Questioner: That which takes places now O Shaykh—during the last ten nights of Ramaḍān—is that they (the people) divide the (night) prayer1 into the first part of the night [praying a portion of it] and the last part of the night [praying another portion at the end of the night], and this has become a common practice for them.
Imām al-Albānī: This is an innovation.
Questioner: We want to establish the Sunnah and make it easy for the people, so how should we do this?
Imām al-Albānī: You should pray earlier, ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭab said, “those who delay it (the night prayer) are better”, meaning, when he (ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb) ordered Ubay ibn Kaʿab to lead the people in the night prayers after the ʿIshāʾ prayer, and he (Ubay ibn Kaʿab) did this, thereafter ʿUmar ibn Khaṭṭāb whilst leaving to look for something said, “what a good innovation this is, those who have slept from it (the night prayer) are better than those who have established it because of their desire to offer the night prayer towards the end of the night whilst the people establish it in the beginning (of the night)2”.
Questioner: So the affair should remain the same as it was before the the (last) ten days? [i.e. one night prayer, without dividing it, either starting with it right after ʿIshāʾ or delaying it towards the end of the night]
Imām al-Albānī: Yes.
Arabic source:
سلسلة الهدى والنور رقم 3٧١٩
السائل : ما يحدث الآن يا شيخ في مضان في العشر الأواخر ، يقسمون الصلاة ،صلاة القيام في أول الليل وفي آخره ، وأصبح هذا يعني نظام دائم ؟
فأجاب الشيخ رحمه الله : بدعة
فقال السائل : كيف يكون يعني إذا أردنا أن نقيم السنة ، ونخفف عن الناس فكيف نفعل؟
قال الشيخ : تبكرون كما قال عمر : والتي يؤخرونها أفضل يعني هو أمر أبي بن كعب أن يقيم صلاة القيام بالناس بعد صلاة العشاء ففعل ولما خرج يتحسس قال نعمت البدعة هذه والتي ينامون عنها أفضل .
قال السائل : يعني يبقى الحال على ما هو قبل العشر
قال الشيخ: نعم
Endnotes:
Translated by: Munīb al-Ṣumālī