Is the night prayer obligatory for the traveler, with evidence?
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The questioner : A simple question, O our Shaykh, regarding the traveler: does he pray the night prayer, and is there evidence for this?
The Shaykh : The answer is that the night prayer is the prayer of the night. Just as the night prayer is prescribed throughout the year, it is prescribed in Ramadan all the more so, based on his saying (peace and blessings be upon him):Sahih al-Bukhari 37 This is the first premise. The second premise is that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his companions), regarding whom it is established that he did not pray the regular voluntary prayers (rawatib) while traveling, used to pray at night while traveling. Therefore, the night prayer is not dropped, whether traveling or resident. So, the night prayer is attached to the Fajr sunnah and the witr. And as you know, the witr is part of the night prayer, based on his saying (peace be upon him): Thus, there is no difference regarding the witr and the Fajr sunnah between being resident and traveling. So, the Ramadan night prayer is the night prayer. If the night prayer is prescribed for the traveler, then the Ramadan night prayer is also prescribed for the traveler. And with this permissibility, we do not say, as we say about one who wants to maintain the regular voluntary prayers while traveling, that he has contradicted the Sunnah. Rather, if one keeps alive the Ramadan night prayer while traveling, we do not say to him, "You have contradicted the Sunnah," but we say, "You have hit upon the general Sunnah." However, he has the choice, even in the case of residence, not to pray the night prayer, because it is not among the obligatory acts. But we do not deny the permissibility of the night prayer for the traveler, considering that it is part of the night prayer, which is prescribed whether traveling or resident. Glory be to You, O Allah, and praise be to You. I bear witness that there is no god but You.
The questioner : May Allah benefit you, O Shaykh.
The Shaykh: I seek Your forgiveness and I repent to You.
The Shaykh : The answer is that the night prayer is the prayer of the night. Just as the night prayer is prescribed throughout the year, it is prescribed in Ramadan all the more so, based on his saying (peace and blessings be upon him):
Whoever establishes prayers during the nights of Ramadan faithfully out of sincere faith and hoping to attain Allah's rewards (not for showing off), all his past sins will be forgiven.
من قام رمضان إيمانا واحتسابا غفر لهما تقدم من ذنبهThe night prayer is in pairs. So if one of you fears the dawn, let him pray one rak'ah as witr, which will make odd the number of rak'ahs he has already prayed.
صلاة الليل مثنى مثنى فإذا خشي أحدكم الصبح فليوتر بركعة توتر له ما قد صلىThe questioner : May Allah benefit you, O Shaykh.
The Shaykh: I seek Your forgiveness and I repent to You.
Source
www.al-albany.com
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.