Chapter: Voluntary Prayers

Introduction

The term “tatawwuʿ” comes from the verb “ṭāʿa yaṭūʿu,” which means “to submit” or “to comply.”

Linguistically, tatawwuʿ signifies an act of obedience.

In the legal and technical sense, it refers to any act of worship that is not obligatory—whether prayer, charity, fasting, pilgrimage, or fighting in Allah’s cause. In the present discussion, “voluntary prayer” denotes all prayers that are not binding.

Shaykh al-Islām Ibn Taymiyyah said: “Voluntary deeds complete the obligatory acts on the Day of Resurrection if the worshipper has fallen short in them.”

Imam al-Ghazālī writes in Ihyāʾ ʿUlūm al-Dīn: “Allah’s commands are divided into obligations (farāʾiḍ) and supererogatory acts (nawāfil). The obligatory duties are the capital of the trade, the foundation on which salvation depends. The supererogatory deeds are the profit, by which one gains higher ranks.”

In this chapter jurists examine which righteous deeds hold the highest merit.

Sharḥ al-Iqnāʿ states: “The best of voluntary works is striving in the path of Allah (jihad).” Imam Aḥmad said, “I know of nothing, after the obligatory duties, superior to jihad.”

Included under jihad are spending one’s wealth for it and assisting in it.

After jihad comes knowledge—acquiring it and teaching it: Qur’anic exegesis, hadith, monotheism, jurisprudence, grammar, and similar disciplines.