Ḥadīth Lesson: Virtues of Night Prayer

As-Salāmu ‘Alaykum wa RaḥmatuLlāhi wa Barakātuh. A‘ūdhu BiLlāhi Minash-shayṭāni r-rajīm. BismiLlāhi r-Raḥmāni r-Raḥīm. Wa ṣ-Salātu wa s-Salāmu ‘alá Rasūlinā Muḥammadin Sayyidi l-Awwalīna wa l-Akhirīn. Madad yā RasūlAllāh, Madad yā Sādāti Aṣḥābi RasūliLlāh, Madad yā Mashāyikhinā, Dastūr Mawlana Sheikh Abdullāh al-Fā’iz ad-Dāghistāni, Sheikh Muḥammad Nāẓim al-Ḥaqqānī. Madad.

1Qala RasuluLlah salla Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam The Messenger of Allāh ﷻ (peace be upon him ﷺ) says:

Our Holy Prophet ﷺ is saying, “Don’t turn your homes into cemeteries. Perform nafilah prayers there,” he ﷺ says. Don’t let your homes be without prayer. A house without prayer resembles a grave, he ﷺ says. It becomes soulless and something unpleasant.

2Qala RasuluLlah salla Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam The Messenger of Allāh ﷻ (peace be upon him ﷺ) says:

Our Holy Prophet ﷺ is saying, “Jibrīl came to me,” Jibrīl alayhi s-salām came to our Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam, “O Muhammad ṣallá Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam,” Jibrīl addressed our Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam “Live as long as you want, you will eventually die.” No matter how long a person lives, there is no escaping death, you will die. The same applies upon our Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam because he ﷺ is human. Death will happen to everyone. “And love whoever you want, you will eventually be separated from them.” Love whoever you want, you will be separated when that person dies. Sometimes people separate before death. “Do what you want,

you will eventually see its outcome.” Whether you do good or bad, there is definitely an outcome for it, you will see its effect. “Know this well that the honor of a believer is to wake up at night to worship.” Waking up at night for Tahajjud and performing worship while others are asleep is a believer’s honor. It is the highest rank. “Izzeti,” “izzet-u nafs” meaning to be self-sufficient, not needing anyone, not depending on anyone. He said, “His honor is to be content with what Allāh ﷻ has given and expect nothing from people.” This is what they call a person’s “izzet-u nafs” (self-sufficient). It is being content with what Allāh ﷻ has given, and not acting in a servile manner or needing anyone. The Izzah, honor of the believer is not expecting from people but expecting only from Allah ﷻ.

3Qala RasuluLlah salla Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam The Messenger of Allāh ﷻ (peace be upon him ﷺ) says:

Our Holy Prophet ﷺ is saying, “If a person wakes up at night and wakes up his wife and pray two rak’āts, then these people are considered among the men and women who remember Allāh ﷻ frequently.” Az-Zakirīn wa z-Zākirāt are mentioned in Qur’ān ‘Aẓīmu sh-Sha’n. They are considered among the people who make dhikr of Allāh ﷻ.

4Qala RasuluLlah salla Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam The Messenger of Allāh ﷻ (peace be upon him ﷺ) says:

Our Holy Prophet ﷺ is saying, “When one of you wakes up at night for prayer,” either at the first or end of the night or whenever he wakes up “let him use a miswak when he rises for prayer.” Using a miswak is Sunnah. “Because when one of you recites something in prayer, the angel puts his mouth over his, and everything that comes out of the person’s mouth enters the angel’s mouth.” So that angels are

protected from the foul odor, when one uses the miswak it completely extinguishes the bad scent. The angels take on that duty, and whatever he recites is immediately preserved and recorded as a reward.

5Qala RasuluLlah salla Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam The Messenger of Allāh ﷻ (peace be upon him ﷺ) says:

Our Holy Prophet ﷺ is saying, “If one of you wakes up for prayer during a part of the night, but due to lack of sleep, the Qur’an he’s reciting becomes muddled and he doesn’t know what he’s saying, he should abandon prayer and go to bed.” Sometimes one wakes up early. That’s exactly what happens with mankind. He’s a bit confused. He hasn’t fully slept. If he sleeps for another hour or so, it will be a good then. Therefore, our Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam gave Rukhsah (concession) for this to happen, so that people don’t mix up with the Qur’an.

6Qala RasuluLlah salla Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam The Messenger of Allāh ﷻ (peace be upon him ﷺ) says:

Our Holy Prophet ﷺ is saying, “When one of you wakes up for prayer during part of the night, he should first pray two light, short rak’ahs.” A person gathers himself with those two rak’ahs. He’ll overcome his sleeplessness and know better what he’s doing. Our Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam says to start with two rak’ahs without prolonging them too much.

7Qala RasuluLlah salla Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam The Messenger of Allāh ﷻ (peace be upon him ﷺ) says:

Our Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam said this beautiful ḥadīth in a rhyming rhythm. “Speak pleasant words. Spread greetings. Be on good terms with relatives. Pray at night while others are asleep. And then enter Paradise in peace,” says our Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam. Those who do these things, insha’Allah, who speak well, greet everyone, be on good terms with their relatives, and pray at night will enter Paradise easily and in peace, says our Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam.

8Qala RasuluLlah salla Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam The Messenger of Allāh ﷻ (peace be upon him ﷺ) says:

Our Holy Prophet ﷺ is saying, “The most virtuous hours are in the middle of the last part of the night when one performs Tahajjud prayer and makes du’ā’.” Thilthu l-Akhīr is when one wakes up for about an hour before Fajr prayer, that is the most virtuous hour. After that, he performs the Fajr prayer and either goes to work or rests.

9Qala RasuluLlah salla Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam The Messenger of Allāh ﷻ (peace be upon him ﷺ) says:

Our Holy Prophet ﷺ is saying, “The most virtuous prayer after the Fard prayers,” meaning comparing another prayer to the Fard prayer; since the most virtuous is the Fard prayer. “I don’t perform the Fard prayer, I perform this and that,” even if you pray it all your life without praying the Fard, you can’t attain the reward of one Fard prayer. “After performing the Fard prayers, the most virtuous prayer after that is the Tahajjud prayer performed in the last part of the night,” meaning the Tahajjud prayer performed in the middle of the tahajjud time. “The most virtuous fast observed after Ramadan is the fast observed in the month of Muharram, the month of Allāh ﷻ,” said our Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam.

10-Qala RasuluLlah salla Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam The Messenger of Allāh ﷻ (peace be upon him ﷺ) says:

Our Holy Prophet ﷺ is saying, “The closest your Lord is to the servant is in the middle of the last part of the night. If you can muster the strength to be among those who remember Allāh ﷻ at that time, then be.” The closest a person gets to their Lord is in prostration, or in these prayers. Similarly, the last part of the tahajjud time of the night is the most virtuous time.

11-Qala RasuluLlah salla Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam The Messenger of Allāh ﷻ (peace be upon him ﷺ) says:

Our Holy Prophet ﷺ is saying, “Indeed, Allāh ﷻ has given every Prophet something he loves and desires. And what I love is to revive the night.” Every Prophet has different things he loves and desires, things he longs for. What our Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam loves and desires is to revive the night. “When I stand for the night prayer, let no one stand behind me in prayer.” Because our Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam warned them so that he ﷺ would not think of others and say, “They will get tired.” Because sometimes they would stop during prayer and wonder, will our Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam recite Al-Baqarah, Ali Imran, An-Nisa, AlMa’idah, etc? People thought, “Will our Prophet ﷺ recite the entire Qur’an?” So what our Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam desired was prayer, night prayer. That’s why, he ﷺ says, “Don’t not pray behind me at night so that I may be comfortable.” “Therefore, let them not stand behind me. Indeed, Allāh ﷻ has given every Prophet a sustenance.” Just as He ﷻ gave every Prophet a desire, something he loved, Allāh ‘Azza wa-Jalla gave a special sustenance to every Prophet. “My sustenance is

this khumus.” Khumus, meaning one-fifth. It is the one-fifth share of the spoils. “After I pass away, this share is the right of those in authority (Amīr), the caliphs after me.” One-fifth of the spoils of war belonged to our Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam and to the caliphs who came after him, the Amīrs and soldiers who fought there; that one-fifth belongs to them, to the sultans and caliphs.

12-Qala RasuluLlah salla Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam The Messenger of Allāh ﷻ (peace be upon him ﷺ) says:

Our Holy Prophet ﷺ is saying, “The reward of a person who prays with the imām until he finishes the prayer is as if he has revived the night.” That is, the Fard prayer one performs with the imām and completes it is as if he has revived the night.

13-Qala RasuluLlah salla Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam The Messenger of Allāh ﷻ (peace be upon him ﷺ) says:

Our Holy Prophet ﷺ is saying, “There is an hour in the night when a Muslim asks Allāh ﷻ for goodness in the matters of dunyā and ākhirah, and if his request coincides with that hour, Allāh ﷻ will surely grant him whatever he wants. This hour is found every night.” So, when you wake up at that night and pray, make du’ā’s and ask for whatever you desire. If it coincides with that hour, you will receive it in this world, with Allah’s ﷻ permission. Moreover, no du’ā’ is gone in vain. If you do not receive it in this world, you will receive it in the Hereafter.

Sadaqa RasuluLlah fi ma qal, aw kama qal. The Messenger of Allāh ﷻ says the truth in what he ﷺ said or as he ﷺ said.

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Ihda’ – Dedication:

Ziyadatan ila sharafi’ ‘n-Nabi, sallaLlahu `alayhi wa sallam wa Alihi wa Asahabihi l-kiram, wa ila arwahi jamee’i al Anbiya’i wa l-Mursalin wa Khudama’i sharai’ihim wa ila arwahi al ‘Aimmati al arba’a, wa ila arwahi Mashayyikhina fi t-Tariqati nNaqshbandiyyati l-Aliyyah, khassatan Imamu t-Tariqah wa Ghawthu l-Khaliqah Khwaja Bahauddin Muhammad al-Uwaisiyi l-Bukhari, Sayyidina Abdul Khaliq al Ghujduwani, Mawlana Shaykh Sharafuddin al Daghestani, Mawlana Shaykh Abdullah al Faiz al Daghestani, Mawlana Shaykh Muhammad Nazim Adil al Haqqani, wa sai’ri Sadatina wa s-Siddiqiyun, wa man nahnu fi hadratihim wa jiwarihim, for the souls of all our past ones, for the souls of all Shaheeds. For goodness to come and evil to be gone. Li-Llahi Ta’ala, Al-Fatiha.

[(Translation) To the honor of the Prophet, Prayers and Peace be upon Him, and his family, and his companions, and the souls of all the prophets as well as of His messengers and of those who served their Sharia, and to the souls of the four Imams. And to the souls of our Mashayikh of the Most Distinguished Naqshbandi Tariqa, in particular to the soul of the Imam of the Tariqa Ghawth al-Khaliqa (the Help of Creation), Khwaja Bahauddin Muhammad al-Uwaisiyi l-Bukhari, Sayyidina Abdul Khaliq al Ghujduwani, Mawlana Shaykh Sharafuddin al Daghestani, Mawlana Shaykh Abdullah al Faiz al Daghestani, Mawlana Shaykh Muhammad Nazim Adil al Haqqani, and the rest of our masters and Siddiqiyun, and to whom we are in their presence and near them, for the souls of all our past ones, for the souls of all Shaheeds. For goodness to come and evil to be gone. To Allah Almighty. Al Fatiha.]

Mawlana Sheikh Muhammad Adil ar-Rabbani 07 October 2025/ 15 Rabih Al-Akhir 1447 Beylerbeyi Dergah, Istanbul