Tahajjud: The Night Prayer, Its Virtues and How to Pray It

In the quiet of the last part of the night, while most people are asleep, some Muslims get up, make wudu and pray. This voluntary night prayer is called Tahajjud. It isn't obligatory, but the Quran praises those who pray it again and again, and the Prophet ﷺ kept it up for his whole life.

This article covers what the Quran and hadith say about Tahajjud, when to pray it, how to pray it, and how to start if you never have.

What Tahajjud is

The word comes from the Arabic root h-j-d, which means sleep. Its verb form means to give up sleep, or to wake from it, for prayer. The Quran uses it in one verse, addressed to the Prophet ﷺ:

وَمِنَ ٱلَّيۡلِ فَتَهَجَّدۡ بِهِۦ نَافِلَةٗ لَّكَ عَسَىٰٓ أَن يَبۡعَثَكَ رَبُّكَ مَقَامٗا مَّحۡمُودٗا

And from [part of] the night, pray with it [i.e., recitation of the Qur'an] as additional [worship] for you; it is expected that your Lord will resurrect you to a praised station. (17:79)

Any voluntary prayer offered at night after ʿIshāʾ is called qiyām al-layl, "standing in the night". Many scholars use the name Tahajjud for night prayer offered after waking from sleep, because of the word's meaning. In everyday use the two names mean much the same thing.

In the Quran

"Arise in the night, except for a little"

Among the earliest revelations was the opening of Surah Al-Muzzammil, which told the Prophet ﷺ to "Arise [to pray] the night, except for a little - Half of it - or subtract from it a little Or add to it, and recite the Qur'an with measured recitation" (73:2-4). It also gives the reason the night is chosen:

إِنَّ نَاشِئَةَ ٱلَّيۡلِ هِيَ أَشَدُّ وَطۡـٔٗا وَأَقۡوَمُ قِيلًا

Indeed, the hours of the night are more effective for concurrence [of heart and tongue] and more suitable for words. (73:6)

At night there is no noise, no phone and no one waiting for you. What you say with your tongue, your heart is more likely to mean.

The last verse of the same surah lightens the command. Allah knows that the Prophet ﷺ and a group with him stood for close to two-thirds of the night, or half or a third of it, and that people would not be able to keep this up. Some would be ill, some travelling, some fighting in Allah's cause, "so recite what is easy from it" (73:20). The night prayer became voluntary, and the measure became what you can manage.

The people who leave their beds

Several passages describe believers by how they spend their nights:

تَتَجَافَىٰ جُنُوبُهُمۡ عَنِ ٱلۡمَضَاجِعِ يَدۡعُونَ رَبَّهُمۡ خَوۡفٗا وَطَمَعٗا وَمِمَّا رَزَقۡنَٰهُمۡ يُنفِقُونَ

Their sides part [i.e., they arise] from [their] beds; they supplicate their Lord in fear and aspiration, and from what We have provided them, they spend. (32:16)

The next verse says no soul knows what joy is kept hidden for them as a reward (32:17). Elsewhere, the righteous "used to sleep but little of the night, And in the hours before dawn they would ask forgiveness" (51:17-18). The servants of the Most Merciful are "those who spend [part of] the night to their Lord prostrating and standing [in prayer]" (25:64). And Surah Az-Zumar asks whether one who stands in devotion through the night, "fearing the Hereafter and hoping for the mercy of his Lord", is like one who does not (39:9).

In the hadith

The best prayer after the obligatory ones

Abū Hurayrah reported that the Prophet ﷺ said the best fast after Ramadan is in Allah's month of Muharram, and the best prayer after the obligatory prayers is the prayer at night (Sahih Muslim 1163).

Allah's call in the last third of the night

Abū Hurayrah also reported that the Prophet ﷺ said: our Lord descends every night to the lowest heaven when the last third of the night remains, and says: "Who is calling upon Me, that I may answer him? Who is asking of Me, that I may give him? Who is seeking My forgiveness, that I may forgive him?" (Sahih al-Bukhari 1145; Sahih Muslim 758).

This is why the last third of the night is the most sought-after time for Tahajjud, and for duʿāʾ in particular.

"Should I not be a grateful servant?"

ʿĀʾishah said the Prophet ﷺ would stand in prayer at night until his feet became swollen. She asked him why he did this when Allah had forgiven his past and future sins. He replied: "Should I not love to be a grateful servant?" (Sahih al-Bukhari 4837; Sahih Muslim 2820). He didn't pray at night to earn forgiveness. He prayed it as thanks.

When to pray it

Tahajjud can be prayed any time after ʿIshāʾ until the start of Fajr. The best time is the last third of the night, because of the hadith above.

To find the last third, take the time from Maghrib to Fajr and divide it by three. If Maghrib is at 6pm and Fajr at 5am, the night is 11 hours long, each third is about 3 hours 40 minutes, and the last third starts at about 1:20am. Prayer times change through the year, so it's worth working this out again each season.

You don't have to pray the whole last third. Many people set an alarm 20 or 30 minutes before Fajr, which leaves time for wudu, a few rak'ahs and duʿāʾ.

How to pray it

Two rak'ahs at a time

The Prophet ﷺ said that prayer at night is offered two rak'ahs by two, and that when you fear dawn is near, you should pray one rak'ah to make what you have prayed odd (Sahih al-Bukhari 990; Sahih Muslim 749). Each pair is prayed like the two rak'ahs of Fajr, with the intention (in the heart) of praying Tahajjud.

How many rak'ahs

There is no fixed number, and two rak'ahs is enough to have prayed Tahajjud. ʿĀʾishah reported that the Prophet ﷺ did not pray more than eleven rak'ahs at night, in Ramadan or at other times (Sahih al-Bukhari 1147; Sahih Muslim 738). She described them as long and beautiful prayers, and other reports mention thirteen. Many people follow this as eight rak'ahs of Tahajjud and three of witr.

Start light, then lengthen

The Prophet ﷺ would begin his night prayer with two short rak'ahs (Sahih Muslim 767), and taught others to do the same (Sahih Muslim 768). After that, take your time. Recite slowly, stay longer in sujūd, and make duʿāʾ in your own words. Nobody is waiting for you to finish.

End with witr

The Prophet ﷺ said: "Make witr the last of your prayer at night" (Sahih al-Bukhari 998; Sahih Muslim 751). If you are confident you will wake up, you can leave witr until after Tahajjud. If you aren't sure, pray witr after ʿIshāʾ.

If you have already prayed witr before sleeping, you can still pray Tahajjud in pairs when you wake. Most scholars say you should not repeat witr, because the Prophet ﷺ said there are not two witrs in one night (reported by Abū Dāwūd, at-Tirmidhī and al-Nasāʾī). In the Hanafi school, which most Muslims in South Asia follow, witr is three rak'ahs and is wājib (necessary), so don't leave it out on nights you aren't sure you'll wake.

What to recite

Recite whatever you know. Short surahs from the last juz are perfectly fine, and many people keep surahs they have memorised for the night, such as Al-Mulk, As-Sajdah or the end of Al-Baqarah. Tahajjud is also a good reason to memorise more: learn a few verses during the day and recite them at night.

Scholars differ on reading from a mushaf or a phone during voluntary prayer. The Shafiʿi and Hanbali schools allow it, citing a report that ʿĀʾishah's freed slave Dhakwān led her in prayer reading from a mushaf. The Hanafi school does not allow it. If you follow the Hanafi school, recite from memory.

Making it a habit

Small and steady beats large and rare

The Prophet ﷺ said the deeds most beloved to Allah are those done consistently, even if they are small (Sahih al-Bukhari 6464; Sahih Muslim 783). He also told ʿAbdullāh ibn ʿAmr not to be like a man who used to pray at night and then gave it up (Sahih al-Bukhari 1152).

Two rak'ahs every night you can manage is better than a long night once a month. Start with two before Fajr, one or two nights a week, and build from there.

Things that help

• Sleep early. The Prophet ﷺ disliked talking after ʿIshāʾ. Getting up is much easier if you go to bed soon after.
• Make an intention before sleeping. A report in Sunan al-Nasāʾī says that whoever goes to bed intending to get up and pray at night, and is overcome by sleep until morning, has the reward of what they intended recorded for them, and their sleep is a charity from their Lord.
• Get up straight away. The Prophet ﷺ described how Shayṭān ties three knots at the back of a sleeper's head. One is untied when they wake and remember Allah, one with wudu and one with prayer (Sahih al-Bukhari 1142; Sahih Muslim 776).
• Pray during the day if you miss it. ʿĀʾishah reported that when the Prophet ﷺ missed his night prayer through sleep or illness, he prayed twelve rak'ahs during the day (Sahih Muslim 746).
• Use the time for duʿāʾ. Bring a list of what you want to ask for, for yourself and for others. This is the time of the night when Allah asks who is calling on Him.

Read about the night prayer tonight

Read Surah Al-Muzzammil, the surah that first called the Prophet ﷺ to the night prayer, or verse 17:79 on its own page. Both are available in the Uthmani or IndoPak script, with English or Urdu translation (Urdu), and you can play Mishary Alafasy's recitation to follow along. If you want something to recite at night, see our guide to Surah Al-Mulk before sleep.

Sources

• The Quran, in the Saheeh International translation: 17:79, 73:1-6 and 73:20, 32:16-17, 51:17-18, 25:64 and 39:9
• Sahih al-Bukhari 990, 998, 1142, 1145, 1147, 1152, 4837 and 6464
• Sahih Muslim 738, 746, 749, 751, 758, 767, 768, 776, 783, 1163 and 2820
• Sunan Abī Dāwūd, Jami' at-Tirmidhi and Sunan al-Nasāʾī on the reports of "no two witrs in one night" and the reward of intending to pray
• The commentaries (tafsīr) of al-Ṭabarī and Ibn Kathīr on 17:79 and Surah Al-Muzzammil

The wording of the hadith above is summarised rather than translated word for word; follow the links to read the full narrations. For questions of religious practice, including the differences between the schools of fiqh, please ask a qualified scholar.