‘Ā’ishah, the Mother of the Believers (may Allah be pleased with her) and wife of the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him), reported:
‘Ā’ishah, the Mother of the Believers (may Allah be pleased with her) and wife of the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him), reported: Al-Hawlā’ bint Tuwayt ibn Habīb ibn Asad ibn ‘Abdul-‘Uzza passed by while I was sitting with the Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him). So I said: This is Al-Hawlā’ bint Tuwayt, and they claim that she does not sleep at night. Thereupon, the Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) said: "She does not sleep at night! Do what you are capable of doing (regularly). By Allah, Allah never grows weary (of giving rewards) until you grow weary (of doing good deeds)."
Explanation
Explanation of the hadith
Al-Hawlā’ bint Tuwayt (may Allah be pleased with her) was with the Mother of the Believers ‘Ā’ishah (may Allah be pleased with her), and she left when the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) entered upon ‘Ā’ishah. ‘Ā’ishah said to him: This woman does not sleep at night; rather, she spends it in prayer. So the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) said, disapproving of her being too hard on herself: She does not sleep at night! Engage in righteous deeds only as much as you can maintain regularly. By Allah, Allah does not get tired of rewarding His righteous, obedient servants for their acts of obedience, good deeds, and righteous actions until they grow weary and stop doing them.
Lessons
Benefits from the hadith
Excessive worship beyond what the body can bear leads to boredom and fatigue, causing the soul to abandon it.
Moderation and balance in performing acts of worship lead to their continuity and firm adherence to them.
A small but consistent deed is better than a lot that is cut off.
An-Nawawi said: With the continuity of a small act of worship, obedience is sustained through remembrance, mindfulness, sincerity, and turning to Allah, unlike a burdensome large deed. Indeed, the consistent small act grows to surpass the interrupted large one many times over.