Chapter: The Prophets (pbuh) exhorting to Tahajjud and Nawafil without making them compulsory

One night the Prophet (ﷺ) got up and said, "Subhan Allah! How many afflictions Allah has revealed tonight and how many treasures have been sent down (disclosed). Go and wake the sleeping lady occupants of these dwellings up (for prayers), perhaps a well dressed in this world may be naked in the Hereafter."

One night Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) came to me and Fatima, the daughter of the Prophet (ﷺ) and asked, "Won't you pray (at night)?" I said, "O Allah's Messenger (ﷺ)! Our souls are in the hands of Allah and if He wants us to get up He will make us get up." When I said that, he left us without saying anything and I heard that he was hitting his thigh and saying, "But man is more quarrelsome than anything." (18.54)

Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) used to give up a good deed, although he loved to do it, for fear that people might act on it and it might be made compulsory for them. The Prophet (ﷺ) never prayed the Duha prayer, but I offer it.

One night Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) offered the prayer in the Mosque and the people followed him. The next night he also offered the prayer and too many people gathered. On the third and the fourth nights more people gathered, but Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) did not come out to them. In the morning he said, "I saw what you were doing and nothing but the fear that it (i.e. the prayer) might be enjoined on you, stopped me from coming to you." And that happened in the month of Ramadan.