The Method of Night Prayer, Its Number of Rak'ahs, and Its Time
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Question:
What is the method of the night prayer? What is its importance? When exactly is it performed? What are its best times? How many rak'ahs does it consist of? May Allah reward you with good.
Answer:
The method of night prayer is to pray in pairs, meaning two rak'ahs at a time, and to conclude with a single rak'ah as the witr. This is the best and most preferred method for night prayer, as the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) guided us to it. He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Night prayer is in pairs." So one prays and says the taslim after every two rak'ahs, and concludes with one rak'ah. One may pray eleven, thirteen, nine, seven, five, or three rak'ahs. The minimum for perfection is three, and the maximum is eleven or thirteen. If one increases or decreases the number, there is no harm in that. The time for it is from the 'Isha' prayer until the dawn breaks; all of this is the time for night prayer. If a person does not trust that he will be able to get up in the last part of the night, he should pray whatever is easy for him after the 'Isha' prayer and conclude it with the witr. If a person hopes to be able to get up in the last part of the night, he should delay the prayer until the last part of the night, because that is better. He prays whatever is easy for him and concludes his prayer with the witr before the dawn breaks. Yes.
The presenter:
May Allah reward you with good. Are you asking about its importance, Professor Fares?
What is the method of the night prayer? What is its importance? When exactly is it performed? What are its best times? How many rak'ahs does it consist of? May Allah reward you with good.
Answer:
The method of night prayer is to pray in pairs, meaning two rak'ahs at a time, and to conclude with a single rak'ah as the witr. This is the best and most preferred method for night prayer, as the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) guided us to it. He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Night prayer is in pairs." So one prays and says the taslim after every two rak'ahs, and concludes with one rak'ah. One may pray eleven, thirteen, nine, seven, five, or three rak'ahs. The minimum for perfection is three, and the maximum is eleven or thirteen. If one increases or decreases the number, there is no harm in that. The time for it is from the 'Isha' prayer until the dawn breaks; all of this is the time for night prayer. If a person does not trust that he will be able to get up in the last part of the night, he should pray whatever is easy for him after the 'Isha' prayer and conclude it with the witr. If a person hopes to be able to get up in the last part of the night, he should delay the prayer until the last part of the night, because that is better. He prays whatever is easy for him and concludes his prayer with the witr before the dawn breaks. Yes.
The presenter:
May Allah reward you with good. Are you asking about its importance, Professor Fares?
Source
نور على الدرب - الفوزان - 01/129 — archive.org (10:18)
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.