Ibn ‘Umar said that when the Prophet observed a period of private devotion in the mosque his bedding was placed for him, or a couch was put down for him, behind the column of repentance.*
*A column in the Prophet's mosque in Medina, said to have got this name because the repentance of Abu Lubaba was accepted beside it.
She said that the sunna for one who is observing a period of private devotion in a mosque is not to visit an invalid, or attend a funeral, or touch or embrace one’s wife, or go out for anything but necessary purposes. There is no period of private devotion in a mosque without fasting, and it must be carried out in a congregational mosque.
Ibn ‘Abbas reported God’s messenger as saying about one who observes a period of private devotion in a mosque, “He turns away from sins and he is rewarded for good deeds like one who does all good deeds.”
She said that the Prophet used to visit the sick while engaged in a period of private devotion in the mosque and he would pass on straight ahead without pausing and ask for him.
