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, “Two-rak’at prayer performed by the son of Adam in the last third of the night is better than this world and all that is in it. If it were not burdensome for my ummah, I would have made it obligatory for them.” This prayer, that tahajjud prayer, is better than not only this neighborhood, but the entire world and all that is in it. Our Prophet ﷺ wanted it for his ﷺ ummah so much that if it were not burdensome, he ﷺ would have made it obligatory, says our Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam. Some things are obligatory for our Prophet ﷺ but not for us. He ﷺ would’ve made it obligatory for us, says our Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam.

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

Our Holy Prophet ﷺ is saying, “The honor of a believer is his prayer at night.” The person who has faith, who is a believer, has a higher honor in the sight of Allāh ﷻ. “Being content with what you have been given and not expecting anything from people.” That is, not expecting anything from people. That is the honor of a believer.

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

Our Holy Prophet ﷺ is saying, “When you get up at night, pray even if four rak’āt or even if two rak’āt.” That is, the prayer performed at the time of tahajjud at night. Qiyam ul-Layl is performed before going to bed at night. Qiyam ul-Layl is not tahajjud (the night prayer) but the prayer before going to bed. “There is no member of a household known to pray at night except that a caller calls to them, ‘O people of the house, get up for prayer.’.” Allāh ‘Azza wa-Jalla has appointed an angel for them to wake them up for prayer at night, saying, “Get up for prayer.”

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

Our Holy Prophet ﷺ is saying, “The night prayer is performed in twos.” The method of the night prayer is to pray in twos with salām, not four rak’ahs. “If one of you fears that the time for the morning prayer will pass, he should perform one rak’ah last. He will have made the previous rak’ah one.” The witr prayer is performed individually, one rak’ah at a time, according to the Shafi’i. Therefore, it is performed in pairs, and when it approaches the Fajr prayer, according to the Shafi’is, it becomes one. He must perform one rakat.

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

Our Holy Prophet ﷺ is saying, “The night prayer is performed in pairs,” two rak’ahs, two rak’ahs. “If you fear the time for Fajr prayer will pass, then perform one rak’ah last. Allāh ﷻ is One and loves what is single.”

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

Our Holy Prophet ﷺ is saying, “Nafīlah prayers are performed in pairs during the day and night.”

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

Our Holy Prophet ﷺ is saying, “The night prayer is performed two by two,” two rak’ahs, two rak’ahs. “And it is more appropriate to perform it in the middle of the night.” So performing it before Fajr prayer is considered tahajjud, night prayer.

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 night prayer is performed in twos. The witr prayer is performed at the end of the night, as a single rak’ah.” These are according to other madhhabs. In our madhhab, we already perform the witr prayer after the Isha prayer. If we leave it for later, it could happen that a person falls asleep. These are things that are done according to madhhabs.

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 night prayer is performed in twos. After each two rak’ahs, there is a tashahhud.” So you must certainly perform tashahhud [after each pair]. “You raise your hands to Allāh ﷻ with humility and dignity,” that is, you make du’ā’, “O Allāh, forgive me.” “A person who does not do this has an incomplete prayer.” So this means that at the end of prayer, one should raise his hands and make du’ā’, Allāh ﷻ will accept it.

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, “Continue to pray at night, even if it is only one rakat.”

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, “Continue to pray at night. For it is the custom of the righteous before you. It brings one closer to Allāh ﷻ.” So the night prayer, the people of old times, the people before our Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam, would wake up at night to pray. This brings one closer to Allāh ﷻ. “It prevents sins”, it keeps one away from sins. “The night prayer is an atonement for evil deeds.” If there are any bad deeds committed, it is an atonement for sins. “It also repels illness from the body.” So if one wakes up at night to pray and has an illness, that illness will surely go away.

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 superiority of the nafilah prayer at night over the prayer during the day is like the superiority of sadaqah given in secret over sadaqah given publicly.” So the sadaqah given secretly is much more virtuous and has more rewards, just as the night prayer. Performing the night prayer when no one sees it has just the same thawāb.

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, especially our Shaykh Mawlana Shaykh Nazim. Li-Llahi Ta’ala, AlFatiha.

[(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, especially our Shaykh Mawlana Shaykh Nazim. To Allah Almighty. Al Fatiha.]

Mawlana Sheikh Muhammad Adil ar-Rabbani 25 November 2025/ 04 Jumada al-Thani 1447 Beylerbeyi Dergah, Istanbul