Chapter: The Night Vigil of Ramadan

Introduction

By “night vigil” (qiyam) here we mean the prayer for which forgiveness has been promised.

The prayer is called “standing” because one of its integral acts is performed standing, just as it is sometimes called “bowing”—“Bow with those who bow” ⦗2:43⦘—and “prostration”—“They had been called to prostrate while they were sound” ⦗68:43⦘. The Prophet ﷺ also said, “Help me on your own behalf by making many prostrations.”

The name may also reflect what distinguishes this prayer: abundant recitation and prolonged standing.

The virtue of the night prayer

Allah the Exalted says, “They used to sleep but little of the night” ⦗51:17⦘; and He says, “Their sides forsake their beds as they call upon their Lord in fear and hope, and from what We have provided them they spend; no soul knows what coolness of eyes is hidden for them as a reward for what they used to do” ⦗32:16–17⦘.

In al-Bukhari (1084) and Muslim (1965) it is related from ʿAbd Allah ibn ʿAmr ibn al-ʿĀṣ that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, “O ʿAbd Allah, do not be like so-and-so; he used to stand for the night prayer, then he abandoned the night prayer.”

And in Sunan al-Tirmidhi (2409), with an authentic chain, ʿAbd Allah ibn Salam reports that the Prophet ﷺ said, “Spread peace, feed others, uphold ties of kinship, and pray at night while people sleep; you will enter Paradise in peace.”