Madina Archives

Madinat al-Muslimeen Islamic Message Board

How to pray Tahajjud?
Anonymous
10/18/01 at 16:24:17
assalam alaikum How does one pray tahajjud prayer? (no. of rakats etc) Does it have to be prayed after waking up at night or can one stay up and then pray it? Also is it nafil or sunnah? (i want to get the intention/niyah correct)

Re: How to pray Tahajjud?
humble_muslim
10/18/01 at 21:35:30
AA Briefly : - Tahajjud can be prayed any time after midnight. - Sunnah time to pray is last third of the night, after having slept. - You can pray any number of rakats - Sunnah is to pray 8 rakats - Sunnah is to make all the rakats long, in recitation, in ruku, and in sajdah. You can say the dhikr in ruku/sajdah as many times as you like. It is recommended to make dua in sajdah. - Should be ended with an odd number of rakats (1,3,5 etc), known as witr.  Sunnah is 3 witr. - According to most ulema, you can recite from the Quran while holding it - Tahajjud is one of the best times for making dua, and asking forgiveness - Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but if praying Tahajjud stops you from making Fajr on time, Fajr should take precedence because it is fard, and Tahajud is nafl. - Jazak Allah for making me remember how important Tahajud is - If you found this information useful, make dua for me during your Tahajud that Allah SWT gives me the will to make Tahajud myself Wasalam

Re: How to pray Tahajjud?
Arsalan
10/19/01 at 00:19:18
The recommended time for tahajjud Salatul Layil may be performed in the early part of the night, the middle part of the night, or the latter part of the night, but after the obligatory salatul 'isha. While describing the salah of the Prophet sallallahu alehi wasallam, Anas would say: "If we wanted to see him praying during the night, we could see him praying. If we wanted to see him sleeping during the night, we could see him sleeping. And sometimes he would fast for so many days that we thought he would not leave fasting throughout that month. And sometimes he would not fast (for so many days) that we thought he would not fast during that month." This is related by Ahmad, al-Bukhari, and anNasa' i . Commenting on this subject, Ibn Hajar says: "There was no specific time in which the Prophet sallallahu alehi wasallam would perform his late night prayer; but he would do whatever was easiest for him." Best time for tahajjud It is best to delay this prayer to the last third portion of the night. Abu Hurairah reports that the Messenger of Allah said: "Our Lord descends to the lowest heaven during the last third of the night, inquiring: 'Who will call on Me so that I may respond to him? Who is asking something of Me so I may give it to him? Who is asking for My forgiveness so I may forgive him?"' This is related by the group. 'Amr ibn Abasah reports that he heard the Prophet say: "The closest that a slave comes to his Lord is during the middle of the latter portion of the night. If you can be among those who remember Allah, the Exalted One, at that time then do so." This is related by al-Hakim who grades it sahih according to Muslim's standards, and at-Tirmizhi calls it hasan sahih. AnNasa'i and Ibn Khuzaimah also recorded it. Abu Muslim asked Abu Zharr: "Which late-night prayer is the best?" He said: "I asked the Messenger of Allah the same that you asked me and he said, 'The (one done during) middle of the latter half of the night, and very few do it.'" This is related by Ahmad with a good chain. 'Abdullah ibn 'Amr reports that the Prophet said: "The most beloved fast to Allah is the fast of David. And the most beloved prayer to Allah is the prayer of David. He would sleep half of the night and then pray during the next third of the night and then sleep during the last sixth of the night. And he would fast one day and not fast the next." This is related by the group except at-Tirmizhi. The number of rak'at to be performed during tahajjud The tahajjud prayer does not entail a specific number of rak'at which must be performed nor is there any maximum limit which has to be performed. It would be fulfilled even if one just prayed one rak'ah of witr after the obligatory night prayer. Samurah ibn Jundub says: "The Messenger of Allah ordered us to pray during the night, a little or a lot, and to make the last of the prayer the witr prayer." This is related by at-Tabarani and al-Bazzar. Anas relates that the Messenger of Allah said: "Prayer in my mosque is equal to ten thousand prayers [elsewhere]. And prayer in the inviolable mosque is equivalent to one hundred thousand prayers [elsewhere]. And prayer in the battlefield is equivalent to one million prayers [elsewhere]. And what is more than all of that is two rak'at by a slave [of Allah] during the middle of the night." This is reported by Abu ash-Shaikh, Ibn Hibban in his work ath-Thawab, and al-Munzhiri, in his book at-Targhib watTarhib, is silent about it. Iyas ibn Mu'awiyyah al-Mazni reports that the Prophet sallallahu alehi wasallam said: "The night prayer should certainly be performed even if it is for the length of time that it takes one to milk a sheep. And whatever is after the obligatory 'isha is of the tahajjud." This is related by at-Tabarani, and all of its narrators are trustworthy save Muhammad ibn Ishaq. Ibn 'Abbas relates: "I mentioned the tahajjud prayer and some of the people said that the Prophet sallallahu alehi wasallam said: 'It may be half of the night, a third of the night, a fourth of the night or a fraction of the time for milking a camel or a sheep."" Ibn 'Abbas also narrates that the Prophet ordered them and encouraged them to make the tahajjud prayer to the extent that he said: "You should perform salatul layil even if it is just one rak'ah." This is related by atTabarani in al-Kabir and al-Awsat. It is preferable to pray eleven or thirteen rak'at. One may choose between praying them all together or to separate them. 'Aishah says: "The Messenger of Allah never prayed more than eleven rak'at, during Ramadan or otherwise. He would pray four rak'at, and don't ask about how excellent they were or how lengthy they were. Then, he would pray four rak'at, and don't ask about how excellent they were or how lengthy they were. Then, he would pray three rak'at. I asked: 'O Messenger of Allah, do you sleep before praying witr?' he replied: 'O 'Aishah, my eyes sleep but my heart does not sleep."' This is recorded by al-Bukhari and Muslim who also record that al-Qasim ibn Muhammad said that he heard 'Aishah say: "The Messenger of Allah's prayer during the night would be ten rak'at and then he would make witr with one rak'ah." [i]Fiqh us-Sunnah[/i] -- Shaykh Sayyid Sabiq

Re: How to pray Tahajjud?
explorer
10/20/01 at 06:47:30
[slm] I must say there some new information here I never knew before :) eg 1,5 rakat prayers. In the article posted above by brother Arsalan it says the Prophet would pray 4 rakat at a time. Since Tahajjud is nafl, I never knew nafl can prayed by 4 rakats. I always was told 2 rakats for nafl. Can someone give me more information? Very interesting :) [wlm]

Re: How to pray Tahajjud?
humble_muslim
10/20/01 at 18:13:05
AA This hadith shows that he used to pray two rakat.  Maybe he (SAW) did different numbers at different times. Bukhari, Volume 6, Book 60, Number 94:     Narrated Ibn Abbas:     (One night) I stayed overnight in the house of my aunt Maimuna, and said to myself, "I will watch the prayer of Allah's     Apostle " My aunt placed a cushion for Allah's Apostle and he slept on it in its length-wise direction and (woke-up) rubbing     the traces of sleep off his face and then he recited the last ten Verses of Surat-al-Imran till he finished it. Then he went to a     hanging water skin and took it, performed the ablution and then stood up to offer the prayer. I got up and did the same as he     had done, and stood beside him. He put his hand on my head and held me by the ear and twisted it. He offered two Rakat, then     two Rakat, then two Rakat, then two Rakat, then two Rakat, then two Rakat, and finally the Witr (i.e. one Rak'a) prayer.
NS

Re: How to pray Tahajjud?
gift
10/29/01 at 06:51:02
[slm] jazaks for reminding me of the importance of tahajjud prayer, i did some surfing on the net, and found this article - i thought it was very clear and covered most of the major points http://www.alinaam.org.za/library/tahajjud.htm hope its of use to u - it has been to me :-) [wlm]
Individual posts do not necessarily reflect the views of Jannah.org, Islam, or all Muslims. All trademarks and copyrights on this page are owned by their respective owners. Comments are owned by the poster and may not be used without consent of the author. The rest © Jannah.Org