The Virtue of Night Prayer in Ramadan – Mini Mumin Publications

Ramadan is a month full of activity with fasting, giving charity, worship, and spending time with family. One of the most wonderful aspects of worship in Ramadan is the renewed interest in night prayer. Even though our daily schedules may be packed tight, it is important to make time for night prayer during Ramadan if you can, because of the great reward it offers.

The Reward

The reward of night prayer during Ramadan is tremendous, so it is well worth it to set aside some time for this important act of worship.

Abu Hurayrah (ra) said: “The Messenger of Allah (saw) used to encourage us to pray at night in Ramadan, without making it obligatory. Then he said, ‘Whoever prays at night in Ramadan out of faith and the hope of reward, all his previous sins will be forgiven.’” (Reported by Muslim)

‘Amr ibn Murrah al-Juhani said: “A man from Qudaa’ah came to the Messenger of Allah (saw) and said, ‘O Messenger of Allah! What do you think if I testify that there is no god except Allah, and that you, Muhammad, are His Messenger, and I pray the five daily prayers, and fast in the month (of Ramadan), and pray at night in Ramadan, and pay zakaah?’ The Prophet (saw) said: ‘Whoever dies on that will be among the siddeeqeen (those who tell the truth) and the martyrs.’”
(Reported by Ibn Khuzaymah, Ibn Hibban, and others; verified to be authentic by Al-Albaani)

What Time is Best?

The night prayer can be done any time between ‘Isha and Fajr prayers, so the timing is very flexible to fit around your schedule. However, prayer in the last portion of the night is the better, for those who can manage it.

The Prophet (saw) said: “Allah has added one more prayer for you, which is witr [night prayer], so pray it between Salaat al-‘Isha’ and Salaat al-Fajr.” (Reported by Ahmad, verified as authentic by al-Albaani in Irwaa’ ul-Ghalil 2:158)

The Prophet (saw) said: “Whoever is afraid that he will not get up at the end of the night, let him pray witr [night prayer] at the beginning of the night, but whoever feels that he will be able to get up at the end of the night, let him pray witr [night prayer] at the end of the night, for prayer at the end of the night is witnessed [by the angels], and that is better.” (Reported by Muslim)

Note: Witr linguistically means “odd”. In Islam it can refer to the 1-3 rakaa’t offered at the end of night prayer, or it can refer to the night prayer as a total (as is the case in the ahadith above), because both have an odd number of rakaa’t.

Kids & Night Prayer

While you are at it, try to include your children so they can start developing a life long habit of practicing night prayer as well! They can start out with joining in for a few rakaa’t, and then build up as they are able. Insha-Allah, they will always remember this special time they spent with you during the nights of Ramadan, making this month even more dear to them. May Allah accept our worship during this blessed month and make us good examples to our children.

If you benefited from this post, please take a moment to like, share, or leave a comment below- we love hearing from you!