Tahajjud

[Blessed Muslimah]

Asalamu aleykum,

In the ramadan knights notes.. It states that "As Qiyam-ul-Layl means 'standing in night'. It is offered following some sleep in the night ( Tahajjud prayer) which means to sleep. From it is derived the verb, tahajjada, meaning 'he wooke up from sleep to pray"


Is there an exception for the last 10 days of Ramadhaan...?

[Aslam AbuIsmaeel]

Wa alaikumusalaam wa rahmatullah

The Ramadan Knights notes sentence is actually saying ... "if Qiyamul-Layl is offered following some sleep in the night then it is called tahajjud prayer." 

Note for interest sake: It is only the name (tahajjud + Qiyam ul layl versus only Qiyam ul layl) that varies depending on sleep or not, however the reward and privilage is same for the last third part of night regarldess of sleep before it or not.  But if prayed in early part of night instead of the last third, this extra reward and privilage is not there however there is still the reward of praying night prayers (qiyam ul layl).  Night prayers in Ramadan carry even greater reward and this reward is whether it is prayed in early part of night or last third.  If you pray in early part of night, it is called Taraweeh + Qiyam ul layl.  But if you pray in last third of night in Ramadan, it is called Taraweeh + Qiyam ul layl.  If you sleep and then pray in last third of night it is called Taraweeh + Qiyam ul Layl + Tahajjud.


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Now returning to the question, Qiyam ul layl is still rewarded fully as Qiyam ul layl whether it is in early or late part of night.  In Ramadan, the Prophet encouraged us to pray Qiyam ul layl and sins will be forgiven ... this is regardless of whether you pray early in night or later in night, you can get the same reward of all sins forgiven.  You do not have to sleep and then wake up - you still can hope to have all sins forgiven.

As for getting the reward of praying the last third of night, that is a special reward for that time of night which is same for Ramadan and outside Ramadan.  It is same whether you slept before the last third of night or not - you do not have to sleep before the prayer of the last third of the night.   

So, if you want to get the reward of having all sins forgiven, it is same in Ramadan whether you pray in early or last part of night.  But if you want the special status of the last third of the night, then it is only in the last third of night even in Ramadan.  That is why Umar radiyallahu anhu commented when he saw most of the people praying early in the night in Ramdan instead of the last third part of night, "... although that which they are sleeping through (i.e. last third of night) is even better than that which they are praying (i.e. early part of night)." - the reward of qiyam layl in ramadan of all sins forgiven is still there for early part of night.

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I hope I understood the question correctly and answered the right question.

Wassalamu alaikum

[Blessed Muslimah]

JazakaAllahu kheyr sheikh,

MashaAllah
May Allah swt reward you reward you. Ameen

[Muslimah08]

Salam Alaikum wrwb,

I was just wondering if we do taraweh with the iman and complete the witr does that mean we cannot do tahajud (in the last 3rd of the night) becuase the witr should be the last prayer you do? Or do i just not do complete the taraweh with the eman by doing the witr prayer? But if one completes the tarweh with the eman doesnt it get accepted as if you were up all night?

Also one of my friends suggested i do an extra rakah after the eman finishes the witr and says Salam and that if you want to do tahajud when you get home then we just get up and do extra rakah rather then saying salam so that we get the rewards/ deeds of doing the prayer of witr with eman and then can wake up for tahajud...but this doesnt really make sense to me im not sure if this is correct, please advise as i am slightly confused.

Jazakom Allah Khair.

[Muslimah08]

My apologise Sheikh, the answer to my question was already answered in another section. However the question about what the sister advised me although my heart does not accept as i had never heard it before and asked another friend who also was not sure about it, i cannot not go to the sister and tell her that it may be wrong as she is much more knowledgable than i am.

If you could kindly advise me on whether what the sister said to me is correct or not so that if it is not right that i can let the sister know also.

[Aslam AbuIsmaeel]

Wa alaikumusalam wa rahmatullahi wa barkatuh

View One:
With regards to what the other sister said to you, some scholars said that when praying behind an Imam, we can pray a prayer with different number of rak'ah than he is praying. 

Some of these scholars further said that if the Imam prays witr you can make intention of praying two rak'ah instead of witr, and then add one rak'ah at the end after the Imam finishes.  They said so because there seems to be nothing to prohibit this.  This is what the sister said to you and it is saying of some reputable scholars, Allah show mercy to all our scholars.


View Two:
Some other scholars believed that when the Imam is praying a prayer of certain number of rak'ah, the ones behind should also pray a prayer of that many rak'ah and not more or less rak'ah.  One of the reasons is because we are told to follow the Imam and this is the least we can do to not differ from the Imam, i.e. pray the same number of rak'ah prayer as that of the Imam and not that he finishes and we continue more than Imam.  Based on this, we should not stand up after the witr of Imam and add a rak'ah to it as the prayer of the Imam is finished with that many rak'ah and so should we.


Our stance:
Both views are from Ijtihad based on Quran and Sunnah and followers of both views are to be respected.  While what Allah wanted us to do is onething only, in such matters of Ijtihad, Allah forgives the one who made the mistake due to the obscurity and rewards one reward for having tried one's best to find the right thing to do.  As for the one who followed the correct stance, Allah rewards them twice: one for trying and one for follwoing the correct stance.  This is what the Prophet (s) said in the hadith regarding ijtihad of a judge.

The strongest view:
But, the View Two is what I now understand to be the strongest view most likely to be the correct position; although I do not condemn the first view due to it having some basis in Ijtihad.  That is what I recommend you with resepect to you and the other respectable sister; i.e. you respect that sister's following of that opinion even if you follow the other Ijtihad based opinion.  And Allah knows better.

Wassalamu alaikum

[Muslimah08]

Jazakom Allah Khair for that explanation, May Allah bless you and your family for opening up this forum in this month for us. This forum has shed light on many issues i was unsure about and I ask Allah to reward you and your family. thank you very much.

I was scared that maybe that first view was a bidah as my friend who told me was told by another sister and i was affriad it may not be a reliable source, but i shall repect both views. Jazakom Allah Khair.

[Aslam AbuIsmaeel]

Assalamu alaikum

Thanks for your encouragement and Allah reward you, jazakillahu khair!

Yes I pray that Allah reward all brothers and sisters who are helping us all with this forum - yes some are my relatives but equally others are not!! - I pray Allah reward them for doing this for Allah's pleasure.

Its good that you're trying to avoid bid'ah, Allah reward you in your keeness to stick to whatever Allah likes, barakallahu feek!

Wassalamu alaikum