1) Remember Allah Upon Waking Up
The Prophet ﷺ would rub the traces of sleep off his face with his hands, look at the sky and recite the last ten āyāt of Āal-ʿImrān (3:190- 200).
The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: “Whoever gets up at night and says:
لَا إِلٰهَ إِلَّا اللهُ وَحْدَهُ لَا شَرِيْكَ لَهُ ، لَهُ الْمُلْكُ ، وَلَهُ الْحَمْدُ ، وَهُوَ عَلَىٰ كُلِّ شَيْءٍ قَدِيْرٌ ، الْحَمْدُ للهِ ، وَسُبْحَانَ اللهِ ، وَلَا إِلٰهَ إِلَّا اللهُ ، وَاللهُ أَكْبَرُ ، وَلَا حَوْلَ وَلَا قُوَّةَ إِلَّا بِاللهِ
and then says: ‘O Allah, forgive me’ or makes duʿā’, it will be accepted. If he performs wuḍū’ and prays, his prayer will be accepted” (Bukhārī).
2) Perform Miswak and Wudu
Ḥudhayfah b. al-Yamān (raḍiy Allāhu ʿanhu) said, “When the Prophet ﷺ would stand up at night to pray, he would cleanse his mouth with the siwāk” (Bukhārī).
The Prophet ﷺ said, “When the servant uses the siwāk and then stands to pray, an angel stands behind him and listens to his recitation. The angel draws near until he puts his mouth on (the reciter’s) mouth. Nothing of the Qur’ān comes out of his mouth except that it enters the heart of the angel. Thus, purify your mouths for the Qur’ān” (Bazzār).
3) Wake Your Family Up
The Prophet ﷺ said, “May Allah have mercy upon a man who gets up at night, prays and wakes his wife up. If she refuses, he sprinkles water on her face. And may Allah have mercy upon a woman who gets up at night, prays and wakes her husband up. If he refuses, she sprinkles water on his face” (Aḥmad).
The Prophet ﷺ would awaken his wives in the last ten nights of Ramaḍān to perform the night prayer. Similarly, throughout the year, he would finish praying tahajjud and wake ʿĀ’ishah (raḍiy Allāhu ʿanhā) up to pray tahajjud. His concern was not restricted to his spouses. Rather, he was also actively involved in the spiritual nourishment of his adult daughter and son-in law. One night, he ﷺ knocked on the door of Fāṭimah and ʿAlī (radiy Allāhu ʿanhumā) and said, “Will you not get up (and pray)?” (Bukhārī).
ʿAbd al-Wāḥid b. Yazīd (raḥimahullāh) used to say to his family every night, “Dear family! Wake up and take heed! This world is not the abode of sleep. Soon the worms will consume you.”
4) Pray With Fear and Hope
Allah (subḥānahū wa taʿālā) says, “Their sides shun their beds, praying to their Lord in fear and hope…” (32:16) and “Is one who worships devoutly during the hours of the night, prostrating and standing, fearing the hereafter and hoping for the mercy of his Lord, [like one who does not]?…” (39:9).
Tahajjud is the time to deepen your connection with Allah. Turn to Him in awe and beg Him to protect you from His punishment. Turn to Him with hope and love: praise Him, pour your heart out to Him and plead with Him. Let the tears flow and feel complete serenity in His presence. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, “A man who wept out of the fear of Allah shall not enter the Fire until the milk returns to the udder [i.e. an impossibility]” (Tirmidhī).
Al-Ḥasan al-Baṣrī (raḥimahullāh) said, “Cry in moments of solitude— perhaps your Lord will look at you and have mercy on your tears, and you will become of the successful.”
5) Recite the Qur’an Slowly With Reflection
The Prophet ﷺ was instructed by Allah to recite with ‘tartīl’ (73:4). Tartīl refers to reciting slowly and calmly, making each word distinct, and not exceeding the limits. Reciting like this ensures that the tongue, heart, limbs and organs are in perfect harmony with each other. Reciting with tartīl will help you to do ‘tadabbur’ (reflect on the Qur’ān), increasing your īmān and connection with Allah.
Strive to emulate the Messenger of Allah ﷺ by interacting with the āyāt you are reciting. When you come across an āyah about mercy, stop and ask Allah for His mercy. When you come across an āyah about punishment, stop and ask Allah for His protection. When you come across an āyah where you can make a duʿā’, stop and ask Allah.
You can also keep repeating an āyah until you feel that it has entered your heart. Abū Dharr (raḍiy Allāhu ʿanhu) said, “The Prophet ﷺ stood reciting an āyah and repeating it until morning came. The āyah was, ‘If You punish them, they are Your slaves, and if You forgive them, indeed You, only You, are the Almighty, the All-Wise’ (5:118)” (Ibn Mājah).
6) Focus Fully on Allah
In Sūrah al-Muzzammil, after instructing the Prophet ﷺ to stand the night in prayer, Allah (subḥānahū wa taʿālā) says, “And remember the Name of your Lord, and devote yourself to Him wholeheartedly” (73:8).
The stillness of the night allows the servant to forget about his worldly worries and distractions, and focus fully on Allah. The secret of ṣalāh, and what transforms it from being a lifeless body to a real, moving and powerful force, is turning to Allah fully and completely with your heart. When placing your heart before Allah, do it with utmost humility, as though you are seeing Him. Go to Allah with full presence and concentration. Incline to Him completely. Focus on Him Alone.
Two rakʿahs with contemplation are better than standing up for the entire night with an inattentive heart. – ʿAbdullāh b. ʿAbbās (radiy Allāhu ʿanhumā)
7) Seek Forgiveness
The last part of the night is the best time to seek forgiveness. About this time, Allah (subḥānahū wa taʿālā) says, “They used to sleep only little at night; and in the hours before dawn they would seek forgiveness” (51:17-18).
Al-Ḥasan said, “They extended their (night) prayers until the last part of the night, then they sat asking their Lord for forgiveness.”
Masrūq (raḥimahullāh) said, “A man should certainly have moments in which he is alone, remembering his sins and then seeking forgiveness for them.”
8) Make Abundant Duʿa
One of the best times to make duʿā’ is in the last third of the night, in sujūd. The Prophet ﷺ was asked, “Which duʿā’ is most likely to be responded to?” He replied, “During the last part of the night and at the end of the obligatory prayers” (Tirmidhī). Similarly he ﷺ said, “The closest a slave is to his Lord is when he is prostrating, so make plenty of duʿā’” (Muslim).
Pour your heart out to Allah in this time, be persistent in your duʿā’ and don’t hold back your tears. The longer your sajdah, the greater your chance of enjoying Allah’s intimacy. Ibn al-Jawzī (raḥimahullāh) said, “When you sit in the darkness of the night before your Master, adopt the qualities of a child. For when a child asks their father for something and does not receive it, they cry for it.” Make duʿā’ for everything, small or large. Make duʿā’ for everything, small or large. Be selfless and make duʿā’ for your family, friends and the Ummah.
“The person who has a need from Allah, and then fails to (ask Allah for it) in the pre-dawn hours—is not a smart person.” – Imām al-Ṭarṭūshī (raḥimahullāh)
9) End With Witr
The Prophet ﷺ would perform either eleven or thirteen rakʿahs of tahajjud, including the witr prayer. He ﷺ instructed that a person should commence his tahajjud with two short rakʿahs and end with the witr prayer.
In witr ṣalāh, the Prophet ﷺ would pray Sūrah al-Aʿlā (87) in the first rakʿah, followed by Sūrah al-Kafirūn (109) in the second rakʿah, and Sūrah al-Ikhlāṣ (112) in the third rakʿah.
Tahajjud can be performed any time after ʿIshā’, although the best time is the last part of the night. If you fear that you will not be able to wake up for tahajjud, then pray at least two rakʿahs before sleeping.
10) Be Consistent
ʿUjb is to be impressed with yourself and your accomplishments. ʿUjb can lead to pride (kibr). This pride can lead to you comparing your actions to others, and start regarding your deeds to be better than theirs. You may, as a result, start looking down on them. Consequently, instead of purifying the soul, your private deeds lead to the destruction of the soul.
Al-Shīrāzī (raḥimahullāh) said, “I stayed awake one night with my father while others around us were sleeping. I remarked, ‘Not one of these people got up to pray two rakʿahs!’ He replied, ‘My son, if you had slept, it would have been better than you speaking ill of others.’”
“A sin that causes you to humble yourself to Him is dearer to Him than a righteous act accompanied by boastful self-righteousness. If you sleep all night then wake up feeling regret (for not having prayed qiyām al-layl), that may be better for you than if you were to pray all night and wake up in the morning filled with self-admiration. For the deeds of the one who admires himself are not accepted… The crying of the sinners is dearer to Him than the self-satisfied tasbīḥ of the conceited. Perhaps Allah made (the sinner) fall into this sin as a cure that brings out a lethal illness, but your illness still resides within undetected.” – Ibn al-Qayyim (raḥimahullāh)
Al-Fuḍayl b. ʿIyāḍ (raḥimahullāh) said, “If you are not able to perform qiyām at night and fast in the day, then know that you are deprived and shackled by your sins.”
