by saying that after a person falls asleep, he has no control over when he will wake up; whilst a person is sleeping, he is unaware of the time for completing any task. If Allah the Almighty causes him to wake up, he offers prayer. (They had no other choice, as in that era, there were no alarm clocks.) It was no surprise that upon hearing this answer, the Holy Prophet^sa was taken aback; the faith in his heart would never allow him to become so neglectful and heedlessly miss the time to offer the tahajjud prayers. It was for this reason that the Holy Prophet^sa turned away and simply said, ‘Man is disobedient and quarrelsome.’ In other words, Hazrat Ali^ra ought to have not wasted any opportunity by presenting this excuse.

“Thus, Hazrat Ali^ra subsequently said, ‘After that, I never missed offering the tahajjud prayer.’”  (Sirat-un-Nabi, Anwar-ul-Ulum, Vol. 1, pp. 588-590)