Praying
Qiyaam Al-Layl:
The Messenger of
Allaah, sallallaahu 'alaihi wa sallam, said,
"He who observes the Qiyaam of the month of Ramadhaan with
sincere faith and hope for the reward of Allaah will have
his past sins forgiven." [Al-Bukhari and
Muslim]. Also, Allaah says (what means):
"And the servants of the Most Beneficent (Allaah) are
those who walk on the earth with humility, and when the
ignorant address them, they say (Peace); Those who spend
the night in adoration of their Lord prostrating and
standing." [Quran 25: 63-64]
Thus, waking up in the night to pray
Qiyaam al-layl,
i.e. performing prayer in the middle of the night, was a
regular act of the Prophet, sallallaahu 'alaihi wa
sallam, and his Companions.
'Aisha, may Allaah be pleased with her, said, "Do not
abandon qiyaam al-layl, for the Messenger of Allaah,
sallallaahu 'alaihi wa sallam, never left it. If he was not well
or he felt heavy, he prayed sitting."
Umar Ibn al-Khattab,
may Allaah be pleased with him,, used to pray
at night what he wished, until it was in the middle of
the night, when he would awaken his family to pray; then
he would say to them "prayer.. prayer", and would recite
this verse of the Quran (which means):
"Enjoin
prayer on your people, and be constant therein. We ask
you not to provide sustenance: We provide it for you.
But the fruit of the Hereafter is for righteousness."
[Quran 20:132]
Ibn Umar used to recite, "Is
one who worships devoutly during the hours of the night,
prostrating himself or standing (in adoration), who
takes heed of the Hereafter, and who places his hope in
the Mercy of his Lord like one who does not?". [Quran
39:9] He said that was referring to Uthman Ibn
Affaan, may Allaah be pleased with him,. Ibn Abu Haatim said Ibn Umar
said that it was due to the length of the prayer of the
commander of the faithful, Uthman, at night and his
recitation to the extent that he may have recited the entire
Quran in one rak'ah!
Alqamah Ibn Qays narrated, "I slept with Abdullah Ibn
Mas'ood, may Allaah be pleased with him, one night. He woke up in the
early part of the night and began to pray. He recited
with a recitation similar to that of the neighbourhood
imam with a medium regular pace. Those around him could
hear him and he continued until what remained of the
night's darkness was equal to the time between the adhan
(call) for maghrib prayer and the end of the maghrib
prayer time, i.e. a short time before daybreak. He then
performed with prayer.
Furthermore, Al-Sa'ib Ibn Zayd narrated in a hadith
that the reciter would recite (the Quran) with hundreds
of verses such that we supported ourselves with staves
due to the lengthiness of the prayer and did not leave
until the time of fajr (dawn prayer).
However, one has to complete the taraweeh prayer with
the imam in order to be reckoned as one of those who
stood (the night) in prayer. The Prophet, sallallaahu 'alaihi
wa sallam, said,
"Whoever stays with his imam until he completes the
prayer, will have the night written for him as one who performed Qiyaam Al-Layl, i.e. one who
stood the night in prayer."
repentance and true determination to reap its benefits
and fully utilise its precious time. Our Salaf were the best in
this vein. Here are some of their deeds in Ramadhaan