Praying Nafl after Witr

Is it permissible to pray naafil after Witr?

Praise be to Allaah. There is nothing wrong with the person who prays Witr in the first part of the night or the middle of the night offering any naafil prayers he wants after Witr, even though it is mustahabb for the last of his prayer at night to be Witr. In this case he should not repeat Witr, rather the Witr that he prayed at the beginning of the night is sufficient.
It was narrated that ‘Abd-Allaah ibn ‘Umar said: The Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “Make the last of your prayer at night Witr.” Narrated by al-Bukhaari, 998; Muslim, 749.
And it was narrated that that Talq ibn ‘Ali said: I heard the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) say, “There should not be two Witrs in one night.” Narrated by al-Tirmidhi, 470; al-Nasaa’i, 1679; Abu Dawood, 1439. Classed as saheeh by Shaykh al-Albaani in Saheeh al-Jaami’, 7567. Ibn Hazm said in al-Muhalla, 2/92, 93:

Witr at the end of the night is better, but whoever prays Witr at the beginning of the night, that is fine. It is permissible to pray after Witr but one should not repeat Witr.

Al-Nawawi said in al-Majmoo, 3/512:

If a person prays Witr then he wants to offer a naafil prayer etc at night, that is permissible and is not makrooh, but he should not repeat Witr. The evidence for that is the hadeeth of ‘Aa’ishah (may Allaah be pleased with her) who was asked about the Witr of the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him). She said: “We used to prepare his siwaak (tooth stick) and water for wudoo’ for him, then Allaah would cause him to wake up at any time He willed at night. He would use the tooth stick, do wudoo’ and pray nine rak’ahs, in which he would not sit except in the eighth, when he would remember Allaah, glorify Him and make du’aa’. Then he would get up without saying salaam, and pray the ninth rak’ah. Then he would sit down and again remember Allaah, glorify Him and make du’aa’. Then he would say a salaam that we could hear, then he would pray two rak’ahs after that, whilst sitting down.” Narrated by Muslim; this is part of a lengthy hadeeth, which is to be understood as meaning that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) prayed two rak’ahs after Witr to show that it is permissible to pray after Witr.

source: http://islamqa.info/en/ref/20851

Witr

It starts when a person has prayed ‘Isha’, even if it is joined to Maghrib at the time of Maghrib, and lasts until dawn begins, because the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “Allaah has prescribed for you a prayer (by which He may increase your reward), which is Witr; Allaah has enjoined it for you during the time between ‘Isha’ prayer until dawn begins.” Narrated by al-Tirmidhi, 425; classed as saheeh by al-Albaani in Saheeh al-Tirmidhi.
Is it better to offer this prayer at the beginning of its time or to delay it?
The Sunnah indicates that if a person thinks he will be able to get up at the end of the night, it is better to delay it, because prayer at the end of the night is better and is witnessed (by the angels). But whoever fears that he will not get up at the end of the night should pray Witr before he goes to sleep, because of the hadeeth of Jaabir (may Allaah be pleased with him) who said: The Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “Whoever fears that he will not get up at the end of the night, let him pray Witr at the beginning of the night, but whoever thinks that he will be able to get up at the end of the night, let him pray Witr at the end of the night, for prayer at the end of the night is witnessed (by the angels) and that is better.” Narrated by Muslim, 755.
Al-Nawawi said: This is the correct view. Other ahaadeeth which speak of this topic in general terms are to be interpreted in the light of this sound, specific and clear report, such as the hadeeth, “My close friend advised me not to sleep without having prayed Witr.” This is to be understood as referring to one who is not sure that he will be able to wake up (to pray Witr at the end of the night). Sharh Muslim, 3/277.

source: http://islamqa.info/en/ref/46544

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Is there any difference between tahajjud and qiyaam al-layl?

format_quote Originally Posted by Umm Ahlaam

So why does it not mention that anywhere in the tafsir ibn kathir?

Allah knows best, but I think that is in reference to the Messenger only. It was obligatory for the Messenger to pray tahajjud whereas for us it is the best prayer after the obligatory prayers.

^ Not convinced, sorry. It's best to go with what the majority of the scholars say, and that is that tahajjud can only be prayed after sleeping.

And Allaah knows best.

Praise be to Allaah.Qiyaam al-layl means spending the night, or part of it, even if it is only one hour, in prayer, reading Qur’aan, remembering Allah (dhikr) and other acts of worship. It is not stipulated that it should take up most of the night.

It says in Maraaqi al-Falaah: What is meant by qiyaam is spending most of the night in worship, or it was said: spending one hour of it, in reading Qur'aan, listening to hadeeth, glorifying Allah (tasbeeh) or sending blessings upon the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him). End quote. Al-Mawsoo‘ah al-Fiqhiyyah al-Kuwaitiyyah, 34/117.

Tahajjud means specifically praying at night, and some scholars limited it to prayers that are offered at night after sleeping. Al-Hajjaaj ibn ‘Amr al-Ansaari (may Allah be pleased with him) said: One of you thinks that if he gets up at night and prays until morning comes that he has done tahajjud. But in fact tahajjud means praying after sleeping, then praying after sleeping. That is how the Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah upon him) prayed. Al-Haafiz Ibn Hajar said in al-Talkhees al-Habeer (2/35): Its isnaad is hasan; it includes Abu Saalih, the scribe of al-Layth, and it is somewhat weak. It was also narrated by al-Tabaraani, whose isnaad includes Ibn Luhay‘ah, whose report is supported by the one that came before it. End quote.

Thus it becomes clear that qiyaam al-layl is more general than tahajjud, because it includes prayer and other actions, and it includes prayer before and after sleeping. But tahajjud is exclusively praying, and there are two opinions concerning it. The first is that it means praying at any time of the night, which is the view of the majority of fuqaha’.

The second is that it is prayer after sleeping. See: al-Mawsoo‘ah al-Fiqhiyyah, 2/232.

read here please May Allah be pleased with you Ameen:

http://islamqa.info/en/ref/143240

Sorry to cut in with a new question (since we seem to have a lot of knowledgeable people on this thread):

When is the best time to pray the sunnah of fajr if one misses it - right after fard or wait till sunrise?

format_quote Originally Posted by Abu Zainab

Sorry to cut in with a new question (since we seem to have a lot of knowledgeable people on this thread):

When is the best time to pray the sunnah of fajr if one misses it - right after fard or wait till sunrise?

The best time is to pray before the sun rises. If one has still missed it and the sun has begun to rise, he should make it up after about 10-15 mins (depending on the country) once the sun has risen.

format_quote Originally Posted by 'Abd-al Latif

The best time is to pray before the sun rises. If one has still missed it and the sun has begun to rise, he should make it up after about 10-15 mins (depending on the country) once the sun has risen.

But what about the ruling that there is no prayer between fajr and sunrise? Or is this an exception?

^ What do you mean? The time for Fajr finishes once the sun has risen. There is no prayer DURING sunrise, but once the sun has risen the prayers can be qaza'd.

format_quote Originally Posted by Abu Zainab

But what about the ruling that there is no prayer between fajr and sunrise? Or is this an exception?

That's why I said after sunrise.

Note that it cannot be straight after sunrise, the sun has to be a spear's length from the ground (if you were to thrust a spear in the ground from where you are standing and look between it and the sun's distance on the horizon) before you can pray again. This is roughly 10-15 minutes after sunrise depending on the country you live in.

format_quote Originally Posted by Abu Zainab

Sorry to cut in with a new question (since we seem to have a lot of knowledgeable people on this thread):

When is the best time to pray the sunnah of fajr if one misses it - right after fard or wait till sunrise?

The Prophet (salallahu alayhi wa sallam) laid great emphasis on the sunnah prayer of Fajr, saying, "It is more superior than the world and everything within it." (Sahih Muslim 1:151)


The best way to pray Fajr is to pray it quickly and at home and then for men to proceed to the Masjid and women to pray it at home:

Aishah (RA) narrates: "The Prophet (Sallaho Alaihe Wassallam) would pray the two rak'at before the dawn prayer in my house so quickly that I wondered if he had recited the Fatihah in them or not." [Ahmed]

عن عائشة، قالت: كان رسول اللّه صلى الله عليه وسلم يقرأ في ركعتي الفجر: " قُلْ يَا أَيُّهَا الْكَافِرُونَ [ الكافرون: ]، و: " قُلْ هُوَ اللَّهُ أَحَدٌ " [الإخلاص: ]. وكان يُسِر بهما

'Aishah (RA) reports that the Prophet (Sallaho Alaihe Wassallam) would silently recite the following in the two rak'at before salatul fajr

"Say: O disbelievers," and "Say: He is Allah, the One." [Ahmed, Tahawi]


Regarding your question then It depends on whether the question you are asking is if you were to miss the Sunnah of fajr altogether because the time of Fajr was nearly over to which the ruling is that In the event that the 2 Rakaah (units) of Fajar Sunnah are omitted or missed entirely then a person may make them up i.e. offer them after sunrise.

عن أبي هريرة، أن النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم قال: "من لم يصل ركعتي الفجر، حتى تطلع الشمس، فليصلها"

Abu Hurairah (RA) reports that the Prophet (Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam) said: "Whoever fails to pray the two [sunnah] rak'at of the fajr until the sun rises, [he should then] pray them." [Baihaqi]


Also if the Sunnats and Fardh Salaats should be made before the time of Zawaal, and if Qadhaa of Fajr Salaat is done after Zawaal, then only the Fardh should be performed, not the Sunnats. However, if only the Sunnats were missed, it should not be repeated after the Fardh of Fajr Salaat, i.e. before sunrise. It may be performed before Zawaal on the same day. (Ibid pg.512)


If your question is regarding whether you missed the Sunnah if you joined a congregation in the Masjid and happened to miss the Sunnah. Then this ruling will depend on which madhab you adhere to as there is a difference of opinion among the Muslim jurists.

The opinion of Imam Al-Shafi'i and Imam Ahmad is that he should join the jamaah and pray sunnah after the jamaah is finished, either before sun rise or after that. On the other hand Imam Abu Hanifah and Imam Malik are of the views that if one expects to find at least one rakat of the jamaah he may pray sunnah preferably in his home or at a place in the Masjid which is distant from the Imam. This view of Imam Abu Hanifah's based firstly on the Mutawatir Ahadith prohibiting any prayer after the fard of Fajr upto the sun rise and secondly on the basis of the practice of a large number of Sahaba who used to pray sunnat before they joined the jamaah. This practice is reported from Abdullah Ibn 'Umar, Abdullah ibn Masud, Abdullah ibn Abbas and Abu al-Darda (Radi-Allahu anhum ajma'een). These reports may be seen in Tahavi 1:183 and Musannaf Abdur Razzaq v.2 p.444 No. 4021 etc.

The following is a good conclusion to differences of opinion in matters pertaining to fiqh:

It is to be noted that such differences in the opinions of the Muslims Jurists have long been discussed and debated. Every Muslim Jurist has some basis in the Qur'an, Sunnah or in the practice of the Sahabah and their differing views are based on various interpretations of the same resources of the Islamic Shariah. Therefore, whoever adopts a practice based on any one of these schools of interpretation should not be blamed of violating the Shariah or the Sunnah, nor should these differences be taken as a means of creating disputes or quarrels between the Muslims because every Muslim Jurist did his best to reach the truth and no one is totally incorrect.

And Allah knows best in all matters

Sources used:

http://www.albalagh.net/qa/fajrsunnah.shtml

http://www.islam.tc/cgi-bin/askimam/...=4714&act=view

http://www.central-mosque.com/fiqh/fajarsunnah.htm

format_quote Originally Posted by Umm Ahlaam

From Tafsir Ibn Kathir:

For Verse: "And in some parts of the night offer the salah (prayer) with it (reciting the verses of the Quran), as an additional prayer (Tahajjud)" (Holy Quran 17:79)[COLOR=#000000]



Source: http://www.qtafsir.com/index.php?opt...2796&Itemid=72

Comments?

As mentioned before the majority of scholars state that sleeping is not a pre-requisite for praying Tahajjud and this opinion is also mentioned in the commentary above when Al Hasan Al Basri mentions that it could also mean a prayer after Isha.

There are some scholars who say otherwise but the majority of scholars confirm that it can be prayed after Isha although it is far better to sleep first as it is more superiour in reward and more pleasing to Allah because it is harder to get up from sleep to worship and pray when most others are asleep.

And Allah knows best in all matters

please post the stances of the madhabs on this issue.


JazakAllah khair