Hacene Chebbani – The Power Of Voluntary Prayers In Islam Part 5
AI: Summary ©
The importance of praying before the end of the night is emphasized, with emphasis on the sunGeneration and the use of mus grants for reciting 50 verses. The practice is common in the winter prayer, but not in the winter prayer. Discussions about the misuse of mus grants and the use of qunut in maghrib are also discussed, along with advice on what to write or practice.
AI: Summary ©
The words Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala has
prescribed to those who offer the night prayer.
The greatness of this prayer, the excellence, the
virtues, the benefits of this prayer.
So, the first thing is, people need to
know that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala has
made this specific prayer.
I'm talking about Qiyam al-Layl, the night
prayer as a way to enter Jannah.
And there are a couple of proofs, one
of them in Surat al-Sajdah.
For example, Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala said,
تَتَجَافَ جُنُوبُهُمْ عَنِ الْمَضَاجِعِ يَدْعُونَ رَبَّهُمْ خَوْفًا وَطَمَعًا
وَمِمَّا رَزَقْنَاهُمْ يُنفِقُونَ فَلَا تَعْلَمُوا نَفْسٌ مَا أُخْفِيَ
لَهُمْ مِنْ قُرَّةِ أَعْيُنٍ جَزَاءً بِمَا كَانُوا يَعْمَلُونَ
So, the second part is about their reward.
So, Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is saying
in Surat al-Sajdah 16 and 17, He
said, they abandoned their beds.
They abandoned the warmth of their beds.
The comfort of their beds.
For this purpose.
Right?
Invoking their Lord with hope and fear.
So, during their prayers, they are making dua.
And these people are making a balance between
hope and fear.
And this is what a Muslim is supposed
to do.
You make a balance between hope and fear.
So, you don't exaggerate about hope and you
forget about Jahannam and about the punishment of
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.
And then you feel like, oh, everything will
be easy and everything will be fine.
Or, the opposite.
Exaggerate about fear.
Always think about your sin and mistakes.
And forget about the mercy of Allah subhanahu
wa ta'ala.
What Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala has promised
those who make tawbah and make istighfar.
Then you exaggerate until the person might become,
might end up having some mental issues.
Some mental issues because of his mistakes and
sins.
And he always thinks that he is bad
and he is not good enough.
And Allah will never forgive him.
These negative thoughts.
So, in Islam, we are supposed to make
a balance between hope and fear.
And at the time of death, the ulema,
they said, we should increase the dose of
hope.
At the time of death, if someone is
sick and he knows that he is leaving
this world, he should increase the level of
hope.
Hoping in the mercy of Allah subhanahu wa
ta'ala.
This way he will become happy and he
will have a positive attitude towards death.
That he is going to meet his Lord,
who is the most merciful, the most gracious,
who loves to pardon, who loves to forgive.
So you think about these positive, beautiful ideas
about Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.
But in this life, he is still healthy,
young.
You try to make a balance in this
life between these two concepts.
And the ulema, they said, a mu'min is
like a ta'ir, like a bird, flying
to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala with one
wing.
One wing is hope and the other one
is fear.
So here, Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is
saying about these people, يدعونا ربهم خوفاً وطمعاً
Invoking their Lord with hope and fear.
And donate from what we have provided for
them.
So they combine between sadaqa during daytime.
They give sadaqa, they help the poor and
the needy.
And also they pray at night.
So what will be their reward?
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala said in the
next ayah, No human soul can imagine what
delights are kept in store for them.
No human soul can imagine.
It's beyond what Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala
has prepared for his servants.
It's beyond our imagination.
That's why Rasulullah ﷺ, when he talked about
this ayah, He mentioned the famous Qudsi hadith,
In which he said, أعددت لعباد صالحين ما
لا عين رأت ولا أذن سمعت ولا خطر
على قلب بشر When Rasulullah ﷺ read this
ayah from Surah Sajdah, He mentioned the famous
Qudsi hadith, In which he said, quoting what
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala said, I have
prepared for my servants, for my righteous servants
or pious servants, Which no eye has ever
seen, which no ear has ever heard of,
and which no heart has imagined.
We have also the hadith, which we mentioned
before, the hadith of Abdullah ibn Salam.
He said that in this hadith, after Rasulullah
ﷺ moved to the city of Medina, This
is the first statement he made.
And we said before that this is amazing.
A man was fleeing Mecca, going to Medina,
Running away from his own people who wanted
to kill him.
They persecuted his companions.
The situation is very difficult.
And yet, when he reached the city of
Medina, The first statement, Talking about peace.
Spread the greetings of peace.
And give food to people.
So you give to your guests food, You
give food as a gift, Or you give
food to the poor and the needy.
Three ways.
And that is our subject tonight.
And pray at night.
This is our subject tonight.
Night prayer.
Pray at night, while people are asleep.
People are asleep, but you are praying.
What will happen?
You will enter paradise in peace.
And we said before, in a previous halaqa,
That entering jannah in peace means two things.
Either you go to jannah without any account,
Without a question.
No question whatsoever.
Going to jannah without hisaab, Without hisaab, without
account, Or the second situation, or the second
scenario, Your hisaab will be light.
Hisaab yaseer.
Yaseer, that means, no arguments are there.
You will not be asked, why did you
do this?
Why did you say this?
No.
Your deeds will be displayed to you.
This is hisaab yaseer.
Just a reminder about your deeds.
And then you enter jannah.
But there are some other people who will
be in trouble, Even though they will enter
jannah at the end, But they will enter
jannah after munaqishat al hisaab.
Manuqishat al hisaab uzhib.
These people, the malaika will talk to them
about every single deed, And these people will
be in trouble.
They might enter jahannam, and then leave, and
then go to jannah.
So these are the third group of people
who will enter jannah.
But the point is tonight, Is that if
we pray at night, Insha'Allah we will
have a chance to be included.
To be included in these people who will
go to jannah in peace.
Who will go to paradise in peace.
Nadkhulul jannata bisalam.
Qiyam al-layn, night prayer, Is a way
to thank Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala for
his bounties.
And to become a grateful servant of Allah
subhanahu wa ta'ala.
What is the proof?
The famous hadith of Rasulullah ﷺ, Actually Aisha
radiallahu anha, she is the one who narrated
this hadith.
By the way she was young, She was
able to memorize many hadith and many stories.
Radiallahu anha, she became a great scholar by
the way.
Great scholar.
So she said, Hadith in Arabic.
This is a very strong hadith.
It has 30 lines in Arabic.
Hadith in Arabic.
It is an amazing thing.
This hadith was agreed upon by Bukhari and
Muslim.
Hadith in Arabic.
Hadith in Arabic.
This is the answer of Rasulullah ﷺ.
He wants to be a grateful servant, he
wakes up at night.
He wakes up at night until his feet
are broken.
This is a strange news from Rasulullah ﷺ.
Aisha radiallahu anha said, One of the Prophets
ﷺ used to stand in prayer at night
for such a long time, for such a
long time, until his feet or the skin
of his feet would crack.
Hadith in Bukhari and Muslim, cannot have a
doubt about this hadith.
Bukhari and Muslim, muttafaq alayha, agreed upon.
Until his feet, the skin of his feet
would crack.
In a different version, until his feet are
swollen.
Is this the behavior of a fake Prophet?
Can this be the behavior of a false
Prophet, who is claiming outside that he is
a Prophet, but in his private life, he
will take it easy?
Why?
Why would make him like, you know, to
spend the whole night standing up and praying
to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.
And also we said before, Allah subhanahu wa
ta'ala in Medina, allowed him to marry
with multiple wives for this reason.
So that many wives, women will have access
to his private life, and they will all
tell us about his commitment, commitment, and his
great relationship with Allah.
And all of them will be witnesses, not
one, not two, not three, not four, more
than that.
Like, for example, this hadith, Qiyam al-Layn,
Aisha told us about some of them.
Umm Salama told us about some stories, Maymunah,
in her house, Ibn Abbas was her nephew.
He spent the night there, and he told
us about the story of his Qiyam al
-Layn in the house of Maymunah.
So stories happening in different houses, so all
these people will come together and tell us,
this man, his private life was better than
his public life.
So we'll have no doubt that he was
a true messenger of God.
So our young people these days who are
watching, searching on the internet, they should study
the seerah of their messenger before listening to
those who are talking on social media about
Prophet Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, and throwing
doubt into their minds and hearts about his
message and his mission.
And I'm saying this because I sat down
with some of them, who have doubt about
the message of their Prophet Muhammad sallallahu alayhi
wa sallam, just because they are listening, reading
what's going on in the internet and what
people are saying.
So these are proof, very strong proof, that
he was a true messenger of God.
So here in this hadith, Aisha radiallahu anha
is saying that he wanted to fully thank
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala for his great
bounties and fulfill the command, look at this,
you know, compliance, full compliance between the Qur
'an and between his life.
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala in this ayah,
surah az-zumar, is commanding his Prophet, alayhi
Rather worship Allah alone, and be one of
the grateful.
This is one way he wanted to be
a grateful servant of Allah subhanahu wa ta
'ala, is to do qiyam al-layl.
Of course he used to be generous, used
to give sadaqa, he used to make dhikr,
tasbih, pray in the masjid, and do many
things.
But one of the ways, one of the
ways that Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam felt
it's a great way to be, to thank
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, to be a
abd shakur, to be a great servant of
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, is to do
qiyam al-layl.
Wa al-ulama yaqulul ahlul shukri, hum ahlul
ziyadati.
The people of thankfulness and gratefulness are people
of increase.
Allah will increase his favours upon them.
You become grateful for Allah subhanahu wa ta
'ala, you thank Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala,
Allah will increase his favours upon you.
This is based on the famous ayah in
surah Ibrahim.
If you are grateful, I will certainly give
you more.
This is the promise of Allah subhanahu wa
ta'ala.
If you are grateful, Allah said, Allah proclaimed
that if you are grateful, I will increase
my favours upon you.
This is his promise.
Number three, the ulama said that the night
prayer will bring you closer to Allah subhanahu
wa ta'ala.
The night prayer will bring you closer to
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.
If you want to have a close relationship
with Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, then pray
qiyam al-layl, even if it is two
rakats or four rakats.
Make sujood and make dua and talk to
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.
Talk to him about your problems and your
issues and your dreams, what you want to
achieve.
You don't want to talk only about problems,
talk about also what you are planning to
do.
Right?
Anything that is halal, ask him.
Anything that is halal, you can ask Allah
subhanahu wa ta'ala to give it to
you.
So what is the proof?
Hadith about Amr ibn Abbasah.
The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be
upon him, said, The servant is closer to
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala than the servant
in the last hour of the night.
So if you can be among those who
remember Allah in that hour, then be.
Hadith about the presence of Abu Dawood in
the Sunan al-Tirmidhi.
Imam al-Tirmidhi said, it is a true
hadith.
So in this hadith Rasulullah, peace and blessings
be upon him, said, The nearest the Lord
comes to his servant is in the course
of the last part of the night.
The last part of the night is the
best time for qiyam al-lay.
In case I forget to talk about it
at the end of the halaqa.
The last part of the night, which is
the last third of the night, is the
best time for qiyam al-lay.
But it is permissible to do qiyam al
-lay immediately in the first part of the
night.
And it is also permissible and it is
also okay or fine, I would say, It
is fine to do qiyam al-lay in
the middle of the night, in the second
part of the night.
But if you are asking about what is
the best time for qiyam al-lay, It
is the last part of the night.
So you divide the night into three.
The night these days, technically the night time
starts at maghrib time.
At maghrib time, which is 4.33 today,
tonight.
For example, and then you look, you go
all the way to Salat al-fajr.
So you take this 14 hours of qiyam
al-lay and divide them into three parts.
So that would be 4 hours, not 5
hours, 4 hours maybe and 40 minutes, something
like that.
So the last part is the best, the
last 4 hours or the last 4 hours
and a half are the best time for
qiyam al-lay.
So here in this hadith, it is called
the last part of the night.
So this is the time Allah SWT comes,
He becomes very close to His servants.
He is willing to forgive at that time.
He is willing to answer questions and answer
du'a and supplications.
So that's the time that you need to
take advantage of.
So Rasulallah SAW said, so if you are
able to be among those who remember Allah
at that time or at that hour, then
do so.
If you are able.
It's not easy for everyone.
But in the winters of Canada, it should
be easy if you go to bed early.
If you go to bed at 10 o
'clock, inshallah you'll be able to wake up
at 5 o'clock these days.
And maybe pray at least for one hour
before you pray salat al-fajr.
Number 4, the Prophet SAW said night prayers
will increase our chance for our du'a
to be accepted.
And this is based on the famous hadith
of Abu Huraira, in which he said, Rasulallah
SAW said, Bukhari
al-Muslim.
Allah SWT said in al-Sama'i al
-Dunya, We believe in the hadith.
Bukhari al-Muslim hadith sahih.
We believe in it as it came and
as it passed from Rasulallah SAW.
But don't try to imagine.
Allah SWT said, Allah SWT said, There
is no comparison between Allah and His creation,
right?
So here this hadith is saying, So
in the last third night, or third part
of the night, Allah SWT descends to the
lowest heaven.
I was saying Arabic, don't try to imagine
the way Allah SWT comes down.
Allah SWT is the creator of this universe.
He is different than His creation.
Try not to imagine.
Believe in it because this is in hadith
that is Bukhari al-Muslim.
That is authentic.
Hadith is authentic sahih, Bukhari al-Muslim.
But He comes for something very beautiful, and
we should be interested in it.
He would say, Who supplicates me so that
I may answer Him?
Allah would say, Allah is giving an invitation
to His servants who are sleeping.
Offering them this offer, making an offer to
His servants.
Who supplicates me or who is willing to
supplicate me so that I may answer Him?
Who asks me that I may give Him?
Who prays for my forgiveness so that I
may forgive Him?
So Allah SWT is making this offer every
night in the last part of the night.
This hadith is in Bukhari al-Muslim.
So the night prayer will increase our chance
for our du'a to be accepted.
Number five, we said the night prayer will
move you out from the zone of negligence
and heedlessness.
Al-Ghafla.
Because this hadith of Rasulallah S.A.W.
So in this hadith Rasulallah S.A.W.
said, If anyone prays at night reciting ten
verses, only ten verses.
You know how long it takes you to
recite ten verses?
Ten verses could be like less than five
minutes, less.
Two minutes, three minutes or less.
Ten verses.
He said he would not be recorded among
the negligent or the heedless people.
People of Al-Ghafla, people of heedlessness.
He would not be recorded among them.
Which means that the people who sleep for
the whole night, they don't offer any prayer
at night.
They will be recorded among the people of
Al-Ghafla.
People of heedlessness.
If anyone prays at night and recites a
hundred verses, He will be recorded among those
who are obedient to Allah.
Who are fully obedient or really obedient to
Allah.
They are called Al-Qadimeen.
And if anyone prays at night and recites
one thousand verses, He will be recorded among
those who receive huge rewards.
Al-Qadimeen, huge rewards.
So this hadith is found in Surah Abu
Dawud.
And number six, they said the Ulama, The
one who offers the night prayer, he will
be doing one of the best types of
voluntary prayers.
One of the best types.
One of the most excellent types of voluntary
prayers.
What is the proof?
Hadith Sahih Muslim.
Rasulullah Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam said the most excellent
prayer, After what is prescribed, the five mandatory
prayers, Is a prayer during the night.
Prayer during the night.
So that is the best type of voluntary
prayer.
The one that we do at night.
So these are six benefits, And I am
sure that there are more, But we cannot
keep talking about the benefits, We need to
talk a little bit about the rules, And
some questions we need to answer, Some questions
about Qiyam al-Layn.
So we need to know some terms and
some definitions.
The word Qiyam al-Layn could be translated
as night prayer.
Is any prayer that is offered at night,
After Isha prayer, Any prayer that you offer,
After Isha prayer is called Qiyam al-Layn.
Maybe with the exception of the sunnah, the
ratiba, The highly recommended two rak'ahs that
we do after Isha, Maybe this is an
exception.
Some ulamas said, no this is not part
of Qiyam al-Layn, It is the sunnah
of Isha, it is part of the twelve
rak'ahs.
Do you remember we talked about the twelve
rak'ahs during the day?
When you do them, you get a new
house.
Whenever you do the twelve rak'ahs, you
get a new house in Jannah.
So inshallah we will review these things next
week with Ilaih ta'ala.
So any prayer you offer after the Isha
and the sunnah of the Isha, Is called
Qiyam al-Layn.
Qiyam al-Layn, night prayer.
Now what is the difference between this term
Qiyam al-Layn and Tahajjud?
Tahajjud has one condition.
It is Qiyam al-Layn, Tahajjud is Qiyam
al-Layn.
It is a night prayer, but it has
one condition.
It has to be preceded by a night
sleep.
So Tahajjud is a night prayer that is
performed after the person wakes up from sleep.
But what is the difference?
Maybe Tahajjud is a little bit more difficult.
More difficult.
Because you don't go to sleep.
I mean if you would stay awake after
Isha, till 11, at 12.
And you start doing Qiyam al-Layn between
12 and 1.
You didn't go to bed.
So you didn't make the effort to wake
up.
You didn't struggle with your desire to sleep
and continue sleeping.
But it is still called Qiyam al-Layn.
But it is not called Tahajjud.
Because you didn't go to bed first.
You didn't go to bed first.
So if you go to bed and you
wake up, it is called Tahajjud.
But it is called Qiyam al-Layn too.
Qiyam al-Layn is the general term that
includes all this.
Salat, Tahajjud, and also Taraweeh.
Taraweeh is another type of night prayer that
is done in Ramadan.
So we have Qiyam al-Layn which is
a general term.
We have Tahajjud.
It has to be preceded by a night's
sleep.
We do it after we wake up.
And we have Taraweeh which we do voluntary
prayer.
We do them during Ramadan, the month of
Ramadan, after Isha prayer.
There are people who ask, we said we
work during Ramadan.
Are we allowed to do Taraweeh prayer between
Maghrib and Isha?
And the answer is no.
The Taraweeh that Muslims know, the Taraweeh that
Muslims are familiar with, is to be done
after Isha.
Actually we will talk about the time.
We will come to the discussion of the
Ulema about the exact timing of the night
prayer.
Does it start after Maghrib or after Isha?
There are two opinions here.
But Taraweeh is to be done after Isha.
And the word Taraweeh in Arabic means rest
and relaxation.
The reason it was called Taraweeh, because it
was a nightly prayer.
We used to take a break after every
four Rakaats.
In the old days, during the time of
Omar Khattab and the rest of the Sahaba.
After every four Rakaats, they would take a
break, take some rest.
That's why we call it Taraweeh.
Otherwise it is a night prayer, it is
Qiyamah.
Now the question is, what are the timings
of the night prayer?
What are the exact timings?
Majority of Muslim scholars, majority believe that the
night prayer can be done after, at any
time between Isha prayer and Fajr.
So it will start after Isha prayer, and
it will end at Fajr prayer.
That is Qiyamah.
That is a night prayer.
It has to start after Isha prayer.
This is the opinion of whom?
Majority of Muslim scholars.
Now we got a second opinion.
That the timing for Qiyamah starts after Maghrib.
Right?
And that was the opinion of Imam Ahmed.
And some other scholars.
Imam Ahmed and some other scholars.
Now what is the difference between the two
opinions?
The difference is, any prayer that is done
between Maghrib and Isha, in the view of
the majority of Muslim scholars, it is a
general voluntary prayers.
It is like any unrestricted, you know, nafl
prayers.
Right?
You will be rewarded for doing these prayers,
these extra prayers between Maghrib and Isha.
You will be rewarded.
You get hasanat for offering these nafila prayers
between Maghrib and Isha.
But it is not called, it is not
classed or classified as night prayer.
Because we said night prayer is the best
form of nafila or voluntary prayers.
Now in the opinion of Imam Ahmed, it
should be part of the night prayer.
But we believe, wallahu ta'ala a'lam,
the most correct opinion is the opinion of
the majority of Muslim scholars.
Majority of Muslim scholars.
Why?
Because all the sahaba who described the night
prayer of our Prophet Muhammad ﷺ, all of
them were talking about his prayer between Isha
and Fajr.
Right?
Khasatan Aisha radiallahu anha.
We have many hadith from Aisha radiallahu anha
and some other, you know, like I said,
Umm Salama and Maymuna and all the other
wives of the Prophet.
Here I have a long hadith from Aisha.
We're going to study this hadith and we
try to, inshallah, derive some benefits from this
hadith.
The hadith of Aisha radiallahu anha.
In which she described the timing.
The timing.
She said, Aisha radiallahu anha qalat anna Rasulallah
ﷺ kana yusalli feema bayna an yafrugha minal
isha'i ilal fajr.
So she's telling us about the timing.
Feema bayna an yafrugha minal isha'i ilal
fajr.
She's talking about night prayer here.
Ihda a'shrata raka'a.
Ihda a'shrata raka'a yusallimu min kulli raka'tayn.
Yutasifu salata Rasulallah ﷺ.
Yusallimu min kulli raka'tayn.
wa yutiru biwahida fayasjudu sajdata min thalika qadrama
yaqra'u ahadukum khamsina ayah qabla an yarfa
'a ra'sahu.
fa idha sakata almu'adhinu min salati alfajr.
This is a proof that the prayer was
at the end of the night.
fa idha sakata almu'adhinu min salati alfajr
wa tabayyana lahul fajru qama fa raka'a
raka'tayni khafifatayn.
hadi sunnat alfajr.
raka'tayni khafifatayn.
thumma thaja'a ala shiqqihi al-ayman hatta
ya'tiahu almu'adhinu lil-iqamati fa yakhruj alayhi
salatu wasalam.
yakhruj ila almasjid hatta yusalli bin nas salatu
alfajr.
hatha alhadith muttafaqun alayhi bilbukhari walmuslim.
Aisha radiallahu anha is describing the night prayer,
the habits of our Prophet ﷺ.
Especially in his last part of his life.
In the last part of his life.
So Aisha radiallahu anha said that between the
time when the Prophet finished the Isha prayer
and the Fajr prayer.
So between the Isha prayer and the Fajr
prayer.
So most of the Sahaba, this is how
we describe his night prayers.
And Aisha is one of them.
She's telling us that his night prayer used
to take place between Isha and Fajr.
And that's why we said the opinion of
al-Jumhur, the majority of Muslim scholars, is
the most correct opinion.
He used to pray, Aisha is saying, he
used to pray 11 rak'ahs.
Most of the time.
Some other times he would do other, he
will pray in a different way.
We'll talk about the other ways tonight.
But she's describing his sunnah most of the
time.
Most of the time he would do this.
He would pray 11 rak'ahs.
Uttering the salam at the end of every
two units.
After every two units he would do tashahud.
And then he would utter the salam, alayhi
salatu was salam.
And observing the witr prayer with one single
rak'ah.
Observing the witr prayer with one single.
So 10 rak'ahs.
And then he would do the witr, most
of the time.
Sometimes he would do witr in a different
way.
We will talk about it tonight.
But she's saying here, this is what she
observed in her house.
Most of the time.
This is what she observed in her house.
Most of the time he would do 11
rak'ahs.
After every two rak'ahs he would say
salam.
And then he finished, he would finish his
salah with one single rak'ah.
That's why it is permissible to do witr,
to pray witr with one rak'ah.
But she said something very interesting here.
She said during that, he would make a
prostration or sujood.
About as long as one of you would
take to recite 50 verses.
50 verses.
Before raising his head.
In his sujood.
In his sujood.
When the muezzin finished making the call for
the fajr prayer, and he clearly saw the
dawn.
He's sure that the fajr is in.
He stood up and prayed two short rak
'ahs.
So he would shorten the sunnah of fajr.
Two short rak'ahs.
Then laid down on his right side until
the muezzin came to him for the iqamah,
whereupon he would go out.
So he would pray the two short rak
'ahs as sunnat al fajr.
Laid down on his right side.
Doesn't fall asleep.
He wouldn't fall asleep completely.
Completely sleeping.
No, he would just take some rest on
his right side.
Waiting for the muezzin to come.
The muezzin at that time used to be,
most of the time, Bilal.
He would come and tell him, knock the
door and say, Rasulallah, it's time for the
iqamah.
Because his house was next door to the
masjid.
He would leave his house, go to the
masjid, and lead the prayer with Muslims.
So now, let's look at the benefits of
this hadith.
The hadith of Aisha radiallahu anhu.
Here, the first point is, she clearly told
us that the night prayer which the messenger
of Allah, salallahu alayhi wa sallam, used to
offer was between isha prayer and fajr prayer.
This should be solved now.
Now, any prayer you do before isha, it's
a nafila.
Inshallah, you'll be rewarded for this salah, but
it's not part of the night prayer.
Even though, technically, as I said, the night
time in Islam starts at maghrib time.
Technically, maghrib, night time starts at maghrib time.
But the night prayer, the sunnah of the
night prayer does not start after maghrib.
It starts after isha.
It begins after isha.
Number two, number three, Aisha radiallahu anhu confirmed
that the prophet, salallahu alayhi wa sallam, used
to utter salam after every two rakats.
And this was confirmed by another hadith, in
which Rasulallah, salallahu alayhi wa sallam, said, this
is the hadith of Abdullah ibn Umar.
Rasulallah, salallahu alayhi wa sallam, was asked about
the night prayer.
He said, salatul layli mathna mathna.
fa idha khifta as-subha fa awtir biwahida.
Salatul layli mathna mathna.
This is a proof for those who said,
is it possible to do 16 rakats?
Is it possible to do 20 rakats?
Is it permissible to do 30 rakats?
Yes, it is permissible.
Why?
Because Rasulallah, salallahu alayhi wa sallam, is saying,
salat during the night should be done two
by two.
He did not give a specific number to
this person who asked him about the night
prayer.
When we were talking about 11, that was
his personal choice.
And sometimes he would pray other numbers.
He would offer other numbers of rakats.
Like 13, or 7, or 9.
Most of the time 11.
But here, when someone asked him about the
night prayer, he said, mathna mathna.
Two by two.
So that means after every two rakats, you
say salam.
He said, but if you feel that dawn
is near, fajr is near, then offer one
rakat as witr.
So you're praying, and praying, and praying, and
then you got worried, maybe fajr is close.
So you end your salat with one rakat,
that is witr, and then you are safe,
and your salat will be accepted, inshallah.
Aisha also, radiallahu anha, said that he used
to spend a period of time, this is
very important, the ikhwan, in each sajdah, that
is equivalent to the time needed to recite
50 verses, and that is between, anything between
5 minutes to maybe maximum 15 minutes.
Because the verses of the Quran are not
the same.
Some of them are very short, and some
of them are long.
The average would be, I would say, the
average would be 7 minutes.
So in each sajdah, he would spend 7
minutes making dua, and talking to Allah subhanahu
wa ta'ala.
Now ya khuwa, let's do some math here.
He used to pray 11 rakats.
If we ignore witr, let's ignore witr prayer.
Now we end up having 20 sajdah, because
if we have 10 rakats, each rakat has
2 sajdahs.
So 10 by 2, that's 20.
20 by 7, that's 140 minutes.
We can ignore 20 minutes.
We say at least he would spend 2
hours in the state of sujood.
2 hours in the state of sujood.
Only.
Alayhi salatu wa salam.
If we say he would recite 50 verses
in each rakat, reciting 50 verses in each
rakat, he used to recite more.
One time, one of the sahaba joined him
in salat al-layl, night prayer, and he
recited al-baqarah.
Then al-nisaa.
Then he went back to al-imran.
One time a sahabi, he joined the prophet
salallahu alayhi wa sallam, and he said, hamamtu
bi amrin suu.
Hamamtu, I thought about something bad.
They told him, what did you think about?
He said, I thought about leaving him.
I got so tired, I was planning, I
was thinking to leave, just give up.
So now we're saying, just assume, that he
used to, in every rakat, he used to
recite 50 verses, that would be another 2
hours.
2 plus 2.
Minimum 4 hours.
4 hours doing qiyam al-layl.
To pray 11 rakats.
This will never be the behavior of a
fake prophet.
Again.
Will never be the behavior of a false
prophet.
This is the behavior of someone who believes
in al-akhirah, who is confident about jannah
and nar.
And he's hoping to meet Allah subhanahu wa
ta'ala.
And he knows that al-akhirah is better
than this dunya.
His al-akhirah is better than this dunya.
This is the behavior of this man.
Alayhi salatu wa salam.
Number 5.
Aisha radiallahu anha said, after fajr is in,
the Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam used to
pray 2 short rakats.
So this is the sunnah to do, to
shorten the 2 rakats for fajr prayer.
The sunnah of the fajr, make them short.
Right?
And then lay down on his right side,
waiting for the mu'adhin to call him
for the iqamah.
Now the question is, was this laying down
after praying 2 rakats for the sunnah?
Or for the sunnah of fajr?
A sunnah in itself, is it a sunnah
in itself or a personal habit to take
some rest after a long night of prayer?
That's the question.
The hikmah, the ulama they said the hikmah,
there is no doubt that the hikmah was
to take some rest.
After long hours of praying for the whole
night.
Right?
Is it sunnah?
We can, I mean, we should be inclined
towards believing that it is sunnah.
It is recommended by Rasulallah sallallahu alayhi wa
sallam to take this rest before salatul fajr.
Why?
Because he said in a different hadith, إذا
صلى أحدكم ركعته الفجر فليضطجع على يمينه.
رواه أبو داود والترمذي.
So that was his recommendation for the sahaba.
If one of you prays the sunnah of
fajr, then let him lay down on his
right side.
That was his recommendation.
So the ulama, some ulama they said, it
is very important to pay attention to what
the ulama said.
They said this sunnah is only for those
who performed the night prayer and they needed
some rest.
It's not for everyone.
Number one.
Number two, it is done at home.
Not in the masjid.
It's to be done at home.
Because there is no proof that Rasulallah sallallahu
alayhi wa sallam used to lay down on
his right side in the masjid.
He used to do it at home.
Right?
Not in the masjid.
Number two.
Number three, the one who does it needs
to make sure that he doesn't fall, he
doesn't completely fall asleep and then end up
missing salatul fajr.
Right?
So this is something recommended.
If you don't do it, that's okay.
That's completely fine.
That's perfectly fine.
But make sure if you want to do
it, you don't fall asleep and miss salatul
fajr.
Wallahu ta'ala alam.
Now, Aisha radiallahu anha said that he, sallallahu
alayhi wa sallam, used to pray eleven rak
'ahs and he used to end his salat
with one rak'ah.
Irhamukallah.
You need to raise your voice.
Say alhamdulillah.
Say alhamdulillah.
That's good.
Irhamukallah again.
This is sunnah.
When you sneeze, say alhamdulillah and your brother
or your family, your brother or your sister
or friend should say irhamukallah.
Anyone who is beside you should say irhamukallah
and then you say what?
Yahdikumullahu wa yuslih balakum.
May Allah guide you and fix all your
affairs.
It's a beautiful dua, right?
So this is the sunnah.
I stopped on purpose.
I made this observation on purpose because we
hear some people sneezing in the masjid.
They don't say alhamdulillah.
So we miss the opportunity of telling them
irhamukallah and then they turn, you know, they
respond to us by saying a beautiful dua.
Yahdikumullahu wa yuslih balakum.
It is sunnah.
Even if you sneeze in the masjid, you
say alhamdulillah and you raise your voice with
it.
So Aisha radiallahu anha said that he used
to, most of the time he used to
pray 11 rak'ahs.
Now he sometimes would do something different.
At other times he would pray 13 rak
'ahs.
13, not 11.
And again, this is the hadith that was
narrated by Aisha radiallahu anha.
Herself she told us about a different habit,
different sunnah, which is praying 13 rak'ahs.
But she said he used to do 8
rak'ahs, two by two, and then he
would pray five together.
Five rak'ahs together.
So he would end his prayer with this
kind of witter.
Five rak'ahs together, in a row, without
a break in succession, without a break between
them.
He doesn't sit down and make tashahhud and
then stand up for another two.
No, five rak'ahs in a row.
So eight plus five, the total would be
13, and the source of this hadith is
Sahih Muslim.
So authentic.
It is authentic, so that's another option.
There's no conflict here.
Don't say, how come?
How come here she's talking about 11, another
hadith she's talking about 13.
There's no conflict.
He just would pray, he used to pray
qiyam al-layl in different ways.
Most of the time would be 11 rak
'ahs.
Some other times he would do it in
a different way.
Alayhi salatu wassalam.
Right?
Is this hadith in Sahih Muslim?
The third form of night prayer, can you
sit down and keep quiet please?
Listen.
Girls, boys.
So the third form of night prayer, seven
rak'ahs together again.
Seven rak'ahs together with one tashahhud in
the last rak'ah.
And who told us about this?
Umm Salama radiallahu anha.
Umm Salama told us about this story.
And the sources are Musnad al-Imam Ahmad
and Sunan al-Nasa'i.
And this hadith was classed as Sahih by
the ulama.
So seven rak'ahs in a row.
It might be a little bit difficult because
you need to focus.
You need to count with your fingers how
many rak'ahs are there.
It's not easy to keep track of your
rak'ahs.
Because we have another number, nine rak'ahs
here in a row.
Right?
But the difference between seven and nine, seven
you do them in a row.
You sit down at the end and you
make tashahhud.
And that's it.
The other way is nine rak'ahs.
He used to, salallahu alayhi wa sallam, pray
eight rak'ahs in succession without any break
between them.
Eight rak'ahs.
And then would sit down to recite tashahhud
at the end of the rak'ah number
eight.
And then he would stand up, pray one
rak'ah, and then would recite tashahhud and
say salam.
So the way he used to do nine
rak'ahs, praying eight rak'ahs together in
a row with no break between them.
Then he would sit down, make tashahhud, and
then he would stand up for number nine,
sit down, recite, sit down, make tashahhud, and
make salam.
But that was not his habit most of
the time.
Sometimes.
Sometimes he would do it this way.
So if you wanna, even when it comes
to seven, Rasulallah ﷺ used to do them
like seven together.
If you wanna do two by two, two,
you make salam, another two, you make salam,
another two, you make salam, that's six.
And you end your salat with one rak
'ah, that's permissible.
That's fine.
And the nine, if you wanna do eight,
two by two.
Or you do it the way Rasulallah ﷺ
did it, that's permissible.
Both options are fine.
Why are we saying the other option is
fine?
Because of the hadith that we mentioned.
The hadith, Rasulallah ﷺ, he said, the night
prayer is to be done two by two.
So we have a basic rule in this
hadith.
But these are exceptions, that are accepted because
Rasulallah ﷺ did them.
Since he did them, then they become part
of the sunnah.
The basic principle is to do qiyam al
-layl two by two.
You say salam after each, or after every
two rak'ahs, right?
Say salam.
But if you wanna do the other way,
that is permissible, and it is part of
the sunnah.
Now when it comes to the winter prayer,
the minimum number of rak'ahs in the
winter prayer, we said, it's one rak'ah.
It is permissible to do one rak'ah.
And also what is common, what is popular,
is to do three.
But three don't make them like maghrib.
Make tashahud after two rak'ahs, and then
you stand up for a third one, and
then you do another tashahud and salam.
No.
You avoid this form.
Either you do two plus one, you pray
two rak'ahs, make salam, and then you
stand up for a third rak'ah, sit
down, make salam, three.
Two plus one.
The other form, three in a row.
Three in a row, without any break between
them.
Three in a row, and then you do
tashahud at the end, and you offer your
salam at the end.
Three.
Now you could be done in five rak
'ahs, or seven rak'ahs, but that's the
way Rasulallah ﷺ used to do them.
That's another way of doing salat al-witr.
Wallahu ta'ala alam.
Now there is a question here.
We said before that witr has to be
the last prayer during the night, right?
How about if someone prays like Abu Darda
and Abu Huraira, they used to pray salat
al-witr before they go to bed.
They said the reason, some ulama, they said
Abu Huraira and Abu Darda used to study
hadith.
They used to study hadith.
Every night they would review their hadith.
And then they would spend time after isha
studying the hadith.
So Rasulallah ﷺ told them, gave them nasiha,
pray witr before you go to bed.
But if someone is confident that he will
wake up at the end of the night,
then it's better for him to delay witr
till the end of the night.
So he can offer some prayers and then
make witr the last prayer of the night.
But how about, the question is, if a
person prayed witr in the beginning of the
night, after isha, for example, prayed sunnah after
isha, and he offered some prayers, let's say
he offered two rak'ahs or four rak
'ahs after isha as a night prayer.
And then he decided to pray witr.
And he went to bed.
And then he woke up one hour before
fajr.
Is he allowed to pray or not?
Because he prayed witr in the beginning.
Is he allowed to do other prayers?
Yes, that's the right answer.
He is allowed.
Because he did not pray witr in the
beginning on purpose.
He was worried about not waking up.
Now he woke up and he has free
time.
He is allowed to pray.
But is he supposed to do another witr?
No, he is not.
There should be or there are no two
witr prayers in one night.
There are no two witr prayers.
There should be no two witr prayers in
one night.
We are not supposed to do it this
way.
And we are supposed to do it the
last, to make witr the last prayer.
But if we prayed witr and we woke
up, then we are allowed to pray.
Because we have a hadith from Rasulallah ﷺ
that he prayed after witr.
And that should be the case, that he
prayed witr, maybe he felt he was tired,
he didn't think that he will wake up,
but he woke up.
He woke up and he decided to add
some prayers.
This is something that happened to Rasulallah ﷺ
and he prayed after witr.
But he did not add another witr.
He did not pray a second witr.
So this, alhamdulillah, most of the questions I
think are answered tonight about the night prayer.
If you have any questions, we have 15
minutes before nine.
Otherwise, we can go home inshallah.
Shafa?
So any two prayers that you do them
before witr, they are called shafa.
It's not different, it's part of the witr.
Part of the night prayer.
But any two prayers, or even if there
are four prayers, you do them before witr,
they are called shafa.
Shafa is even, in Arabic, even.
Witr is odd number.
Witr is odd number.
Shafa is even.
So if it is separated from witr, it's
called shafa.
No, it's part of the witr.
At the end, it's part of the witr.
In some societies, they're familiar with this term.
They say shafa al witr.
It's found in Arabic language.
In some other societies, other communities, they don't
use the term shafa.
They call it witr.
They say witr.
But at the end, it's the same.
Yes.
I didn't get your question.
Taraweeh, you were talking about taraweeh in Ramadan.
Taraweeh in Ramadan only.
But the rest of the year, we do
the night prayer.
What we said is, when we offer night
prayer, we will increase our chance for our
dua to be accepted.
So you're making sujood at night, talking to
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, making dua.
Most likely, your dua will be accepted, inshallah.
It's a good time for us to make
dua.
That's the point.
Sisters, do you have a question?
Okay, so everyone is fine.
Fadhal ya shaykh.
Yeah, two and then one.
Two plus one.
Witr.
The three of them are witr.
Oh yeah.
You cannot, you cannot, you cannot pray witr
on purpose before the rest of the night
prayer.
You cannot do it on purpose.
Yeah.
Yeah, the sunnah of isha.
Three, yeah, okay.
And you slept, you went to bed.
The three that you did is night prayer.
Yeah, the three that you did is part
of the night prayer.
Yeah, the minimum.
You're doing the minimum here.
The minimum number of rak'ahs.
Three, yeah.
And the sunnah is to recite, sabbih, sma
rabbika al a'la, qul ya ayyuhal kafirun,
and surat al ikhlas.
This is the sunnah.
When you do these three rak'ahs.
Yeah, you wake up at night, in the
middle of the night, or at the end
of the night, you are allowed to pray,
but don't pray another witr.
You don't make another witr.
Yeah.
Make sure you don't pray two witrs.
And make sure that you try your best
to make witr the last prayer, but if
you pray witr and you wake up, then
that's okay, you can pray.
Yes.
It is haram to pray two witrs.
So Rasulallah ﷺ said don't do it.
Should be haram.
If you do it on purpose.
He said don't do it.
If he said don't do it, we shouldn't
do it, right?
Now, another question.
Yusuf, do you have a question?
I'll be calling names now.
Ibrahim, do you have a question?
Everything is clear?
Fadhal.
They are qiyam al-layl, but they call
them witr because they are together.
Because you end the prayer with them.
You are not going to separate between the
rak'ahs.
But they are at the same time qiyam
al-layl, night prayer.
But they call sometimes witr too.
Yes, brother.
Fadhal.
Na'am.
Al-farq.
Al-farq mayna qiyam al-layl wa tahajjud.
I explained this in the beginning.
I will explain it again.
Okay.
He said what is the difference between qiyam
al-layl and tahajjud?
It was explained in the halaqah.
Maybe you were not with us.
You just came late, right?
I'm just asking.
Okay.
That's okay.
I'll explain it again.
Tahajjud is also qiyam al-layl.
Any prayer that is done at night is
called qiyam al-layl.
So qiyam al-layl is the general term.
Al-unwan al-kabeer.
Any salah you offer at night is called
qiyam al-layl.
Na'am.
The sisters have a question.
Okay.
You can write it down or raise your
hand.
Or after I finish with the brother, I'll
come back to you.
So, but tahajjud is any prayer that you
do it after you go to bed and
you wake up.
If you go to bed, pray, slept for
3 hours, 4 hours, 5 hours, and then
you wake up, now your prayer after you
wake up is called qiyam al-layl and
called tahajjud.
Why it's called tahajjud?
Because you went to bed and slept for
a couple of hours.
Right?
It's a little bit more difficult.
But it is also qiyam al-layl.
It is also night prayer.
Right?
Okay.
If you do it without going to bed,
then it is not called tahajjud.
It's just called qiyam al-layl or night
prayer.
Is that clear?
Wadih?
Na'am?
Tahajjud akhtar.
Most likely tahajjud will happen in the last
part of the night.
And the best time for salat al-layl
is the last part of the night.
It's more rewarded and insha'Allah your dua
will be accepted.
Yes, there is a sister who has a
question.
Yes.
Is it okay to carry the mushaf?
It is permissible.
But the ulema said it is better to
recite the Qur'an from your hifz, from
your memorization.
Even if they are short surahs, that's okay.
But if you want to carry the mushaf,
that is permissible.
Carry the mushaf to recite long surahs, that
is permissible.
Yes.
Yes.
I mean, the answer is we are not
supposed to do it this way.
Qunut, Rasulallah ﷺ do it sometimes and some
other times he did not do it.
Even with the other way you can do
qunut.
With one rak'ah you can do qunut.
Qunut al-witr.
The qunut is sunnah, qunut al-witr, but
it is not mu'akkadah.
Because Rasulallah ﷺ did not do it all
the time.
Right?
He can do it sometimes and leave it
some other times.
That's fine.
But he doesn't, because in maghrib these days
we do qunut al-nawazil.
Right?
Making dua for our brothers and sisters.
We are doing qunut in maghrib.
So they became the same.
To answer your question.
But we are not supposed to do maghrib,
the three rak'ahs the way you describe
it.
Don't make it similar to maghrib prayer.
Most likely the salah will be accepted, but
Rasulallah ﷺ did not do it this way.
Wallahu ta'ala alam.
It's a matter of disagreement.
The brothers and sisters in the Indian subcontinent,
they follow the Hanafi madhab.
And I guess this is permissible in the
Hanafi madhab.
So it's a matter of disagreement between Muslim
scholars.
Further?
Iqama?
We don't do iqama for nafilah.
There is no adhan.
There is no iqama.
You don't.
You just stand up, make wudu, make dua.
In some ahadith, Rasulallah ﷺ would start qiyam
al-layl with two short rak'ahs.
Two short rak'ahs.
And then he would pray long, long rak
'ahs.
This is sometimes.
You can do it if you want.
Start your qiyam al-layl with two short
rak'ahs.
You can start with long rak'ahs.
So all these options are permissible.
Wallahu ta'ala alam.
Jazakumullahu khairan.
No other question?
Tawaddul.
Three minutes before nine.
Naam?
Yes.
That's a good question.
Wal mustaghfirina bil-ashaab.
So Allah ﷻ praised.
He said, is it better to pray in
the last maybe five minutes, ten minutes before
fajr?
So this time is called the sahar.
There is a debate between Muslim scholars.
Is it better to spend it making istighfar,
to spend this time making istighfar?
Because Allah ﷻ praised those who make istighfar
during this time.
In surah al-dhariyat and in surah al
-imran.
Wal mustaghfirina bil-ashaab.
And those who make istighfar in the last
part of the night.
Sahar in Arabic is the last part of
the night.
Could be twenty minutes, could be half an
hour.
We are not exactly sure about this period
of time.
It's a very short period of time.
It's called the sahar.
That's why we have suhoor.
Sahar.
Ashar.
Ashar is plural.
The term ashar in the Quran is a
plural term of sahar.
So one of the best answers that I
heard from some Muslim scholars is that you
can combine between the two.
That you can still pray if you want
but in your sujood increase your istighfar.
So you catch both.
You'll be praying at the same time doing
istighfar in your sujood.
And you'll be among those Allah ﷻ praised
in the Quran.
Wal mustaghfirina bil-ashaab.
You can do it this way.
But if you the ulama, some ulama, they
said about some salaf as-salih, the pious
people in the old days.
They said they used to pray at night
but they used to, at the end of
the night, they used to take some rest
and spend it in making istighfar.
Some of them even went far to say
they used to worry about any mistake that
they might have committed in their salat.
So they make istighfar at the end of
the night.
Subhanallah.
They've been praying for the whole night and
now they're worried about making any mistake in
their salat.
So they spend the rest of the night,
the last part of the night making istighfar.
So all these options are good.
Either you pray or you pray and you
focus on istighfar in your sujood or you
sit down in the last 15 minutes making
istighfar.
It's up to you.
All these options are good.
Jazakumullahu khayran.
Barakallahu feekum.
Subhanaka.
Allahumma alhamdulillahi wabarakatuhu.
La ilaha illallah.
Astaghfirullahu wa taubuhu ilayka.
A brother asked me, are we supposed to
make dua?
Are we allowed to make dua at the
end here in this halaqa for our brothers
and sisters?
It is permissible.
If you want to make dua, we can
make dua.
So we'll make dua for two minutes.
Allahumma akfir lana wa arhamna wa tub alayna
innaka anta tawwabun raheem.
Raja'atina fil dunya hasana wa fil aakhirati
hasana.
Waqina athab an-nar.
Allahumma farrij qurubati al-muslimina fi mashariq al
-ardi wa fi magharibiha.
Allahumma farrij qurubata kulli mu'minin wa mu'mina.
Ansur ibadaka al-mu'minin fi ardi ghazata wa
filistin.
Wa fi biladi al-shani kulliha.
Wa fi biqa'i al-ardi kulliha.
Allahumma najji ibadaka al-mustadha'afin.
Allahumma najji al-mustadha'afin min al-mu'minin.
Allahumma najji al-mustadha'afin min al-mu'minin.
Wa alhamdulillahi rabbil alamin.
Wa sallallahu ala nabiyyina muhammadin wa ala alihi
wa sahbihi ajmain.
Barakallahu feekum.
Next week we'll come back with a presentation.
We'll try to summarize all what we studied
in this series.
And maybe we'll talk about salat al-tasabih
and some other prayers.
Some other prayers that you are not familiar
with.
We'll just talk a little bit about that.
And then we talk about a summary.
And then inshallah the week after we are
supposed to start a new program.
It could be one halaqa about a different
subject.
Inshallah.
Two important subjects actually.
Two very important subjects bi-idhnillahi ta'ala.
In December.