Tahajjud (Night Prayer)
The voluntary night prayer performed in the last third of the night.
Tahajjud (Arabic: تهجد) is a voluntary night prayer performed after one has slept and awakened again in the last third of the night, before Fajr. Tahajjud is considered the most meritorious voluntary prayer after the obligatory ones.
The Quran encourages Tahajjud: "And during a part of the night, keep vigil for prayer as an extra devotion for you. It may be that your Lord will raise you to a praised station" (Surah Al-Isra 17:79).
Tahajjud can be prayed with any number of rak'ah, typically 2-12, preferably concluded with the Witr prayer. The last third of the night is considered a particularly blessed time, when Allah is closest to His servants. Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) said: "Our Lord descends to the lowest heaven in the last third of the night and says: Is there anyone calling upon Me, so that I may answer?"
Related terms
Raf' al-Yadayn (Raising the Hands)
The practice of raising the hands to the shoulders or ears at specific points in the prayer.
Akhirah (The Hereafter)
Life after death — the eternal life that prayer prepares the believer for.
Istighfar (Seeking Forgiveness)
Asking Allah for forgiveness for one's sins and mistakes.
Sunan Abu Dawud (Abu Dawud's Hadith Collection)
One of the six canonical hadith collections in Sunni Islam with a special focus on legal narrations.
Ijtihad (Independent Legal Reasoning)
The independent interpretive effort to derive legal rules from the Islamic sources.
Bismillah (In the Name of Allah)
The formula "In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful," which opens prayer and action.