Tahajjud - Awakening The Sleeper
وَمِنَ ٱلَّيْلِ فَتَهَجَّدْ بِهِۦ نَافِلَةًۭ لَّكَ عَسَىٰٓ أَن يَبْعَثَكَ رَبُّكَ مَقَامًۭا مَّحْمُودًۭا
And rise at ˹the last˺ part of the night, offering additional prayers, so your Lord may raise you to a station of praise. (17:79)
WHAT IS TAHAJJUD?
The definition of tahajjud is to awaken from sleep and to establish the prayer
Tahajjud is a night prayer which was constantly performed by the Messenger of Allah ﷺ in the night, and this was specifically obligatory on Him ﷺ at the start of Islam and was later abrogated from its obligatoriness - however, He ﷺ continued ordaining it. As for the Muslim ummah, it is a voluntary prayer. Voluntary prayer in the night is more virtuous than voluntary prayer during the day due to the Hadith:
افضل الصلاة بعد الفريضة صلاة الليل
The best of prayers after the obligatory prayers is the night prayer. (Muslim، 232)
THE VIRTUE OF STANDING IN THE NIGHT
Narrated by Bilal (Allah is pleased with him), that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said,
‘Hold on to the night prayer, for it was the practice of the pious before you. Indeed, standing in the night is a means of attaining proximity to Allah; it deters sins, expiates bad deeds, and it is a prevention from bodily illness’ (Tirmidhi, 3549).
THE BEST TIME TO PERFORM TAHAJJUD
The best time to perform tahajjud is in the middle portion of the night. This is done by dividing one’s time post isha and up to fajr into three portions. One should sleep in the first and third portions and perform tahajjud in the second portion of the night. The middle portion of the night is the most difficult to awaken from due to the heedlessness of sleep and the heavy nature of praying. However, the prayer can be performed in any portion of the night post isha.
HOW TO PERFORM TAHAJJUD?
Tahajjud is best performed in sets of two units (rakahs) lengthening the standing (qiyam) is better than many prostrations. When beginning the units one should begin with two short units, as it appears in the following hadith:
Narrated by Sayyidah Aisha (Allah is pleased with her) she said, ‘When the Prophet ﷺ would stand for the night prayer he would begin with two short unit’s’ (Muslim, 767)
Eight units are proven, with four salam’s - meaning you pray them in sets of two.
WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN TAHAJJUD AND QIYAM AL-LAYL?
Qiyam al-Layl is any prayer that is performed after Isha Salah, Tahajjud is also under the category of qiyam al-layl, however with the specific nature of awakening from sleep after having prayed Isha. There is more reward in performing tahajjud as there is an aspect of struggling to awaken from sleep to perform voluntary prayer.
IS THERE A MAXIMUM AND MINIMUM AMOUNT OF UNITS FOR TAHAJJUD?
The minimum number of units for tahajjud is two and up to eight units have been proven from the Sunnah.
Its least is two, its middle is four and its most is eight.
CAN TAHAJJUD BE PERFORMED WITHOUT SLEEPING?
No, any prayer performed in the night post isha will be classed as qiyam al-layl if one does not sleep. A condition of tahajjud is that one must awaken from sleep.
A DUA OF THE PROPHET ﷺ IN THE NIGHT
Narrated by Abdullah b. Abbas (Allah is pleased with them both), ‘When the Prophet ﷺ would awake to perform tahajjud he would recite,
اللَّهُمَّ لَكَ الْحَمْدُ أَنْتَ نُورُ السَّمَوَاتِ وَالأَرْضِ وَمَنْ فِيهِنَّ وَلَكَ الْحَمْدُ أَنْتَ قَيَّامُ السَّمَوَاتِ وَالأَرْضِ وَمَنْ فِيهِنَّ وَلَكَ الْحَمْدُ أَنْتَ مَالِكُ السَّمَوَاتِ وَالأَرْضِ وَمَنْ فِيهِنَّ وَلَكَ الْحَمْدُ أَنْتَ الْحَقُّ وَوَعْدُكَ حَقٌّ وَلِقَاؤُكَ حَقٌّ وَقَوْلُكَ حَقٌّ وَالْجَنَّةُ حَقٌّ وَالنَّارُ حَقٌّ وَالسَّاعَةُ حَقٌّ وَالنَّبِيُّونَ حَقٌّ وَمُحَمَّدٌ حَقٌّ اللَّهُمَّ لَكَ أَسْلَمْتُ وَبِكَ آمَنْتُ وَعَلَيْكَ تَوَكَّلْتُ وَإِلَيْكَ أَنَبْتُ وَبِكَ خَاصَمْتُ وَإِلَيْكَ حَاكَمْتُ فَاغْفِرْ لِي مَا قَدَّمْتُ وَمَا أَخَّرْتُ وَمَا أَسْرَرْتُ وَمَا أَعْلَنْتُ أَنْتَ الْمُقَدِّمُ وَأَنْتَ الْمُؤَخِّرُ لاَ إِلَهَ إِلاَّ أَنْتَ وَلاَ إِلَهَ غَيْرُكَ وَلاَ حَوْلَ وَلاَ قُوَّةَ إِلاَّ بِكَ
O Allah, to You is praise, You are the Light of the heavens and the earth and everyone therein. To You is praise, You are the Sustainer of the heavens and the earth and everyone therein. To You is praise, You are the Sovereign of the heavens and the earth and everyone therein. To You is praise, You are the Truth; Your promise is true, the meeting with You is true, Your saying is true, Paradise is true, the Fire is true, the Hour is true, the Prophets are true, and Muhammad (ﷺ) is true. O Allah, to You have I submitted, in You I believe, in You have I put my trust, to You I turn in repentance, by Your help I argue, to You I refer my case, so forgive me for my past and future sins, what I have done in secret and what I have done openly. You are the One Who brings forward and puts back. There is no god but You, and there is none worthy of worship other than You. And there is no power and no strength except with You. (Ibn Maja, 1355)
RECITATION IN TAHAJJUD PRAYER
The Messenger of Allah ﷺ would recite Surah Baqarah after Surah Fatihah - either in its entirety or some of it. (Abu Dawud 874)
In the same narration of Abu Dawud, it is said he ﷺ would recite; Baqarah, Āl al-Imran, an-Nisa, al-Mā’idah or al-An’ām.
CONSISTENCY IN PRAYING
It is important to note, that the best of all actions with Allah are those which are done consistently, be them small in number. It is better to perform tahajjud in a smaller quantity of units while remaining steadfast on this compared to singling out one night and praying a large number of units.
Narrated by Aisha (Allah is pleased with her), she said,
The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: “The most beloved actions to Allah are those which are done consistently, even if they are small. (Muslim 783b)
Completely abandoning the prayer after having observed it for a period of time is something which the Prophet ﷺ also warned against.
Narrated by Abdullah b. Amr b. Al-As (Allah is pleased with them) said,
The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said to me “O Abdullah! Do not be like so and so, he would stand in the night and then he abandoned it. (Bukhari 1152)
Written by Ustadh Umer Asif
References:
Mirqat al-Mafatih, Qari
Rad al-Muhtar, Ibn Abidin
Nur al-Idah, Shurunbulali
Umdat al-Qari, Ayni
Ni’mat al-Bari, Saidi
