The Prophet ﷺ went out one night and came upon Abu Bakr praying in a low voice. He then passed by Umar bin Khattab, who was praying in a raised voice.When they later gathered with the Prophet ﷺ, he said, "Abu Bakr, I passed by you while you were praying and lowering your voice."Abu Bakr replied, "I made the One I was confiding in hear me, Messenger of Allah."Then he said to Umar, "I passed by you while you were praying and raising your voice."Umar answered, "Messenger of Allah ﷺ, I wake the drowsy and drive away Satan."The Prophet ﷺ said, "Abu Bakr, raise your voice a little." And he said to Umar, "Lower your voice a little."
أن النبي ﷺ خرج ليلة فإذا هو بأبي بكر يصلي يخفض من صوته، قال: ومر بعمر بن الخطاب وهو يصلي رافعا صوته، قال: فلما اجتمعا عند النبي ﷺ قال: يا أبا بكر مررت بك، وأنت تصلي تخفض صوتك قال: قد أسمعت من ناجيت يا رسول الله. قال: وقال لعمر: مررت بك وأنت تصلي رافعا صوتك قال: فقال: يا رسول الله ﷺ أوقظ الوسنان، وأطرد الشيطان. فقال النبي ﷺ: يا أبا بكر ارفع من صوتك شيئا وقال لعمر: اخفض من صوتك شيئا.
Reported by Abu Dawud (1329) and Tirmidhi (447), both via the route of Yahya bin Ishaq, who said, Hammad bin Salama informed us, from Thabit Bunani, from Abdullah bin Rabah, from Abu Qatada, who said, then he mentioned it. Ibn Khuzayma graded it sahih (1161), and by his route it was reported by Ibn Hibban (733) and Hakim (1/310), all of them via the route of Yahya bin Ishaq. Hakim said, "Sahih according to the standard of Muslim." I say, it is as he said, except that Yahya bin Ishaq, namely Saylahini, although he is among the men of Muslim, Ibn Main said of him, "Truthful."However, Tirmidhi said, "A gharib hadith. Only Yahya bin Ishaq gave it a full chain going back to Hammad bin Salama, while most people reported this hadith from Thabit, from Abdullah bin Rabah, as a mursal report." I say, Abu Dawud reported it with another chain from Musa bin Ismail, who said, Hammad narrated to us, from Thabit Bunani, from the Prophet ﷺ. This does not affect the soundness of the hadith, for Yahya bin Ishaq was reliable and had a strong memory for his hadith, as Ibn Saad said, and was trustworthy and truthful, as Ahmad said, so his additional detail is accepted. Musa bin Ismail, the teacher of Abu Dawud, although he was in a better position than Yahya bin Ishaq, was nevertheless criticized by some people, so his making the report mursal does not affect the soundness of the hadith, as is established in the principles of hadith science.As for his statement, "Wake the wasnan," this means the sleeper who is not deeply immersed in his sleep, as stated in Nihaya by Ibn Athir. It is corroborated by the hadith of Abu Hurairah that follows.