Tahajjud: Virtues, Best Time and How to Pray the Night Prayer
There is a moment every night when the world is asleep, the house is silent, and a believer stands alone before his Lord. No congregation watches him, no one praises him — it is just him, his prayer mat, and the One who already knows every need in his heart. That prayer is Tahajjud, the night prayer, and the Quran and the authentic Sunnah describe it as one of the most beloved acts of worship a person can offer.
Allah commanded His Messenger ﷺ to stand at night in prayer, saying:
“And during the night, wake up for Salāh of tahajjud , an additional prayer for you. It is very likely that your Lord will place you at Praised Station.” (Quran 17:79)
For the rest of us, Tahajjud is voluntary — but a voluntary prayer with an extraordinary rank. This guide covers what it is, its virtues, the best time, how many rak’ahs to offer, a step-by-step method, its special dua, and tips to build the habit for life.
1. What Is Tahajjud?
Tahajjud is the voluntary prayer offered at night after waking up from sleep. The broader night prayer is called Qiyam al-Layl (standing at night); when a person sleeps first and then rises to pray, that prayer is specifically Tahajjud. Allah addressed His Prophet ﷺ at the very beginning of his mission:
“O you, wrapped up in clothes, stand at night (for prayer) except a little-“ (Quran 73:1 · Quran 73:2)
And He explained why the night is so powerful for worship:
“Truly, rising by night (for prayer of tahajjud) is the most effective way to subdue (one’s base self) and to make speech more upright.” (Quran 73:6)
The night prayer trains the soul like nothing else: by day, worship competes with noise and distractions; at night the heart is present, the recitation settles deeper, and sincerity is purest — because only Allah sees you.
2. The Virtues of Tahajjud in the Quran
Allah praises the people of the night prayer again and again in His Book. Describing the righteous, He says:
“Their sides remain apart from their beds. They call their Lord with fear and hope, and spend (in charity) out of what We have given to them.” (Quran 32:16)
Their beds call them, but they leave them — out of fear of Allah and hope in His mercy. Of the people of Paradise, Allah says:
“They used to sleep little in the night; and in the hours before dawn they used to pray for forgiveness,” (Quran 51:17 · Quran 51:18)
And Allah contrasts the one who worships at night with everyone else:
“Can (such people be equal to) the one who worships during the hours of night, prostrating himself and standing, fearing the Hereafter and having hopes in his Lord’s mercy? Say, “Can those who know and those who do not know become equal?” It is only the people of understanding who are receptive of the advice.” (Quran 39:9)
The pattern is always the same: leave the bed, call upon Allah with fear and hope, and seek forgiveness before dawn.
3. The Best Prayer After the Obligatory Prayers
The Prophet ﷺ was asked which prayer is most excellent after the prescribed (obligatory) prayers, and his answer left no doubt about the rank of the night prayer. Abu Hurairah reported that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:
“The most excellent fast after Ramadan is God’s month, al-Muharram, and the most excellent prayer after what is prescribed is prayer during the night.”
(Sahih Muslim 1163 — Sahih)
Of every voluntary prayer you could offer, the very best is the one offered in the night. And the Prophet ﷺ lived this standard: Al-Mughira reported that he ﷺ used to stand in prayer at night until his feet or legs swelled, and when asked why, he said: “Should I not be a thankful slave?” (Sahih al-Bukhari 1130 — Sahih)
4. The Best Time: The Last Third of the Night
Tahajjud can be prayed any time after Isha once you have slept, but its most blessed time is the last third of the night — the hours just before Fajr. The reason is one of the most beautiful promises in all of hadith. Abu Hurairah reported that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:
“Our Lord, the Blessed, the Superior, comes every night down on the nearest Heaven to us when the last third of the night remains, saying: ‘Is there anyone to invoke Me, so that I may respond to invocation? Is there anyone to ask Me, so that I may grant him his request? Is there anyone seeking My forgiveness, so that I may forgive him?'”
(Sahih al-Bukhari 1145 — Sahih)
The same promise is narrated in Sahih Muslim: “Our Lord, the Blessed and the Exalted, descends every night to the lowest heaven when one-third of the latter part of the night is left, and says: Who supplicates Me so that I may answer him? Who asks Me so that I may give to him? Who asks Me forgiveness so that I may forgive him?” (Sahih Muslim 758 — Sahih)
Every night, Allah calls out to whoever will ask. Most of the world sleeps through the call; the people of Tahajjud answer it.
How do you calculate the last third? Divide the time between Maghrib and Fajr into three parts — the final part is the last third. If Maghrib is at 6:00 pm and Fajr at 5:00 am, the night is 11 hours, so the last third begins about 1:20 am. Check today’s Maghrib and Fajr times for your city on our Prayer Times page.
5. How Many Rak’ahs Should You Pray?
The night prayer is flexible — there is no fixed number you must reach. The Prophet ﷺ explained its structure when a man asked him about it:
“Prayer during the night should consist of pairs of rak’ahs, but if one of you fears morning is near, he should pray one rak’ah which will make his prayer an odd number for him.”
(Sahih Muslim 749 — Sahih)
So you pray two rak’ahs at a time, with a salam after every two, and you close with Witr (the odd-numbered closing prayer of the night). As for the practice of the Prophet ﷺ himself, ‘A’ishah reported:
“The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) used to pray eleven rak’ahs at night, observing the Witr with a single rak’ah.”
(Sahih Muslim 736 — Sahih)
Eleven rak’ahs including Witr was his usual pattern — but two rak’ahs prayed consistently are better than eleven prayed once and abandoned. Start with what you can maintain.
6. How to Pray Tahajjud, Step by Step
- Sleep with the intention to wake. Make a firm intention before sleeping that you will rise for Tahajjud, and sleep in a state of wudu if you can.
- Wake in the last third of the night. When you open your eyes, remember Allah at once — this first moment matters, as the hadith of the three knots in section 8 below explains.
- Perform wudu calmly. Do not rush; the wudu itself loosens the knots of laziness and Shaytan.
- Begin with two light rak’ahs. Abu Hurairah reported that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: “When any one of you gets up at night, he should begin the prayer with two short rak’ahs.”
(Sahih Muslim 768 — Sahih)
- Continue in pairs. Pray two rak’ahs at a time, lengthening the recitation and the prostrations as much as your heart allows. Prolong the sujud (prostration) — it is full of dua.
- Pour your heart out in dua. Ask for everything: forgiveness, guidance, provision, your family, your hereafter. This is the hour of the divine call described above.
- Finish with Witr. If you have not yet prayed Witr, end your night prayer with it — one rak’ah (or three) making the total odd, as in the hadith of Ibn ‘Umar above.
- Seek forgiveness until Fajr. Spend the last minutes before dawn in istighfar (seeking Allah’s forgiveness), like the people of Paradise in Surah Adh-Dhariyat. Keep your tongue moist with the Daily Adhkar and find more authentic supplications in our Duas library.
7. The Duas of Tahajjud
The greatest dua of Tahajjud is simply your own — spoken in your own words, in the last third of the night, while Allah is calling: “Who supplicates Me so that I may answer him?” Yet the Prophet ﷺ also taught a magnificent opening dua with which he would begin his night prayer. Ibn ‘Abbas reported that when the Prophet ﷺ got up at night to offer the Tahajjud prayer, he used to say:
اللَّهُمَّ لَكَ الْحَمْدُ أَنْتَ قَيِّمُ السَّمَوَاتِ وَالأَرْضِ وَمَنْ فِيهِنَّ، وَلَكَ الْحَمْدُ لَكَ مُلْكُ السَّمَوَاتِ وَالأَرْضِ وَمَنْ فِيهِنَّ، وَلَكَ الْحَمْدُ أَنْتَ نُورُ السَّمَوَاتِ وَالأَرْضِ
Transliteration: Allahumma lakal-hamd, anta qayyimus-samawati wal-ard wa man fihinna. Wa lakal-hamd, laka mulkus-samawati wal-ard wa man fihinna. Wa lakal-hamd, anta nurus-samawati wal-ard. Meaning: “O Allah! All the praises are for you, You are the Holder of the Heavens and the Earth, And whatever is in them. All the praises are for You; You have the possession of the Heavens and the Earth And whatever is in them. All the praises are for You; You are the Light of the Heavens and the Earth.” (Sahih al-Bukhari 1120 — Sahih)
The narration continues with the Prophet ﷺ submitting himself entirely to Allah and asking forgiveness for all his sins, past and future, hidden and open. Begin with this praise, continue with istighfar, then ask freely. The promise of the hour is repeated in Jami’ at-Tirmidhi as well: “Our Lord descends every night to the nearest heaven, until the last third of the night remains, so He says: ‘Who is calling upon Me so that I may answer him? Who is asking from Me so that I may give him? And who is seeking forgiveness from Me, so that I may forgive him.'” (Jami’ at-Tirmidhi 3498 — Sahih)
8. How to Build the Tahajjud Habit — Waking Up Tips
Waking up is the battle; the prayer itself is the reward. The Sunnah gives you a complete system for winning that battle:
Defeat the three knots. Abu Hurairah reported that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: “When one of you sleeps, the devil ties three knots at the back of his neck, sealing every knot with, ‘You have a long night, so sleep.’ So if one awakes and mentions Allah, a knot will be loosened; if he performs ablution another knot will be loosened; and if he prays, the third knot will be loosened; and in the morning he will be active and in good spirits; otherwise he will be in bad spirits and sluggish.” (Sunan Abu Dawud 1306 — Sahih)
So the moment your alarm rings: remember Allah, get up for wudu, and pray — each step unties a knot.
Wake each other up. The Prophet ﷺ said: “May Allah have mercy on a man who gets up at night and prays, and awakens his wife; if she refuses, he should sprinkle water on her face. May Allah have mercy on a woman who gets up at night and prays, and awakens her husband; if he refuses, she would sprinkle water on his face.” (Sunan Abu Dawud 1308 — Hasan Sahih)
A spouse, parent or friend who wakes you is a mercy — arrange it before you sleep.
Protect the habit — never abandon it entirely. ‘Abdullah ibn ‘Amr reported that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said to him: “O ‘Abdullah! Do not be like so and so who used to pray at night and then stopped the night prayer.” (Sahih al-Bukhari 1152 — Sahih)
If two rak’ahs is all you can manage on a hard night, pray two — but do not let the chain break.
Beware of sleeping the whole night through. A man was mentioned before the Prophet ﷺ who had slept all night until morning without rising for prayer, and the Prophet ﷺ said: “Satan urinated in his ears.” (Sahih al-Bukhari 1144 · Sahih Muslim 774 — Sahih)
Practical tips: sleep early after Isha; take a short afternoon nap (qaylulah); keep dinner light; place your alarm across the room; and sleep with a genuine intention to rise.
Common Questions
Is Tahajjud obligatory? No. It was an additional duty upon the Prophet ﷺ, as Surah Al-Isra 17:79 says “an additional prayer for you” — addressed to him. For the rest of the Ummah it is voluntary, but it is the most excellent of all voluntary prayers, as Sahih Muslim 1163 states.
Can I pray Tahajjud without sleeping first? Tahajjud specifically means the prayer after waking from sleep. Prayer at night before sleeping is still night prayer (Qiyam al-Layl) and is rewarded — but for the full virtue, sleep first, even briefly, then rise in the last third of the night.
What is the minimum number of rak’ahs for Tahajjud? Two rak’ahs. The night prayer is prayed in pairs, and even two rak’ahs followed by Witr fulfil the Sunnah. The Prophet’s ﷺ own practice was eleven rak’ahs including Witr, but consistency matters more than count.
What if I already prayed Witr after Isha? You may still pray Tahajjud afterwards, in pairs as normal. Witr is the closing, odd-numbered prayer of the night (Sahih Muslim 749), so it is not prayed a second time in the same night. Many people who fear they will not wake up pray Witr early — and if Allah wakes them, they pray their Tahajjud in pairs without another Witr.
What should I recite in Tahajjud? There is no fixed surah. Recite whatever you know well, lengthen the recitation as the Prophet ﷺ did, and prolong your prostrations for dua. Begin the prayer with the opening dua of the Prophet ﷺ narrated in Sahih al-Bukhari 1120.
Conclusion
Tahajjud is the secret meeting between a servant and his Lord — the best prayer after the obligatory ones, offered at the hour when Allah calls out to those who ask and beg forgiveness. Its method is simple: sleep, rise in the last third, begin with two light rak’ahs, pray in pairs, pour out your duas, and close with Witr. Begin tonight with just two rak’ahs — untie the knots, answer the call, and taste a sweetness in your mornings that sleep can never give.