Question
Is this a saheeh hadith: “Whoever prays four (rak‘ahs) after ‘Isha’, they will be equal in worth to Laylat al-Qadr”?
Answer
Praise be to Allah.
It is proven from the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) that after ‘Isha’, when he returned to his house, he would pray four rak‘ahs. That was narrated in a hadith from Ibn ‘Abbaas (may Allah be pleased with him), who said:
I stayed overnight in the house of my maternal aunt Maymoonah bint al-Haarith, the wife of the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him), and the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) was with her because it was her night. The Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) prayed ‘Isha’, then he came to his house and prayed four rak‘ahs. Then he went to sleep, then he got up and said: “The little boy has gone to sleep”, or similar words. Then he went and stood (to pray) and I stood on his left, but he made me stand on his right. He prayed five rak‘ahs, then he prayed two rak‘ahs, then he went to sleep, until I could hear him breathing deeply. Then he went out for the prayer. Narrated by al-Bukhaari (117).
In fact it is narrated in another hadith – even though it is somewhat da‘eef (weak) – that the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) habitually prayed four rak‘ahs after ‘Isha’.
It was narrated that ‘Aa’ishah (may Allah be pleased with her) said: The Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) never prayed ‘Isha’ then entered upon me except he would pray four or six rak‘ahs. Narrated by Abu Dawood (no. 1303); classed as da‘eef by al-Albaani in Da‘eef Abi Dawood – al-Umm (2/57).
Similar to that is a hadith narrated from ‘Abdullah ibn az-Zubayr who said: When the Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) had prayed ‘Isha’, he would pray four rak‘ahs, and make it odd-numbered by adding a rak‘ah. Then he would go to sleep so that he could get up and pray later on in the night.
