Ramadan in UAE: Best prayer after obligatory ones is Tahajjud

Dubai - Syedana Abu Hurayrah narrates that the Messenger of Allah (Peace be upon him) said: “The best prayer after the obligatory prayers is the night prayer.” (Muslim)

One of the most virtuous of the nawafil acts of worship is waking up in the middle of the night for Tahajjud prayer. This is that special time when the doors of mercy are thrown open and the angels are dispersed, seeking out those in need of their Lord.

Syedana Abu Hurayrah narrates that the Messenger of Allah (Peace be upon him) said: “The best prayer after the obligatory prayers is the night prayer.” (Muslim)

The Tahajjud Prayer or Qiyamulail is part of the Sunnah of the Prophet, which Muslims are advised to follow all the time.

Tips to perform Tahajjud:

> Upon going to sleep, one should make the intention to perform the Prayers. Abu Ad-Darda’ quoted the Prophet (PBUH) as saying: “Whoever goes to his bed with the intention of getting up and praying during the night, but, being overcome by sleep, fails to do that, he will have recorded for him what he has intended, and his sleep will be reckoned as a charity (an act of mercy) for him from his Lord.” (An-Nasa’i and Ibn Majah)

> On waking up, it is recommended that one wipes the face, use a toothbrush, and look to the sky and make the supplication which has been reported from the Prophet. Abu Hudzaifah reported: “Whenever the Prophet intended to go to bed, he would recite: ‘With Your name, O Allah, I die and I live.’ And when he woke up from his sleep, he would say: ‘All the Praises are for Allah who has made us alive after He made us die (sleep) and unto Him is the Resurrection.” (Al-Bukhari)

> It is recommended that one wakes up one’s family, for Abu Hurairah quoted the Prophet as saying: “May Allah bless the man who gets up during the night to pray and wakes up his wife and who, if she refuses to get up, sprinkles water on her face. And may Allah bless the woman who gets up during the night to pray and wakes up her husband and who, if he refuses, sprinkles water on his face.” (Ahmad)

> If one gets sleepy while performing Tahajjud, one should sleep. This is based on the hadith narrated by Syeda Aishah, who quoted Allah’s Messenger as saying: “When one of you gets up during the night for Prayer and his Qur’anic recital gets mixed up to the extent that he does not know what he says, he should lie down.”