Chapter on the Virtue of Standing in Night Prayer: Allah the Exalted said: “And of the night, stand in prayer as a supereruous act for you. Perhaps your Lord will raise you to a praiseworthy station.”

The reader: In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
Praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds, and may peace and blessings be upon our Prophet Muhammad, and upon his family and all his Companions:
He said (may Allah have mercy on him): “Chapter on the Virtue of Standing in Night Prayer:
Allah the Exalted said:

And from [part of] the night, pray with it as additional [worship] for you; it is expected that your Lord will resurrect you to a praised station.

ومن الليل فتهجد به نافلة لك عسى أن يبعثك ربك مقامًا محمودًا

[Al-Isra 17:79]

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And Allah the Exalted said:

They arise from [their] beds; they supplicate their Lord in fear and aspiration, and from what We have provided them, they spend.

تتجافى جنوبهم عن المضاجع يدعون ربهم خوفًا وطمعًا ومما رزقناهم ينفقون

[As-Sajdah 32:16]

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And He said:

They used to sleep but little of the night,

كانوا قليلا من الليل ما يهجعون

[Adh-Dhariyat 51:17]

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The Shaykh : In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful:
The author (may Allah have mercy on him) said in his book *Riyad al-Salihin*: “Chapter on the Virtue of Standing in Night Prayer”: Standing in night prayer means praying in it, and it is the best prayer after the obligatory ones, as will come in the hadiths, if Allah wills. Allah, Glorified and Exalted is He, mentioned the praise of those who stand in prayer at night, so He commanded His Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family and his companions, and peace and blessings be upon him) to perform tahajjud. He said: : So Allah commanded His Prophet to perform tahajjud at night, meaning not the entire night, because standing for the entire night is not from the Sunnah, except occasionally, such as standing for ten nights of Ramadan. As for the rest, the Sunnah is to sleep and then stand.
His saying: The scholars (may Allah have mercy on them) differed regarding His saying: It was said: The meaning is that this is specific to you, meaning the obligation, the obligation of tahajjud, because it is not obligatory for anyone other than the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) to perform tahajjud unless he makes a vow. If he vows to perform tahajjud, he must fulfill the vow, otherwise not. As for the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family), it is obligatory for him to perform tahajjud at night.
And it was said: The meaning is : Meaning it is a voluntary act, i.e., an additional virtue, and this is for him and for others, peace and blessings be upon him.
Then He said, Glorified and Exalted is He, clarifying what will be the fruits of tahajjud, saying: The scholars said: “If Allah the Exalted says in the Qur'an 'perhaps' (‘asa), then it is obligatory”: Meaning its meaning is that Allah will raise you to a praiseworthy station, i.e., He will raise you on the Day of Resurrection to a station for which you will be praised by all creation. So the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) has the Praiseworthy Station on the Day of Resurrection, and from it is the Great Intercession: Meaning from the Praiseworthy Station of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) is the Great Intercession, and it is that the people on the Day of Resurrection will be gathered on a single plain, there are no mountains, no trees, no rivers, no buildings, the Caller will be heard by them and the sight will reach them, nothing will stand between them and the Caller, and nothing between them and the Seer, on a single plain. And the sun will draw near, the sun will draw near to them until it is at the distance of a mile, and this day will be prolonged until its measure is fifty thousand years. Glory be to Allah!! A person cannot stand for even twenty-four hours, but this day is measured at fifty thousand years. So the people will be overtaken by anxiety and distress that they cannot bear, so some of them will ask others to look into the matter, perhaps someone will intercede for them with Allah, Mighty and Majestic, to relieve them from this standing. So they go to Adam, Allah, Mighty and Majestic, inspires them to go to Adam, Adam the father of mankind, all mankind has one father and he is Adam (peace be upon him). And as is the custom, a person flees to the closest one he sees as most beneficial, so they went to their father. They said: : Meaning you were given much good, so intercede for us with Allah. He will make an excuse. With what does he make an excuse? He says: : And this is the sin, so he is ashamed of Allah, Mighty and Majestic, so how can he intercede for you with Allah?
So they go to Noah, who is the first of the messengers from among the people, the first messenger Allah sent to the people of the earth is Noah (peace be upon him). They remind him of Allah’s favor upon him that he was the first messenger Allah sent to the people of the earth, but he makes an excuse. With what does he make an excuse? With his saying: , because Allah promised him that He would save him and his family, and one of his sons was a disbeliever who was not saved from the water, until Noah said to him: Meaning I will not ride with you, because the waters were immense. Do you know how they were? The sky, Allah opened it, He opened it in one recitation and in another recitation , and it is greater. Allah opened the gates of the sky with pouring, abundant water, more severe than the flood, and He burst forth springs from the earth, until the oven, which is the place of fire and the driest part of the earth and farthest from water, began to boil. We burst forth springs from the earth. Look at the whole earth, if the sky was opened with pouring water and the earth was burst with springs, how would the water level be? It would be immense, immense, immense, until the water rose to the peaks of the mountains. And there was a woman with a child from among the disbelievers who disbelieved in Noah, with her a child. Every time the water rose on the mountain, she climbed above it. Every time it rose, she climbed above it, until the water reached the peak of the mountain. So the level rose and reached her ankles, then her knees, then the water choked her. So she lifted her child like this in order for him to be saved from drowning. She and the child were drowning, hoping that the child would be saved from drowning. The Prophet (peace be upon him) said: : But, seeking refuge in Allah, Allah decreed that the people of the earth would all drown except those who rode in this ship. Noah’s son who disbelieved in his father refused to ride and said: His father said to him: He drowned, but Noah (peace be upon him) said: : Glory be to Allah!! The speech of the Lord, Mighty and Majestic, to a prophet from among the prophets, from the resolute ones: , so they come to Noah on that day—we ask Allah to save us and you from His punishment—they come to Noah and say: Intercede for us. He reminds them of his sin that he asked for what he had no knowledge of, and the sinner has no face to intercede. The sinner cannot intercede with the One he disobeyed because he has no face. So he makes an excuse. So they go to Abraham (peace be upon him), the father of the prophets whom we were commanded to follow his religion. They remind him of Allah’s favor upon him, but he makes an excuse. He makes an excuse with things that do not harm him, but he (peace be upon him), due to the perfection of his faith, made them among the harmful things. He mentions what he mentions of the excuse and says: Go to Moses. They come to Moses and remind him of Allah’s favor upon him, but he makes an excuse. With what does he make an excuse? He says: That he killed a soul for which he was not permitted to kill it, when he killed the Egyptian who sought help from him against the Israelite. An Israelite from the Children of Israel was with an Egyptian, and they were disputing. And Moses (peace be upon him) was among the most severe of people, strong and severe. And this is from the wisdom of Allah, because the Children of Israel are not benefited by except the strong and severe. He sent him to the Children of Israel. When he saw this Egyptian had sought help from the Israelite against him, Moses struck him: He gave him a blow with his hand, , so he makes an excuse that he killed a soul for which he was not ordered to kill it. Go to Jesus. They go to Jesus, Jesus son of Mary (peace be upon him), who is the last of the messengers before Muhammad (peace be upon him). There is no prophet or messenger between him and him, but he makes an excuse without mentioning anything, but he directs them to one who is more perfect than him, who is Muhammad (may the prayers and peace of Allah be upon him)—and I ask Allah the Exalted to include me and you in his intercession. They come to Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) and he says: , and he goes and prostrates under the Throne after the permission of Allah, Mighty and Majestic. Then he is permitted to intercede, so he intercedes. So the Lord, Mighty and Majestic, descends to judge between His servants. He judges between them and they are relieved from this standing. This station, my brothers, is the Messenger praised for it? Answer? Yes, without doubt. All the noble prophets, the resolute messengers, all of them make excuses until it reaches the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him).