Duas for the night prayer (tahajjud)

When the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) would rise during the night to offer voluntary prayer, after making the initial Takbīr to start the prayer, he would say, “O Allah, our Lord! All praise belongs to You”, i.e. all praise is due to Allah, the Exalted, for He is the One who is praised for His attributes, His names, His blessings, His favors, His creation, His actions, His commands, and His judgment. He is the One who is praised in the beginning and at the end, externally and internally.

Then he said: “You are the Custodian of the heavens and the earth”, i.e. You are the One who brought them into existence from nothingness, the One who takes care of them with what will benefit them and maintain them. You are the Creator, the Provider, the Owner, the Manager, the Giver of life, and the Giver of death.

Then he said: “All praise belongs to You, You are the Lord of the heavens and the earth and all that is in them”, i.e. You are their Owner and the owner of all that is in them, the Disposer of their affairs according to Your will. You brought them into existence from nothingness, so the kingdom belongs to You. No one other than You shares the dominion or manages the affairs, Blessed and Exalted You are.

Then he said: “All praise belongs to You, You are the Light of the heavens and the earth and all that is in them”, i.e. one of His attributes is that He is light, and He concealed Himself from His creation by light. He, may He be glorified, illuminates the heavens and the earth, and is the Guide of the inhabitants of the heavens and the earth. It is not right to deny the attribute of light from Allah, Exalted, nor to interpret it.

Then he said: “You are the Truth”, and the Truth is one of His names and attributes. He is the Truth in His essence and attributes. His existence is imperative, His attributes and characteristics are perfect. His existence is one of His inseparable attributes, and nothing exists except by Him.

Then he said: “Your speech is the Truth”, i.e. all that You say is true, right and just. Falsehood cannot approach it from before it or from behind it. There is no falsehood in its reports, judgment, legislation, nor in its promise or warning.

Then he said: “Your promise is the Truth”, i.e. You do not break the promise, so whatever You have promised must occur just as You promised it, neither broken nor changed.

Then he said: “Your meeting is the Truth”, i.e. it is inevitable that the slaves will meet You and You will reward them for their deeds. The meeting includes seeing Allah, Glorified and Exalted.

Then he said: “Paradise is true and Hell-fire is true”, i.e. both of them are established and existing, as You informed us that both of them are prepared for their inhabitants. They are the permanent abode and the final destination of the slaves.

Then he said: “The Hour is true”, i.e. the coming of the Day of Judgment is a truth concerning which there is no doubt. It is established and must take place. It is the end of this world and the beginning of the Hereafter.

His statement: “O Allah, to You I submit” means I surrender to Your judgment, yield to it and accept it. His statement: "in You I believe” means I have believed in You and what You sent down, and I have acted upon it.

"Upon You I rely” means I have depended on You and entrusted my affairs to You. “By your help I contend with my foes” means I have used the proofs You brought to refute and defeat the one who is obstinate (in rejecting the truth). "To You I refer for judgment” means I have made You the Judge between me and anyone who refuses to accept the truth or opposes it, thereby refusing the judgment of all "Tāghūts" (i.e. false gods), such as man-made laws, soothsayers or anything from which mankind seeks a judgment, including principles which are baseless in the sight of the Islamic law.

His statement: “So, forgive me the sins I committed in the past and those I may commit in the future, those I did secretly and those I did openly, and all that which You know of better than I do” means forgive all the sins that I have already committed and all the ones that I will commit; those that are apparent to anyone of Your creatures and those that are hidden from them, and those which no one knows of except You.

Then he concluded his supplication with the statement: “There is no god but You”, therefore I do not turn towards anything except You. Anything worshiped other than You is false, and calling upon it is error and its consequence is evil. This is the pure monotheism that the messengers of Allah brought and it is what Allah has imposed upon His slaves.

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Abu Salamah ibn ‘Abdur-Rahmān ibn ‘Awf asked ‘Ā'ishah, the Mother of the Believers, about the supplication that the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) used to make when he would commence his night prayer. She said that the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) used to make the following supplication at the start of his night prayer: "O Allah, Lord of Jibrīl, Mikha'īl, and Israfil"; he ascribed these three angels in particular to Allah, although He is the Lord of everything, as an indication of their superiority over all other angels. He mentioned Jibrīl first because he is trusted with revelation from the heavens, so all religious affairs come down through him. Israfil was mentioned last because he is the one who will blow the horn to signal the coming of the Hour. Mikha'īl was mentioned in the middle because he is the angel in charge of the rain and plants and similar affairs related to people's sustenance in this worldly life. "Originator of the heavens and the earth"; the Creator and Inventor of the heavens and earth. "Knower of the unseen and the seen"; You are all-knowing of what the slaves see and what they do not see. "You judge between Your slaves concerning that in which they used to differ"; You decide between them in the religious affairs about which they used to differ in this worldly life. "Guide me, by Your permission, to the truth about which people differ"; guide me to the truth in the affairs that people differ in, religious affairs as well as worldly affairs, by granting me success and facilitating this for me. "Verily, You guide whom You will to the straight path"; You guide whomever You will to the path of truth and righteousness!

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Ibn ‘Abbās (may Allah be pleased with him) informs us in this Hadīth that he spent the night in the house of his aunt Maymūnah (may Allah be pleased with her), the Prophet's wife.

During the night, the Prophet relieved himself, then he washed his face and hands to get refreshed and clean oneself, and slept again.

Then he woke up, went to the water skin, and loosened the straps that tie its mouth and keep the water inside it.

Then he made ablution for prayer moderately without neglecting any parts of ablution or excessively washing them. This means he washed the parts of ablution less than three times each, showing that this is permissible although the Sunnah is to wash them thrice. The Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) did what is required only in his ablution by making sure that every part of ablution was washed properly. Then he performed the night prayer. Ibn ‘Abbās said that he was watching the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) in what he was doing, but he stretched his body to give the impression that he was asleep and not watching what the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) was doing. Ibn ‘Abbās (may Allah be pleased with him) pretended he was asleep, because people, when they are alone, could perhaps do things that they do not like others to see. Another reason is that Ibn ‘Abbāss was afraid that the Prophet might leave off some of his actions due to the former's observation. It was the habit of the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) that sometimes he would abandon or leave off an action lest it becomes obligatory upon his Ummah.

Therefore, Ibn ‘Abbās wanted to conceal himself so that he could learn every specific detail about the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) from the time he wakes up at night until the call for Fajr prayer is made. This shows Ibn ‘Abbās’ eagerness to acquire knowledge. Then he said: "I made ablution”, or according to another narration: "I made ablution similar to the way the Prophet did", or according to the narration of Al-Bukhāri: "I stood up and did exactly what the Prophet did."

“When Ibn ‘Abbās saw the Prophet (may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him) stood up and prayed, he made ablution and joined the Prophet in prayer, but he stood on the Prophet's left side." The Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) grabbed Ibn ‘Abbās by his ear and turned him from the left side to the right side. In another narration, Ibn ‘Abbās said: "The Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) placed his right hand on my head, then grabbed my right ear and twisted it by his hand." The Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) placed his hand on his head first, so that he would be able to hold his ear, or that because the hand fell on him only, or to allow the blessings of his hands to descend upon his head so that Ibn ‘Abbās could understand all of the Prophet’s actions during that session and elsewhere.

The Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) twisted the ear to either remind him that he was doing something against the Sunnah, draw his attention more to maintain these actions, remove any drowsiness left in his eyes, move him from the left to the right side, comfort him during the darkness of the night (as mentioned in the narration of Al-Bukhāri), wake him up, or show affection towards him as Ibn ‘Abbās’ conditions and young age would require it.

The Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) moved Ibn ‘Abbās from the left side to the right side, which is the proper position of the Muslim who is praying alone with the Imām. The Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) prayed that night thirteen Rak‘ahs, including the Witr, making Salam between every two Rak‘āhs as mentioned in the narration of Al-Bukhāri.

Another narration in Al-Bukhāri and Muslim reads: "Then he prayed two Rak‘ahs, then two more, then two more, then two more, then two more, then two more, then he prayed Witr." As he prayed two Rak‘ahs six times with one Rak‘ah Witr separately, the total number of Rak‘ahs performed that night would be thirteen.

Then the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) laid down and slept until he started breathing aloud, and this was a sleeping habit for him. Bilāl, later, informed him that time for Fajr prayer was due. He performed the voluntary prayer for Fajr first, then went to the mosque and prayed Fajr in congregation. The Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) prayed with the previous ablution and did not make a new ablution. This is considered one of the specific rulings that are unique for the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) that is his sleeping does not nullify his ablution. This is because his eyes sleep, but his heart doesn’t sleep. Unlike the rest of people, if something occurred to nullify the Prophet's ablution, he would feel it. For this reason, ‘Ā'ishah (may Allah be pleased with her) once said to him: "Will you sleep before you pray Witr?" He replied: "O ‘Ā'ishah, my eyes sleep but my heart does not sleep."

Some of the supplications that the Prophet made on that night were: "O Allah, place light in my heart, light in my sight, light in my hearing, light on my right, light on my left, light above me, light below me, light in front of me, light behind me, make light for me!"

He asked that light be engulfing his organs and all his sides, which is translated into clarification and illumination of the truth and guidance to it. Therefore, he asked for light in all parts of his body as well as his behaviors, life changes, situations, and entirety from the six directions so that he will never be misguided in any way.

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The Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) informs that the Almighty Lord becomes closest to the servant in the last third of the night. So, if you, O believer, find the success and ability to be among those who worship, pray, remember, and repent at this time, indeed it is something that should be seized and diligently achieved.

Benefits

• A Muslim is urged to remember Allah in the latter part of the night.
• Times vary in their excellence with regard to Dhikr, supplication, and prayer.
• Regarding the difference between his statement "the nearest the Lord to a servant" and his statement "the nearest a servant to his Lord is when he is prostrating", Mirak said: What is meant here is to identify the time when the Lord is closest to the servant, which is the middle of the night; whereas the purpose here is to demonstrate the state in which the servant becomes closest to the Lord, and that is the state of prostration.

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Every night, there is a time when supplications are answered. No Muslim makes supplication during this time that does not involve something prohibited except that Allah answers it. It is the last third of the night as stated in other authentic texts.

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