حَدَّثَنَا أَبُو بَكْرِ بْنُ أَبِي شَيْبَةَ قَالَ: حَدَّثَنَا أَبُو الْأَحْوَصِ، عَنْ أَبِي إِسْحَاقَ، عَنْ أَبِي سَلَمَةَ، عَنْ أُمِّ سَلَمَةَ، قَالَتْ: وَالَّذِي ذَهَبَ بِنَفْسِهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ مَا مَاتَ حَتَّى كَانَ أَكْثَرُ صَلَاتِهِ وَهُوَ جَالِسٌ، وَكَانَ أَحَبَّ الْأَعْمَالِ إِلَيْهِ الْعَمَلُ الصَّالِحُ، الَّذِي يَدُومُ عَلَيْهِ الْعَبْدُ، وَإِنْ كَانَ يَسِيرًا

Book [37]: Zuhd
Chapter [28]: Persisting in a good deed

Ḥadīth [4237]: It was narrated that Umm Salamah said: “By the One Who took his (peace and blessings of Allāh be upon him) soul, he did not die until most of his prayers were offered sitting down. And the most beloved of deeds to him was a righteous deed which a person persists in doing, even if it is something small.”

a) If one was accustomed to doing a good deed, but due to some reason it gets interrupted, then once again he should resume doing the deed as soon as the reason comes to an end.
b) Long qiyām (position of standing in prayer) in tahajjud is desirable even if some, or a large part of the qiyām is performed sitting when one becomes tired.

• Reference: [4237 (5/357), Sunan ibn Mājah, Dārussalām (Eng)]

• Sunan ibn Mājah (1225)

Grade:

• Ṣaḥīḥ by Shaykh al-Albānī (Sunan ibn Mājah)
• Ṣaḥīḥ by Ḥāfiẓ Zubayr ʿAlī Za’ī (Sunan ibn Mājah)
• Isnād ṣaḥīḥ by Shaykh Shu’ayb al-Arna’ūṭ (Sunan ibn Mājah)