Ablution of Isha was intact Up to Fajr a Period of forty years

Ablution of Isha was intact Up to Fajr a Period of forty years

My Shaikh, Maulana Masih Ullah Khan رحمة الله عليه, told us that Imam Abu Hanifah رحمة الله عليه used to perform ablution for his Isha Salat and remained in the state of ablution until he had offered the Fajr Salat. This has an unusual beginning. He was not used to do it always. In the beginning, he would get up in the last part of the night to offer Tahajjud but one day, while he was walking along, an old woman remarked, "He is the one who prays the Fajr and Isha with the same ablution. On hearing this, he felt ashamed and said to himself, "This woman holds an opinion about me that I offer the Isha and Fajr Salat with the same ablution but I do not do that. I am being praised for what I am not." He resolved that very day to qualify himself for those words the rest of his life. So, he made it a rule of his life to engage in worship after Isha until the Fajr Salat and in this way offer the two distant Salat with a single ablution.

This did not mean that he slept all day because he was engaged in worship all night. He had his own business to look after and he also conducted lessons on religious matters. People visited him to learn from him. He worshipped Allah all night, gave lessons on the Qur'an after Fajr Salat and then looked after his business. He kept himself occupied until the Zuhr Salat and then slept till the Asr Salat.