The Virtue of Night Prayer and Its Rulings
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Question:
I inform you that I am consistent—praise be to Allah—with the night prayer, but I hope you will inform me about the night prayer at the prescribed time? And how many rak'ahs does it have? May Allah reward you with good.
Answer:
Standing in prayer at night is a confirmed sunnah (recommended practice), and it is among the righteous deeds. It is the constant practice of the righteous, and it was the practice of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), something he used to persist in. Allah says, praising the servants of the Most Merciful and commending them: [Al-Furqan: 64]. And He says, describing the righteous: [Adh-Dhariyat 51:17] and in the early hours of the night they seek forgiveness [Adh-Dhariyat: 17-18]. And Allah says to His Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him): Stand in prayer at night, except for a little, or half of it, or less than that a little, or more than that, and recite the Qur'an with measured recitation [Al-Muzzammil: 1-4].
So the sunnah is night prayer, and the last part of the night is better than the first part. And if the last part of the night is not feasible for him, he performs witr in the first part of the night. Witr is a confirmed sunnah, its minimum is one rak'ah, its minimum is one single rak'ah. And if he performs witr with three, or five, or more, that is better. He says taslim after every two rak'ahs; this is the sunnah. He says taslim after every two rak'ahs. And its best is eleven rak'ahs, or thirteen rak'ahs. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him)—the Prophet used to perform witr with eleven, and sometimes he would perform witr with thirteen (peace and blessings be upon him). This is the best witr. He says taslim after every two rak'ahs and performs witr with one. And if he performs witr with more, he performs witr with twenty, or more; there is no harm. The matter is broad, it is all sunnah. Yes.
The presenter: May Allah reward you with good, and may He do you good.
I inform you that I am consistent—praise be to Allah—with the night prayer, but I hope you will inform me about the night prayer at the prescribed time? And how many rak'ahs does it have? May Allah reward you with good.
Answer:
Standing in prayer at night is a confirmed sunnah (recommended practice), and it is among the righteous deeds. It is the constant practice of the righteous, and it was the practice of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), something he used to persist in. Allah says, praising the servants of the Most Merciful and commending them:
And those who spend [part of] the night to their Lord prostrating and standing [in prayer]
وَالَّذِينَ يَبِيتُونَ لِرَبِّهِمْ سُجَّدًا وَقِيَامًاThey used to sleep but little of the night,
كَانُوا قَلِيلًا مِنَ اللَّيْلِ مَا يَهْجَعُونَ O you who wraps himself in his garment
يَا أَيُّهَا الْمُزَّمِّلُ So the sunnah is night prayer, and the last part of the night is better than the first part. And if the last part of the night is not feasible for him, he performs witr in the first part of the night. Witr is a confirmed sunnah, its minimum is one rak'ah, its minimum is one single rak'ah. And if he performs witr with three, or five, or more, that is better. He says taslim after every two rak'ahs; this is the sunnah. He says taslim after every two rak'ahs. And its best is eleven rak'ahs, or thirteen rak'ahs. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him)—the Prophet used to perform witr with eleven, and sometimes he would perform witr with thirteen (peace and blessings be upon him). This is the best witr. He says taslim after every two rak'ahs and performs witr with one. And if he performs witr with more, he performs witr with twenty, or more; there is no harm. The matter is broad, it is all sunnah. Yes.
The presenter: May Allah reward you with good, and may He do you good.
Source
binbaz.org.sa
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.