Virtues, Methods, and Rulings of Nafl Prayers in Islam

This excerpt is taken from the book Ṣaḥīḥ Ṣalāh an-Nabī ﷺ, published by Maktabah Dār al-Andalus, authored by al-Shaykh ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ʿAzīz.

Description of Voluntary (Nafl) Prayers​

Virtue of Voluntary Prayers​

❀ The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:

وَاعْلَمُوا أَنَّ خَيْرَ أَعْمَالِكُمُ الصَّلَاةُ

“Know that the best of your deeds is prayer.”

Reference: Ibn Mājah, Kitāb al-Ṭahārah, Bāb al-Muḥāfaẓah ʿalā al-Wuḍūʾ: 277 – Ṣaḥīḥ

❀ Sayyidunā Rabīʿah ibn Kaʿb al-Aslamī رضي الله عنه said:
“I used to bring water for ablution and other items at night to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ. He ﷺ said (happily): ‘Ask for whatever you need.’ I said: ‘I ask you for your companionship in Paradise.’ He ﷺ replied:

فَأَعِنِّي عَلَى نَفْسِكَ بِكَثْرَةِ السُّجُودِ

‘Then help me in this by performing abundant prostrations (i.e., voluntary prayers).’”

Reference: Muslim, Kitāb al-Ṣalāh, Bāb Faḍl al-Sujūd wa al-Ḥathth ʿAlayh: 489

❀ The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:

مَا مِنْ عَبْدٍ يَسْجُدُ لِلَّهِ سَجْدَةً إِلَّا رَفَعَ اللَّهُ بِهَا دَرَجَةً وَحَطَّ عَنْهُ بِهَا خَطِيئَةً

“There is no servant who prostrates once to Allah except that Allah raises him one degree by it and removes one sin from him.”

Reference: an-Nasāʾī, Kitāb al-Taṭbīq, Bāb Thawāb Man Sajada Lillāh Sajdah: 1140 – al-Tirmidhī: 388 – Ibn Mājah: 1423 – Ṣaḥīḥ

Times of Voluntary Prayers​

❀ For details, refer to the section on prohibited times of prayer.

Method of Performing Voluntary Prayers​

❀ Voluntary prayers should be offered two rakʿahs at a time. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:

صَلَاةُ اللَّيْلِ وَالنَّهَارِ مَثْنَىٰ مَثْنَىٰ

“The prayer of the night and the day is two by two (rakʿahs).”

Reference: Abū Dāwūd, Kitāb al-Ṣalāh, Bāb fī Ṣalāt al-Nahār: 1295 – al-Tirmidhī: 597 – Ibn Mājah: 1322 – Ṣaḥīḥ

Offering Voluntary Prayers at Home Is Better​

❀ The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:

فَإِنَّ أَفْضَلَ الصَّلَاةِ صَلَاةُ الْمَرْءِ فِي بَيْتِهِ إِلَّا الْمَكْتُوبَةَ

“Indeed, the best prayer is a person’s prayer in his home, except for the obligatory prayer.”

Reference: al-Bukhārī, Kitāb al-Adhān, Bāb Ṣalāt al-Layl: 731 – Muslim: 781

Offering Voluntary Prayers While Sitting​

❀ Performing voluntary prayers while standing is more virtuous.
❀ It is permissible to offer voluntary prayers while sitting without an excuse, but the reward is reduced. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:

إِنْ صَلَّى قَائِمًا فَهُوَ أَفْضَلُ، وَمَنْ صَلَّى قَاعِدًا فَلَهُ نِصْفُ أَجْرِ الْقَائِمِ

“If one prays standing, it is better; and whoever prays sitting will receive half the reward of the one who prays standing.”

Reference: al-Bukhārī, Kitāb al-Taqṣīr, Bāb Ṣalāt al-Qāʿid: 1115

❀ Another method of praying voluntary prayers while sitting is to begin the prayer sitting, then stand up when only a few verses remain of the recitation, and then perform rukūʿ and sujūd. The same may be done in the second rakʿah as well.

Reference: al-Bukhārī, Kitāb al-Taqṣīr, Bāb Idhā Ṣallā Qāʿidan Thumma Ṣaḥḥa aw Wajada Khiffah: 1119 – Muslim: 731/113

Voluntary Prayers on a Mount​

❀ It is permissible to offer voluntary prayers while seated on a mount during travel.
❀ While offering voluntary prayers on a mount, facing the qiblah is not required; prayer may be offered in whichever direction the mount is facing. ʿAbdullāh ibn ʿUmar رضي الله عنهما said:

كَانَ النَّبِيُّ ﷺ يُصَلِّي فِي السَّفَرِ عَلَىٰ رَاحِلَتِهِ حَيْثُ تَوَجَّهَتْ بِهِ، يُومِئُ إِيمَاءً صَلَاةَ اللَّيْلِ إِلَّا الْفَرَائِضَ، وَيُوتِرُ عَلَىٰ رَاحِلَتِهِ

“The Prophet ﷺ used to pray during travel on his mount, wherever it turned, indicating (rukūʿ and sujūd) by gestures, for the night prayer except the obligatory prayers. He also offered witr on his mount.”

Reference: al-Bukhārī, Kitāb al-Witr, Bāb al-Witr fī al-Safar: 1000 – Muslim: 700/39

❀ It is necessary to face the qiblah at the beginning of the prayer; afterward, whichever direction the mount turns is permissible. Sayyidunā Anas ibn Mālik رضي الله عنه said:

أَنَّ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ ﷺ كَانَ إِذَا سَافَرَ فَأَرَادَ أَنْ يَتَطَوَّعَ اسْتَقْبَلَ بِنَاقَتِهِ الْقِبْلَةَ فَكَبَّرَ، ثُمَّ صَلَّى حَيْثُ وَجَّهَهُ رِكَابُهُ

“When the Messenger of Allah ﷺ traveled and intended to offer voluntary prayer, he would face his mount toward the qiblah, say ‘Allāhu Akbar,’ then pray in whichever direction his mount turned.”

Reference: Abū Dāwūd, Kitāb Ṣalāt al-Safar, Bāb al-Taṭawwuʿ ʿalā al-Rāḥilah wa al-Witr: 1225 – Ḥasan

❀ Rukūʿ and sujūd should be performed by gestures, lowering the head more for sujūd than for rukūʿ.

Reference: Abū Dāwūd, Kitāb Ṣalāt al-Safar, Bāb al-Taṭawwuʿ ʿalā al-Rāḥilah wa al-Witr: 1227 – al-Tirmidhī: 351 – Ṣaḥīḥ

Recitation in Voluntary Prayers​

❀ Issues related to recitation should be reviewed under the chapter on the Sunnah method of prayer, in the section concerning recitation.
❀ If voluntary prayers are being offered in congregation, then refer to the chapter on congregation under the subsection “Issues of Recitation.” The following points apply otherwise:

Reciting by Looking into the Qur’an​

❀ In voluntary prayers, recitation should generally be done from memory, as was the practice of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ. However, a mawqūf narration establishes the permissibility of reciting while looking into the muṣḥaf. It is mentioned in Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī:

كَانَتْ عَائِشَةُ يُؤُمُّهَا عَبْدُهَا ذَكْوَانُ مِنَ الْمُصْحَفِ

“Sayyidah ʿĀʾishah رضي الله عنها was led in prayer by her slave Dhakwān, who recited from the muṣḥaf.”

Reference: al-Bukhārī, Kitāb al-Adhān, Bāb Imāmat al-ʿAbd wa al-Mawlā, Taʿlīqan, before ḥadīth: 692

Responding to Certain Verses of the Qur’an​

❀ There are some verses of the Qur’an after which a response should be given. For example, Sayyidunā Ḥudhayfah رضي الله عنه said:

إِذَا مَرَّ بِآيَةٍ فِيهَا تَسْبِيحٌ سَبَّحَ، وَإِذَا مَرَّ بِسُؤَالٍ سَأَلَ، وَإِذَا مَرَّ بِتَعَوُّذٍ تَعَوَّذَ

“When the Messenger of Allah ﷺ passed by a verse of glorification, he said ‘Subḥānallāh’; when he passed by a verse of supplication, he asked; and when he passed by a verse seeking refuge, he sought refuge.”

Reference: Muslim, Kitāb Ṣalāt al-Musāfirīn, Bāb Istihbāb …: 772

❀ At the end of Sūrat al-Qiyāmah, upon the verse:

أَلَيْسَ ذَٰلِكَ بِقَادِرٍ عَلَىٰ أَنْ يُحْيِيَ الْمَوْتَىٰ

One should say: سُبْحَانَكَ فَبَلَىٰ

Reference: Abū Dāwūd, Kitāb al-Ṣalāh, Bāb al-Duʿāʾ fī al-Ṣalāh: 884 – Ṣaḥīḥ

❀ In response to the first verse of Sūrat al-Aʿlā, it is permissible to say:

سُبْحَانَ رَبِّيَ الْأَعْلَىٰ

Reference: Abū Dāwūd, Kitāb al-Ṣalāh, Bāb al-Duʿāʾ fī al-Ṣalāh: 883 – Ṣaḥīḥ

❀ In response to any verse related to reckoning, one should say:

اللَّهُمَّ حَاسِبْنَا حِسَابًا يَسِيرًا

Reference: Ṣaḥīḥ Ibn Khuzaymah: 1/362–363, ḥadīth: 849 – Ṣaḥīḥ Ibn Ḥibbān: 7372 – Imām al-Ḥākim and Imām al-Dhahabī declared it ṣaḥīḥ upon the condition of Muslim

❀ Sayyidunā ʿAlī رضي الله عنه, when reciting the following verses of Sūrat al-Wāqiʿah, would respond to them:

أَفَرَأَيْتُم مَّا تَحْرُثُونَ ‎﴿٦٣﴾‏ أَأَنتُمْ تَزْرَعُونَهُ أَمْ نَحْنُ الزَّارِعُونَ ‎﴿٦٤﴾‏
(56:63–64)

He would reply: بَلْ أَنْتَ يَا رَبِّ! بَلْ أَنْتَ يَا رَبِّ! بَلْ أَنْتَ يَا رَبِّ!

أَفَرَأَيْتُمُ الْمَاءَ الَّذِي تَشْرَبُونَ ‎﴿٦٨﴾‏ أَأَنتُمْ أَنزَلْتُمُوهُ مِنَ الْمُزْنِ أَمْ نَحْنُ الْمُنزِلُونَ ‎﴿٦٩﴾‏
(56:68–69)

He would reply: بَلْ أَنْتَ يَا رَبِّ! بَلْ أَنْتَ يَا رَبِّ! بَلْ أَنْتَ يَا رَبِّ!

أَفَرَأَيْتُمُ النَّارَ الَّتِي تُورُونَ ‎﴿٧١﴾‏ أَأَنتُمْ أَنشَأْتُمْ شَجَرَتَهَا أَمْ نَحْنُ الْمُنشِئُونَ ‎﴿٧٢﴾‏
(56:71–72)

He would reply: بَلْ أَنْتَ يَا رَبِّ! بَلْ أَنْتَ يَا رَبِّ! بَلْ أَنْتَ يَا رَبِّ!

Reference: al-Mustadrak lil-Ḥākim: 2/477, ḥadīth: 3780 – Its chain is ḥasan li-dhātih; Shaddād ibn Jābān al-Ṣanʿānī is ṣadūq, ḥasan al-ḥadīth; mentioned by Ibn Ḥibbān in al-Thiqāt (6/441); authenticated by al-Ḥākim and al-Dhahabī

❀ The specific recitation-related issues of each voluntary prayer will be discussed under their respective headings (in shāʾ Allāh).