Muwatta Malik Book 6, Hadith 2
Yahya related to me from Malik from Ibn Shihab from Abu Salama
ibn Abd ar-Rahman ibn Awf from Abu Hurayra that the Messenger of
Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, used to exhort people
to watch the night in prayer in Ramadan but never ordered it
definitely. He used to say, "Whoever watches the night in prayer in
Ramadan with trust and expectancy, will be forgiven all his previous
wrong actions."
Ibn Shihab said, "The Messenger of Allah, may
Allah bless him and grant him peace, died while that was still the
custom, and it continued to be the custom in the caliphate of Abu Bakr
and at the beginning of the caliphate of Umar ibn al-Khattab."
Yahya related to me from Malik from Ibn Shihab from Urwa ibn az- Zubayr from A'isha, the wife of the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, prayed in the mosque one night and people prayed behind him. Then he prayed the next night and there were more people. Then they gathered on the third or fourth night and the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, did not come out to them. In the morning, he said, "I saw what you were doing and the only thing that prevented me from coming out to you was that I feared that it would become obligatory (fard) for you." This happened in Ramadan.
Malik related to me from Ibn Shihab from Urwa ibn az-Zubayr that Abd ar-Rahman ibn Abd al-Qari said, "I went out with Umar ibn alKhattab in Ramadan to the mosque and the people there were spread out in groups. Some men were praying by themselves, whilst others were praying in small groups. Umar said, 'By Allah! It would be better in my opinion if these people gathered behind one reciter.' So he gathered them behind Ubayy ibn Kab. Then I went out with him another night and the people were praying behind their Qur'an reciter. Umar said, 'How excellent this new way is, but what you miss while you are asleep is better than what you watch in prayer.' He meant the end of the night, and people used to watch the beginning of the night in prayer."