/0L2 Chapter: The Excellence of Night Prayer

Allah the Exalted said, “And during the night rise for prayer—perform tahajjud—as an additional act for you; your Lord may well raise you to a praiseworthy station” (17:79).
He also said, “Their sides forsake their beds” (32:16).
And He said, “They used to sleep but little of the night” (51:17).

[Commentary]
The author—may Allah have mercy on him—in his book Riyad al-Salihin entitles this section “Chapter on the Virtue of Night Prayer.”

Night prayer (qiyam al-layl) means praying during the hours of darkness, and it is the finest prayer after the prescribed obligatory prayers, as will be made clear, God willing, in the forthcoming hadiths.

Allah, exalted be He, extols those who stand in prayer at night. He commanded His Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, to observe the late-night vigil, saying, “And during the night rise for prayer—perform tahajjud—as an additional act for you; your Lord may well raise you to a praiseworthy station.” Thus Allah ordered His Prophet to pray during the night, but not the entire night, for worshipping through the whole night is not part of the Sunnah except on rare occasions, such as during the last ten nights of Ramadan. At other times the Sunnah is to sleep part of the night and stand in prayer for part of it.

Concerning His words, “perform tahajjud as a nafilah for you,” the scholars have differed over the phrase “nafilah for you.” One opinion is that it is exclusive to the Prophet, making tahajjud obligatory for him. For anyone other than the Prophet—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—tahajjud is not obligatory unless he vows to perform it; if he makes such a vow, he must fulfill it, otherwise it remains non-obligatory.

As for the Prophet himself, peace and blessings be upon him, tahajjud was indeed obligatory. A second opinion holds that “nafilah for you” means that the prayer is supererogatory—an extra act of merit—and that this ruling applies both to him and to others, may Allah’s blessings be upon him.