Tahajjud
Tahajjud, also known as the "night prayer" or "Qiyam-u-lail", as well as "Namaaz-e-Shab" in Persian is a voluntary prayer performed by followers of Islam. It is not one of the five obligatory prayers required of all Muslims, although the Islamic prophet Muhammad was recorded as performing the tahajjud prayer regularly himself and encouraging his companions. The Tahajjud prayer is usually performed in the last third of the night.
Evidence in
Next to these Qur'anic verses, there also exist a number of hadiths that reinforce the importance of Tahajjud Prayer. In various hadiths, it has been mentioned as Qiyamul Sabah, Salatul Sabah and Tahajjud.Recommended time
To perform tahajjud signifies the act of rising from sleep during the night and then praying.Tahajjud may be performed before or after imsak but before the obligatory Fajr prayer.
Commenting on this subject, Ibn Hajar says:
"The best time for tahajjud is the last third portion of the night."
`Amr ibn `Absah claimed that he heard Muhammad as saying:
Masruq ibn al-Ajda' narrated:
Number of rakats
Tahajjud Prayer does not entail a specific number of rak`ahs that must be performed, nor is there any maximum limit that may be performed. It would be fulfilled even if one prayed just one rak`ah of Witr after `Ishaa'; however, it is traditionally prayed with at least two rak'at which is known as shif'a followed by witr as this is what Muhammad did before fajr.Abdullah ibn Umar narrated that Muhammad said:
Bukhari, Hadith 990