The Virtue of Night Prayer and the Condition of One Who Prays at Night in His Grave
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
Q: I saw my father praying eight rak'ahs in the middle of the night, so I asked him about the benefit of praying at night. He said: The one who prays at night, the earth will not eat his body after his death. Is this correct? And does a person remain in his grave if he prays the night prayer while people are sleeping? And is the spirit resurrected in the body after death, or does it return to its Creator?
A: Night prayer is encouraged; Allah the Exalted said in describing the servants of Allah: [Al-Furqan: 64], and He the Exalted said in describing the righteous: [Adh-Dhariyat: 17-18], and He the Exalted said to His Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him): [Al-Muzzammil: 1-4], and He the Exalted said: [As-Sajdah: 16-17].
And the verses indicating the virtue of standing in night prayer are many, and the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) often used to perform tahajjud at night, and he said:Mishkat al-Masabih 1907, and the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) mostly prayed eleven rak'ahs, saying taslim after every two, and making witr with one, and sometimes he would make witr with nine or seven or five, but the most common was that he would pray eleven, and sometimes he would pray thirteen, prolonging his recitation, ruku', and sujud (peace and blessings be upon him).
As for the claim that a person's body will not be eaten by the earth if he prays at night: I do not know of any basis for this, and there is no legal evidence indicating this except for the bodies of the Prophets, for Allah has forbidden the earth from eating them, as the report from the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) is authentic regarding this.
As for the spirit: the spirit of the believer ascends to Paradise, so it eats from its fruits in the form of a bird, as the report from the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) is authentic regarding this, for he said: narrated by Imam Ahmad and others with a sound chain.
And as for the spirits of the martyrs: the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) informed that they are in the bellies of green birds that roam in Paradise wherever they will, then they return to lamps hanging under the Throne, and Allah returns the spirits to their bodies when He wills, just as He returns them during the questioning in the grave, so they hear the question and answer if they were righteous, and they hesitate if they were disbelievers, and thus the spirits are returned to their bodies at the resurrection and rising.
As for the spirits of the disbelievers, they are in the Fire, and Allah the Exalted said regarding the family of Pharaoh: [Ghafir: 46], and the scholars differed regarding their resting place in this world: it was said: in the very Fire, and it was said: in the graves of their owners, and it was said otherwise, and Allah knows best.
A: Night prayer is encouraged; Allah the Exalted said in describing the servants of Allah:
And those who spend [part of] the night to their Lord prostrating and standing [in prayer]
وَالَّذِينَ يَبِيتُونَ لِرَبِّهِمْ سُجَّدًا وَقِيَامًا(17) They used to sleep but little of the night, (18) And in the hours before dawn they would ask forgiveness,
كَانُوا قَلِيلًا مِنَ اللَّيْلِ مَا يَهْجَعُونَ وَبِالْأَسْحَارِ هُمْ يَسْتَغْفِرُونَ (1) O you who wraps himself [in clothing], (2) Arise [to pray] the night, except for a little - (3) Half of it - or subtract from it a little (4) Or add to it, and recite the Qur'an with measured recitation.
يَا أَيُّهَا الْمُزَّمِّلُ قُمِ اللَّيْلَ إِلَّا قَلِيلًا نِصْفَهُ أَوِ انْقُصْ مِنْهُ قَلِيلًا أَوْ زِدْ عَلَيْهِ وَرَتِّلِ الْقُرْآنَ تَرْتِيلًا (16) They arise from [their] beds; they supplicate their Lord in fear and aspiration, and from what We have provided them, they spend. (17) And no soul knows what has been hidden for them of comfort for eyes as reward for what they used to do.
تَتَجَافَى جُنُوبُهُمْ عَنِ الْمَضَاجِعِ يَدْعُونَ رَبَّهُمْ خَوْفًا وَطَمَعًا وَمِمَّا رَزَقْنَاهُمْ يُنْفِقُونَ فَلَا تَعْلَمُ نَفْسٌ مَا أُخْفِيَ لَهُمْ مِنْ قُرَّةِ أَعْيُنٍ جَزَاءً بِمَا كَانُوا يَعْمَلُونَAnd the verses indicating the virtue of standing in night prayer are many, and the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) often used to perform tahajjud at night, and he said:
If you people greet all whom you meet, provide food, care for the wellbeing of your kindred, and pray at night when people are asleep, you will enter paradise in peace.
أيها الناس، أفشوا السلام، وأطعموا الطعام، وصِلُوا الأرحام، وصلُّوا بالليل والناس نِيام؛ تدخلوا الجنة بسلامٍAs for the claim that a person's body will not be eaten by the earth if he prays at night: I do not know of any basis for this, and there is no legal evidence indicating this except for the bodies of the Prophets, for Allah has forbidden the earth from eating them, as the report from the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) is authentic regarding this.
As for the spirit: the spirit of the believer ascends to Paradise, so it eats from its fruits in the form of a bird, as the report from the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) is authentic regarding this, for he said:
The spirit of the believer is a bird hanging in the trees of Paradise.
روح المؤمن طائر مُعلَّق في شجر الجنةAnd as for the spirits of the martyrs: the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) informed that they are in the bellies of green birds that roam in Paradise wherever they will, then they return to lamps hanging under the Throne, and Allah returns the spirits to their bodies when He wills, just as He returns them during the questioning in the grave, so they hear the question and answer if they were righteous, and they hesitate if they were disbelievers, and thus the spirits are returned to their bodies at the resurrection and rising.
As for the spirits of the disbelievers, they are in the Fire, and Allah the Exalted said regarding the family of Pharaoh:
The Fire, they are exposed to it morning and evening. And the Day the Hour appears [it will be said], "Make the people of Pharaoh enter the severest punishment."
النَّارُ يُعْرَضُونَ عَلَيْهَا غُدُوًّا وَعَشِيًّا وَيَوْمَ تَقُومُ السَّاعَةُ أَدْخِلُوا آلَ فِرْعَوْنَ أَشَدَّ الْعَذَابِ
Source
binbaz.org.sa
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.