Q638 :Could you please give clear ideas about night
prayer and its timings, maximum and minimum number of rak’ahs and the
method of offering them.
A638 : Night worship, or ‘tahajjud’, is a voluntary
prayer which may be offered at any time during the night, after one has
offered the obligatory prayer of Isha’, and before offering dawn
prayer, or Fajr. However, the latter part of the night is preferable
for this prayer. It can be offered any night, and one may pray short or
long rak’ahs, as one wishes. If he is praying in congregation, it is
renetmended to the imam to make sure that everyone in the congregation
is willing to have long rak’ahs, before he starts. If one is offering
night worship, or tahajjud, he is renetmended to finish it with witr.
The minimum number of rak’ah of tahajjud are two, excluding witer, and
there is no maximum. However, it is authentically reported that the
maximum number of rak’ahs the Prophet offered on any one night was
eleven, including witr. It is suggested that the maximum he offered was
thirteen. One may recite the Qur’an loudly or may read it privately in
tahajjud. It is preferable to recite loudly if he is alone or if he is
in congregation, or if there are people near him who would like to
listen to, or may benefit by his recitation. On the other had, if there
is someone close to him who is doing his own night worship, or someone
who is asleep and may be disturbed, then it is preferable to read the
Qur’an privately.
Our Dialogue ( Source : Arab News – Jeddah )