Yahya related to me from Malik from Ibn Shihab from Abu Bakr ibn Sulayman ibn Abi Hathma that Umar ibn al-Khattab did not see Sulayman ibn Abi Hathma present during the Subh [dawn] prayer.
In the morning he went to the marketplace, and Sulayman’s house was between the market and the Prophet’s Masjid.
He passed ash-Shifa, Sulayman’s mother, and said to her,
“I did not see Sulayman at Subh prayer?”
She replied, “He spent the night in prayer and his eyes overcame him.
‘Umar said, “I would rather be present at Subh than to stand the whole night in prayer.”
وَحَدَّثَنِي عَنْ مَالِكٍ، عَنِ ابْنِ شِهَابٍ، عَنْ أَبِي بَكْرِ بْنِ سُلَيْمَانَ بْنِ أَبِي حَثْمَةَ، أَنَّ عُمَرَ بْنَ الْخَطَّابِ، فَقَدَ سُلَيْمَانَ بْنَ أَبِي حَثْمَةَ فِي صَلاَةِ الصُّبْحِ وَأَنَّ عُمَرَ بْنَ الْخَطَّابِ غَدَا إِلَى السُّوقِ – وَمَسْكَنُ سُلَيْمَانَ بَيْنَ السُّوقِ وَالْمَسْجِدِ النَّبَوِيِّ – فَمَرَّ عَلَى الشِّفَاءِ أُمِّ سُلَيْمَانَ فَقَالَ لَهَا لَمْ أَرَ سُلَيْمَانَ فِي الصُّبْحِ فَقَالَتْ إِنَّهُ بَاتَ يُصَلِّي فَغَلَبَتْهُ عَيْنَاهُ . فَقَالَ عُمَرُ لأَنْ أَشْهَدَ صَلاَةَ الصُّبْحِ فِي الْجَمَاعَةِ أَحَبُّ إِلَىَّ مِنْ أَنْ أَقُومَ لَيْلَةً
{Muwatta of Imam Malik ~ The Book of Prayer in Congregation ~ Book 8, Hadith # 296}
(Picture – Maliki prayer ~ Freetown, Sierra Leone)
