Surah Al-Israa (17) — Ayah 79

(Ayah 79) ➊ { وَ مِنَ الَّيْلِ فَتَهَجَّدْ بِهٖ …: ’’ مَنْ ‘‘} is in the meaning of “some.” {’’هُجُوْدٌ‘‘} refers to sleep. Tahajjud means to abandon sleep, whether it is after waking up from sleep at night or by standing in prayer immediately after ‘Isha instead of sleeping. It is not necessary to sleep and then wake up for Tahajjud. In Surah Al-Muzzammil, it is said: Abandon sleep for a portion of the night with prayer that includes recitation of the Qur’an. For details, see the beginning and end verses of Surah Al-Muzzammil.

➋ {نَافِلَةً لَّكَ : ’’ نَافِلَةً ‘‘} means that which is in addition to the obligatory, its plural is nawafil (supererogatory prayers). Some people interpret this to mean that Tahajjud is an extra obligation for the Prophet (peace be upon him), while for the rest of the people it is voluntary. However, from {’’ اَقِمِ الصَّلٰوةَ ‘‘} to the end of the verses, although the primary addressee is the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him), every individual of the Ummah is also addressed by all these commands. Therefore, the correct view is that Tahajjud was not obligatory even for the Prophet (peace be upon him).

➌ The meaning of { عَسٰۤى اَنْ يَّبْعَثَكَ … : ’’ عَسٰۤى ‘‘} is “it is hoped,” “it is near,” but when Allah Almighty uses this word, the occurrence of that thing becomes necessary, because { ’’ عَسٰۤى ‘‘ } is for instilling hope and expectation, and for Allah Almighty, Who is the King of kings, it is not befitting to give hope and then not fulfill it. The literal meaning of {’’ مَقَامًا مَّحْمُوْدًا ‘‘} is “a station that is praised,” and in reality, every sincere performer of Tahajjud attains this station in this world and the Hereafter according to his capacity: in this world, people love and praise him, and in the Hereafter, he will also receive this blessing according to his status. See Surah Maryam (96). May Allah grant us all this blessing. The highest “Maqam Mahmood” (Praised Station), which will be given to only one person and which Allah has promised to our Noble Messenger (peace be upon him), is the station of intercession (shafa‘ah), for which all the first and last will praise him. One intercession is the general intercession to relieve the distress of the Plain of Gathering and to begin the reckoning, for which all the first and last will praise him, and another is the special intercession for his Ummah, for which the entire Ummah will be grateful to you and will praise him. The glory of your names “Ahmad” and “Muhammad” will be fully manifested at that time. Abdullah ibn ‘Umar (may Allah be pleased with them both) narrates that on the Day of Resurrection, people will be in groups, each Ummah following its Prophet, saying, “O so-and-so! Intercede for us,” until finally the request for intercession will reach the Prophet (peace be upon him), and this is the day when Allah will raise him to the Praised Station. [ بخاری، التفسیر، سورۃ بني إسرائیل، باب قولہ : « عسی أن یبعثک ربک مقامًا محمودا » : ۴۷۱۸ ]

Jabir ibn ‘Abdullah (may Allah be pleased with them both) narrates that the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said: “Whoever hears the adhan and then recites this supplication: [ اَللَّهُمَّ رَبَّ هٰذِهِ الدَّعْوَةِ التَّامَّةِ وَالصَّلَاةِ الْقَائِمَةِ، آتِ مُحَمَّدًا الْوَسِيْلَةَ وَالْفَضِيْلَةَ وَابْعَثْهُ مَقَامًا مَّحْمُوْدًا الَّذِيْ وَعَدْتَّهُ ] will be granted my intercession on the Day of Resurrection.” [ بخاری، الأذان، باب الدعاء عند النداء : ۶۱۴ ] Shah Abdul Qadir (may Allah have mercy on him) writes: “Recite the Qur’an after waking from sleep; this command is given to you most of all because you are to be given a great rank, that is the Praised Station, the (great) intercession, that when no Prophet will be able to speak, then you (peace be upon him) will plead with Allah Almighty and deliver creation from distress.” (Mawduh)

➍ Some people have interpreted Maqam Mahmood as meaning that Allah Almighty will seat him (peace be upon him) with Him on the Throne (‘Arsh). Tabari has transmitted this statement from Mujahid. Some narrations are also attributed to the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him). Hafiz Dhahabi (may Allah have mercy on him) said in his book {’’اَلْعُلُوُّ لِلّٰهِ الْعَظِيْمِ‘‘} in the biography of Muhammad ibn Mus‘ab: “As for our Prophet (peace be upon him) sitting on the Throne, there is no authentic text (verse or hadith) regarding this; rather, there is a weak and unreliable narration in this regard, and some theologians have rejected the interpretation of the verse by Mujahid.” (Summary from Tafsir Qasimi) It is clear that nothing, especially regarding religion or creed, can be established from the statement of a Tabi‘i. See also Surah Bani Isra’il, verse (42). Imam Dhahabi (may Allah have mercy on him) said very well: “See the result of innovation and extremism: on one side, taking a rejected report, the Prophet (peace be upon him) is being seated on the Throne, and on the other side, by denying Allah’s being above the Throne and His Exaltedness, an attempt is being made to reject the clear statement of Allah: «اَلرَّحْمٰنُ عَلَى الْعَرْشِ اسْتَوٰى ».” (Summary from Qasimi)

79. 1 Some say that "tahajjud" is among the words with opposite meanings, signifying both sleeping and waking from sleep. And here, the latter meaning applies: to wake up at night after sleeping and perform voluntary prayers. Some say that the original meaning of "hujood" is indeed to sleep at night, but when it enters the "taf'ul" form, it acquires the meaning of abstaining, just as "ta-aththama" means he abstained from sin or avoided it. In this way, the meaning of "tahajjud" becomes to avoid sleeping, that is, to stay awake at night and stand in prayer. In any case, the concept of tahajjud is to wake up in the last part of the night and perform voluntary prayers. To spend the entire night in qiyam al-layl is against the Sunnah. The Prophet ﷺ would sleep in the first part of the night and wake up in the last part to perform tahajjud. This is the Sunnah method.

79. 2 Some have interpreted this as an additional obligation that is specific to you, in this way they say that tahajjud was obligatory upon the Prophet ﷺ just as the five prayers were obligatory. However, for the ummah, the tahajjud prayer is not obligatory. Some say that tahajjud was not obligatory upon you nor upon your ummah. It is an additional act of worship whose virtue is certainly great, and at that time Allah is greatly pleased with His worship. However, this prayer was neither obligatory nor mandatory upon the Prophet ﷺ nor is it obligatory upon his ﷺ ummah.

79. 3 This is the station that Allah will grant the Prophet on the Day of Resurrection, and at this station, he will perform the greatest intercession, after which the reckoning of the people will begin.

79. And during the night, perform Tahajjud (the night prayer) [98]—an additional (prayer) for you [99]. It may be that your Lord will raise you to a praised station [100].

[98]
The Rak‘ahs of Tahajjud Prayer:

The literal meaning of Tahajjud is simply to wake up during the night after having slept once, and in the Shari‘ah, it refers to the prayer that is performed after sleeping at night, in any part of the night after half the night has passed, but before the break of dawn. For the number of rak‘ahs and the time of this prayer, consider the following ahadith:
1. Sayyiduna Ibn ‘Abbas ؓ says that one night I stayed at the house of my maternal aunt, Umm al-Mu’minin Maymunah (bint Harith). I lay down across the width of the bed, and the Prophet ﷺ and his wife lay lengthwise. The Prophet ﷺ rested for a while, and around half the night, he ﷺ got up, sat and rubbed his eyes, then performed ablution thoroughly and began to pray. I also got up, performed ablution, and stood on his ﷺ left side. The Prophet ﷺ placed his right hand on my head and took hold of my right ear, moving me (from behind) to his right side. The Prophet ﷺ prayed two rak‘ahs, then two, then two, then two, then two, and then two (a total of twelve rak‘ahs), then prayed witr, then lay down until the mu’adhdhin came to him ﷺ. Then the Prophet ﷺ prayed two light rak‘ahs, then went out and led the morning prayer. [بخاری، کتاب الوضوء باب قراءۃ القرآن نیز کتاب العلم۔ باب السمر بالعلم]
2. Sayyiduna ‘Abdullah ibn ‘Umar ؓ says that a man asked the Prophet ﷺ about the night (tahajjud) prayer. The Prophet ﷺ said: Pray two rak‘ahs at a time. Then when someone fears that dawn is near, let him pray one rak‘ah, which will make all the prayer odd-numbered. ‘Abdullah ibn ‘Umar ؓ used to say that the Prophet ﷺ commanded that witr should be prayed at the end of the night prayer. [بخاری، کتاب الصلوٰۃ۔ باب الحلق والجلوس فی المسجد]
[99] That is, the tahajjud prayer remained obligatory upon the Prophet ﷺ for his entire life. Before the event of Mi‘raj and the obligation of the five daily prayers, the tahajjud prayer was obligatory upon the Muslims, as is clarified in the first section of Surah al-Muzzammil. Then, when the five daily prayers were made obligatory, tahajjud was no longer obligatory for the general Muslims, as is clear from the second section of Surah al-Muzzammil: ﴿فَاقْرَءُوْا مَا تَيَسَّرَ مِنَ الْقُرْاٰنِ﴾, and for the Prophet ﷺ this prayer remained obligatory according to this verse. When, as a result of the Treaty of Hudaybiyyah, Surah al-Fath was revealed and in it Allah gave the Prophet ﷺ the glad tidings that Allah had forgiven all his past and future shortcomings, the Prophet ﷺ began to stand in this prayer even longer than before. Thus, according to the narration of Bukhari, due to the long standing in tahajjud, the Prophet’s ﷺ feet would become swollen. The Companions said, “O Messenger of Allah ﷺ, Allah has forgiven all your past and future shortcomings, so why do you endure so much hardship?” In reply, the Prophet ﷺ said: ﴿اَفَلاَ اَكُوْنَ عَبْدًاشَكُوْرًا﴾ “Should I not then be a grateful servant to Allah in return for this favor and grace of Allah?” [بخاری، کتاب التہجد۔ باب قیام النبی اللیل حتی ترم قدماہ]
For the Ummah, although this prayer is nafl (supererogatory), and its obligation was lifted due to hardship, it has great merit and much encouragement has been given for it. In our established Shari‘ah terminology, it is considered a Sunnah Mu’akkadah (emphasized Sunnah).

Tarawih Prayer or Qiyam al-Layl:

It should be clear that Tahajjud prayer is also called Qiyam al-Layl, as is evident from the chapter heading in Bukhari. And in the month of Ramadan, Qiyam al-Layl is called Tarawih, which is generally performed in congregation immediately after the ‘Isha prayer during Ramadan. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ led this tahajjud (or qiyam al-layl or tarawih) prayer in congregation only for two nights in Ramadan. Then, on the third or fourth night, when people again gathered for prayer, the Prophet ﷺ did not come out for the congregation, and after the morning prayer, he ﷺ explained to the Companions the reason for not coming out for the congregation: “I feared that this prayer might be made obligatory upon you,” and this incident occurred in Ramadan. [بخاری، کتاب التہجد باب تحریض النبی علی قیام اللیل، نیز کتاب الصوم باب فضل من قام رمضان]
And the Prophet ﷺ always performed eleven rak‘ahs for this prayer: eight rak‘ahs of tarawih and three rak‘ahs of witr, as is clear from the following hadith: Abu Salamah ibn ‘Abd al-Rahman says that I asked Sayyidah ‘A’ishah al-Siddiqah ؓ how many rak‘ahs the Messenger of Allah ﷺ used to pray in Ramadan. Sayyidah ‘A’ishah al-Siddiqah ؓ replied that whether in Ramadan or outside of Ramadan, the Prophet ﷺ never prayed more than eleven rak‘ahs. He ﷺ would first pray four rak‘ahs, and how excellent and lengthy they were! Then he ﷺ would pray another four rak‘ahs, and how excellent and lengthy they were! Then he ﷺ would pray three rak‘ahs. Sayyidah ‘A’ishah al-Siddiqah ؓ said: I asked, “O Messenger of Allah ﷺ, do you sleep before praying witr?” He ﷺ replied: “O ‘A’ishah! My eyes sleep, but my heart does not sleep.” [بخاری، کتاب التہجد، باب قیام النبی باللیل فی رمضان وغیرہ]
Now, regarding the congregational tarawih prayer, consider the following hadith: ‘Abd al-Rahman ibn ‘Abd al-Qari says that one night in Ramadan, I went with Sayyiduna ‘Umar ؓ (during his caliphate) to the Prophet’s Mosque. We saw that people were performing tarawih in separate groups. Some were praying alone, and some groups were praying behind one imam. Sayyiduna ‘Umar ؓ said, “If I gather them all behind one imam, it would be better.” After making this decision, he appointed Sayyiduna Ubayy ibn Ka‘b as the imam for all the people. Then, on another night, I went to the mosque with Sayyiduna ‘Umar ؓ and saw that all the people were praying behind their reciter (Ubayy ibn Ka‘b ؓ). Sayyiduna ‘Umar ؓ said, “What a good innovation this is (ni‘mat al-bid‘ah hadhihi),” and also said to the people, “The part of the night in which you sleep is better than the part in which you are praying,” and people would perform tarawih (qiyam al-layl) at the beginning of the night. [بخاری، کتاب الصوم، باب فضل من قام رمضان]

Sayyiduna ‘Umar ؓ and Congregational Tarawih Prayer:

From this hadith, the following points are evident:
1. When Sayyiduna ‘Umar ؓ ordered the congregational tarawih prayer, neither he himself nor his companion ‘Abd al-Rahman ibn ‘Abd al-Qari participated in it. Similarly, when he inspected on another night and saw the congregation, neither he nor his companion joined it, which shows that they did not consider this congregation necessary or superior; otherwise, he would have joined it himself.
2. Sayyiduna ‘Umar ؓ also clarified that the first part of the night, in which people were praying tarawih in congregation, is not superior for qiyam al-layl or tarawih; rather, the last part of the night is superior, and Sayyiduna ‘Umar ؓ himself used to pray alone in the last part of the night.
3. When he ؓ said, “This is a good innovation,” he only meant the current form, i.e., that praying together is better than praying separately. Otherwise, in the legal and technical sense, it was not an innovation (which is always misguidance), because the Prophet ﷺ himself performed qiyam al-layl, and so did the Companions ؓ. Moreover, for at least three days, the Prophet ﷺ led the congregation, so there were two bases for it established from the Sunnah of the Prophet ﷺ. Therefore, it cannot be called an innovation in the well-known sense. And according to the narration of Muwatta’ Imam Malik, when he ordered the congregation for tarawih, he ordered eleven rak‘ahs (including witr). Among us, congregational tarawih after ‘Isha is common. There are two benefits in this: first, it gives the huffaz (memorizers of the Quran) an opportunity to revise, and second, it is convenient for the people at this time; otherwise, the superior time is the one clarified by Sayyiduna ‘Umar ؓ.
[100]
Various Interpretations of Maqam Mahmood:

By Maqam Mahmood is meant such a rank that all people begin to praise you ﷺ. There are several interpretations of this: one is that such a rank of honor and praise was granted to you ﷺ by Allah in this world during the last part of your life; another is that in Paradise there is a lofty station called Maqam Mahmood, which will be granted to you ﷺ; and third, that on the Day of Judgment, when people will be terrified by its horrors, they will wish for someone to intercede for them before Allah. They will go to Sayyiduna Adam ؑ, and then successively to all the Prophets, but each Prophet will recall some shortcoming and excuse himself. Eventually, all the people will come to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, and you ﷺ will accept their plea and intercede for them before Allah. (For details, see the notes on Surah al-Baqarah, verse 255.) According to this interpretation, Maqam Mahmood means the Station of Intercession, as the Prophet ﷺ himself explained. Thus, Sayyiduna ‘Abdullah ibn Mas‘ud ؓ says that someone asked the Prophet ﷺ about Maqam Mahmood, and he ﷺ replied, “It is the Station of Intercession.” [ترمذي، ابواب التفسير]
At that time, all tongues will be praising you ﷺ. Also, in the supplication taught to us after the adhan, every person prays for the Prophet ﷺ to be granted Maqam Mahmood, from which it is also incidentally understood that a person of high rank can ask someone of lower or lesser rank to pray for him, and the prayer of a lower or lesser person can be accepted for someone of higher rank.