Islamic Studies

Praying in the Night, the Righteous and Forbidding Evil

by Suhaib Webb
January 18, 2009
2 min read

During the time of al-Hasan al-Baṣri there was an evil noble who used to sit on his balcony drinking; committing acts of sin and disobedience. Al-Hasan amassed a group of the righteous to face this evil. Thus, whenever the evil noble engaged in the forbidden, al-Hasan and friends would sit under his balcony, recite the Qur’an and engage in Allah’s remembrance with loud voices. Upon hearing them, the evil ruler sent his servant who said:

Servant: Why have you come here?

al-Hasan: “Tell that man to stop his evil and to refrain from doing it in front of the masses or we will kill him!”

The servant returned to his master explaining all that had happened. Upon hearing the threat of al-Hasan the noble said, “And how will they kill me when I have this and that and I have 1000 soldiers (to protect me)?”

The servant delivered the answer to al-Hasan ending his message by saying, “And how will you kill him?”

Al-Hasan responded, “We will kill him with arrows of the night.”

Servant: “What are arrows of the night?”

Al-Hasan:

رفع الأيدي إلى الله عز وجل

“Lifting the hands (in supplication) to Allah.”

When the servant informed the noble of al-Hasan’s words the noble responded:

“We have no power (to challenge) what he has promised.”

After that he left committing his evil acts in public.

Take from Rawāı̔u al-Qasas of Ibn al-Jawzī D. 1201 C.E

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About the author

Suhaib Webb

Suhaib Webb is a contemporary American-Muslim educator, activist, and lecturer. His work bridges classical and contemporary Islamic thought, addressing issues of cultural, social and political relevance to Muslims in the West. After converting to Islam in 1992, Webb left his career in the music industry to pursue his passion in education. He earned a Bachelor’s in Education from the University of Central Oklahoma and received intensive private training in the Islamic Sciences under a renowned Muslim Scholar of Senegalese descent. Webb was hired as the Imam at the Islamic Society of Greater Oklahoma City, where he gave khutbas (sermons), taught religious classes, and provided counselling to families and young people; he also served as an Imam and resident scholar in communities across the U.S.

From 2004-2010, Suhaib Webb studied at the world’s preeminent Islamic institution of learning, Al-Azhar University, in the College of Shari`ah. During this time, after several years of studying the Arabic Language and the Islamic legal tradition, he also served as the head of the English Translation Department at Dar al-Ifta al-Misriyyah.

Outside of his studies at Al-Azhar, Suhaib Webb completed the memorization of the Quran in the city of Makkah, Saudi Arabia. He has been granted numerous traditional teaching licenses (ijazat), adhering to centuries-old Islamic scholarly practice of ensuring the highest standards of scholarship. Webb was named one of the 500 Most Influential Muslims in the World by the Royal Islamic Strategic Studies Center in 2010.

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  • Assalamu Alaykum

    Your comment just made me realize what this was about. Subhanallah. That’s a cool story.

    Assalamu Alaykum
    Lowly Servant

    P.S. I love these small stories. These stories are what really make us appreciate the people in the past and Islam in general.

    Reply

  • Subhanallah the act of praying in the night and the power it holds for the Ummah is sorely underestimated by us today. If only we would struggle to get up in the last part of the night and pray to Allah and ask of Him, then surely we would see radical changes in the affairs of the Muslim world and in our own selves. May Allah give me and all of us the ability to act on this noble sunnah.

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