Tahajjud: Virtues and Way of Performance (Part I)

Question:

As-Salaam `alaykum! Could you tell me how to pray Tahajjud (late night prayer)? Is there any supplication before starting and after finishing it according to Sunnah? Jazakum Allah Khayran

Answer:

Wa `alaykum As-Salamu wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuh.

In the Name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful.

All praise and thanks are due to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon His Messenger.

Dear questioner, first of all, we'd like to voice our appreciation for the great confidence you repose in us. Our utmost wish is to have our efforts come up to your expectation. May Allah help us all keep firm on the Straight Path, Amen.

Dear brother, your question is highly important for every Muslim. Tahajjud prayer is part of the Sunnah of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) which Muslims should follow all the time; it’s not something confined to Ramadan.

In his famous work, Fiqh As-Sunnah, Sheikh Sayyid Sabiq, elaborates on the subject as follows:

“Tahajjud Prayer: Its excellence and merit, according to the Qur'an and Sunnah

Ordering His Messenger to perform Salatul Tahajjud, Allah Almighty says: “And some part of the night awake for prayer, a largess for thee. It may be that thy Lord will raise thee to a praised position.” (Al-Isra’: 79)

This order, although it was specifically directed to the Prophet, also refers to all Muslims, since the Prophet is a perfect example and guide for us in all matters.

Moreover, performing Tahajjud prayers regularly qualifies one as of the Righteous and earns one Allah's bounty and mercy. Allah says: "Lo! Those who keep from evil will dwell amid gardens and watersprings, taking that which their Lord gives them. For, lo, they were doers of good. They used to sleep but little of the night and before the dawning of each day would seek forgiveness.'' (Adh-Dhariyat:15-18)

In praising those who perform the late night prayers, Allah says: "The slaves of the Beneficent are they who walk upon the earth in humbleness, and when the ignorant address them, they say: 'Peace' and they who spend the night prostrating before their Lord and standing." (Al-Furqan: 63-64)

Next to these Qur’anic verses, there also exist a number of hadiths that reinforce the importance of Tahajjud:

`Abdullah ibn as-Salam reported: "When the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) came to Medinah, the people gathered around him and I was one of them. I looked at his face and understood that it was not the face of a liar. The first words I heard him say were: 'O people, spread the salutations, feed the people, keep the ties of kinship, and pray during the night while the others sleep and you will enter Paradise in peace."' This is related by al-Hakim, Ibn Majah, and at-Tirmizhi who considers it authentic and sound hadith.

Salman al-Farsi quoted the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) as saying: "Observe the night prayer, it was the practice of the righteous before you and it brings you closer to your Lord and it is penance for evil deeds and erases the sins and repels disease from the body."

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