Night Prayers: The Arrow of a Believer
Prayer is said to be the weapon of believers; Night prayer is considered the arrow. We as humans cannot achieve anything without full dependent on our Creator in order to traverse the ups and downs of life successfully. Not only is communicating to our Lord in the night soul purifying, it is an act that is said to establish full reliance on Allah, the Majesty.
Prayer is said to be the weapon of believers; Night prayer is considered the arrow. We as humans cannot achieve anything without full dependent on our Creator in order to traverse the ups and downs of life successfully. Not only is communicating to our Lord in the night soul purifying, it is an act that is said to establish full reliance on Allah, the Majesty.
From the age of seven till death, a Muslim purifies himself and talks to his lord through this noble act of worship. Aside the five daily obligatory prayers, the Night Prayers (Qiyaamu Al-Layl) is a class of superogatory prayer (Nawaafil) which a believer can use to earn the love of his Lord. The Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ) said in one tradition:
“The best prayer after the obligatory prayers is the night prayer” (Muslim).
Qiyaamu Al-Layl simply means spending the night, or part of it, in prayer (Solat), reading Qur’an, remembering Allah (dhikr) and other acts of worship. It begins after Ishai prayer and ends with the break of dawn, although the best time is the last third of the night. It is a pious act that some believers find difficult, because it involves sacrifice or denial of oneself from night rest. A true believer is not expected to use all his night(s) for sleeping. In fact, during the first year of its legislation, the night prayer was made compulsory upon Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ). Allah said in His holy book:
“O you wrapped in garments, stand (to pray) all night, except a little” [Al-Muzzammil 73:1-2].
How to Observe the Night Prayer
1. Have the right intention before sleeping at night
2. After waking up, use miswaak (chewing stick) and perform ablution
3. Pray two light rak’ah before starting qiyamu al-layl (Sunan Iftitaah)
4. Observe two rak’ah and make tasleem
5. Repeat step 4 as much as possible
6. Observe witr rak’ah (odd number) and make tasleem
From the above description, the exact number of rak’ah of Qiyaamu al-layl is not fixed, although there are narrations from the Prophet of Allah (ﷺ) that he observed different number of rak’ahs at different times, but a Muslim is encouraged to increase the number of rak’ah as much as possible to maximize reward.
It should be noted that night prayers is one of the treasures that was bequeathed by Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ) to his Ummah. He said in one of his traditions,
“You should pray qiyaam al-layl, for it is the habit of the righteous people who came before you…. (Al-Tirmidhi & Ahmad).
In addition, the night prayer is an opportunity to answer the call of the lord of the heavens and earth! “The Lord descends every night to the lowest heaven when one-third of the night remains and says:
‘Who will call upon Me, that I may answer Him? Who will ask of Me, that I may give him? Who will seek My forgiveness that I may forgive him?” (Agreed upon).
What more can increase the honour of Muslims, than the night prayers. It lightens their faces, prevents them from bodily diseases and grants them access to a special type of paradise, whose outside can be seen from inside, and inside from outside! The Prophet of Allah made it a habit such that he never gave it up even when travelling. Qiyaam al-layl is an act of worship that connects the hearts of believers to Allah, and strengthens them to overcome life temptations. Therefore it is one of the yardsticks of sincere determination and one of the qualities of those who have great ambitions. If a Muslim desires any good in this life and hereafter, then he should be steadfast in observing the night prayers, for it is like an arrow that never misses its target. No wonder the Prophet named it the arrow of the pious!
Ways to be Steadfast in Observing Night Prayers
- Sincerity towards Allah
- Realizing that it is Allah’s call
- Studying the virtues of night prayers
- Sleeping on your right side
- Sleeping in the state of purity
- Going to sleep early
- Reciting adhkaar (remembrance) before sleeping
- Taking siesta/nap during the day (after zuhr prayer)
- Avoiding excessive eating and drinking
- Avoiding sin
- Striving against yourself
- Planning for it (setting alarm/asking someone to wake you up)
On a final note, Muslims should strive to take advantage of all avenues Islam has laid down to earn the pleasure of Allah. Being steadfast on night prayers will definitely help one to achieve this. In addition, we should strive to educate our relatives and communities on this Sunnah in order to improve our relationships with our creator and have our prayers answered. However, we need to be calculative about the times we set aside for Qiyaamu Al-Layl, such that we don’t miss out on the blessing of the Fajr prayer. This noble supererogatory prayer should not affect the obligatory one.
And Allah is our source of strength. May we be granted steadfastness.