The Muslim women does not limit herself to the five daily obligatory prayers; she also prays those Sunnah prayers which the Prophet used to perform regularly, and also prays as many of the supererogatory prayers as her time and energy allow.
These prayers include Adh-Dhuha (midday) prayer, and optional prayers offered at night. Supererogatory prayers bring a person closer to Allah and he or she can earn the love and pleasure of Allah, and make him or her one of the victorious, obedient and righteous ones. There is no clearer indication of the great status attained by the believer who draws closer to Allah by performing supererogatory deeds than the following Qudsi narration: "My servant continues to draw near to Me with supererogatory works so that I will love him. When I love him, I am his hearing with which he hears, his seeing with which he sees, his hand with which he strikes, and his foot with which he walks. Were he to ask [something] of Me, I would surely give it to him; and were he to ask Me for refuge, I would surely grant him it."[Al-Bukhari]
The result of the love of Allah to the slave, that person will be loved by the inhabitants of heaven and earth, as is described by the Prophet : "When Allah loves one of His servants, He calls Jibreel, may Allah exalt his mention, and tells him: `I love so-and-so, so love him.' Then Jibreel, may Allah exalt his mention, will love him, and will proclaim to the inhabitants of heaven: ‘Allah loves so-and-so, so love him.' So the inhabitants of heaven will love him too, and he will be well accepted by the inhabitants of the earth. If Allah hates one of His servants, He calls Jibreel, may Allah exalt his mention, and tells him: `I hate so-and-so, so hate him.' Then Jibreel, may Allah exalt his mention, will hate him and will proclaim to the inhabitants of heaven: `Allah hates so-and-so, so hate him.' Then the inhabitants of heaven will hate him and he will also be detested by the inhabitants of earth."[Muslim]
The Prophet encouraged Muslim men and women to do more optional deeds, but at the same time he told them to be balanced in their worship, and disliked exaggeration therein. He wanted the Muslims to have a balanced personality, so that their worship would be enthusiastic, but consistent, and would not be so burdensome that people would not be able to persist in it.
The Prophet's wife Zaynab, may Allah be pleased with her, used to perform supererogatory prayers, and make them lengthy. She put up a rope between two columns (in the mosque) so that when she felt tired and exhausted she could lean against it and restore her energy. The Messenger of Allah entered the mosque, saw the rope, and asked, "What is this?" The people told him, "It belongs to Zaynab, may Allah be pleased with her: she prays, and when she feels tired, she leans against it." He said, "Untie it; let any of you pray as long as he/she has the energy to do so, and if he/she feels tired, he/she can sit down (or: let him/her sit down)."
A woman of Banu Asad, whose name was Al-Hawla' bint Tuwayt, used to pray all night, and never sleep. One day she called on `Aa'ishah, may Allah be pleased with her, when the Prophet was present. `Aa'ishah, may Allah be pleased with her, told him "This is Al-Hawlaa' bint Tuwayt. They say that she never sleeps at night." The Messenger of Allah said: "She never sleeps at night! Do only as much as you can, for by Allah, Allah never gets tired, although you do."
The Prophet also taught that the most beloved deed in the sight of Allah is that which is done continuously, even if it is a little: "The most beloved deed to Allah is that which is continuous, even if it is little." Due to this narration, whenever `Aa'ishah, may Allah be pleased with her, started to do something, she would adhere to it.
This attitude of keeping up the habit of doing righteous deeds was not confined to `Aa'ishah, may Allah be pleased with her, alone; it was the attitude of all members of the Prophet's household, may Allah be pleased with them, and of those who were nearest and dearest to him. It was the habit of the family of Muhammad that whenever they did any deed they did it continuously."