Praying Tahajjud in the summers. Can anyone give me some advice please

Question

Assalamalaikum,

My understanding of tahajjud is that it is the (nafal) prayer that is prayed after one sleeps and awakes for the purpose of prayer:

They arise from [their] beds; they supplicate their Lord in fear and aspiration, and from what We have provided them, they spend. (32:16)

and it is also recommended to do this in the last third of the night, so before Fajr prayers.

But recently with the summers timings her in UK it has become really difficult, as the isha prayer time starts at around 11:15 and the Fajr time starts at around 2:30, and this gap will further decrease as summer arrives.

I have found it very difficult to sleep for an hour after a full day of work and then wake up for tahajjud.

During such conditions can one pray tahajjud with isha? or not sleep at all and pray till fajr and then sleep?

Some guidance on this would really be appreciated.

Thank you

Answer 1

Depends on your personal scenario.

I am assuming the following, may be i am wrong:

• You are a male,
• You pray Isha and Fajr at home,
• You are a working person who need to earn his bread. You need to go to work at ~10:00

Put your best emphasize on praying Isha, and Fajr at masjid / jamaat, if possible. That is way more important.

That being said, in your timing situation, best solution seems to be:

tahajjud with isha

Because:

1. Finishing Isha & get to sleep will be at minimum 11:45 pm. Then sleep till 2:00 gets you 2 hours of sleep. Depending on you, it may be very tough for you to get up that time. And, even more tough to get to sleep after Fajr due to this short nap, which make you suffer as sleep-deficient.

2. The timing, you mentioned, is best & most reward-worthy. But, may be not recommended for you. Stick with the basics first.

3. Praying tahajjud after giving a short break after Isha is still considered Tahajjud [there are more references. i'll add after finding it, inshALLAH]

The most appropriate way of offering Tahajjud (nightly vigil prayer) is to offer them after waking up from sleep. However scholars do agree that it is not an absolute requirement to first go to bed after Esha prayer. Hence it would be permissible to stay awake after Esha prayers and perform the Tahajjud prayers before going to bed. The timing for Tahajjud prayer is after Esha to just before the beginning time for Fajr. One can perform Tahajjud prayers anytime during this period. "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)

by: Shaykh Yusuf Badat, Imam of the Islamic Foundation of Toronto and Director of Mathabah institute

http://askaquestion.hadithoftheday.com/index.php?p=/discussion/23/tahajjud-witr-prayers/p1

4. Tahajjud is more about personal relationship with Allah ta'ala. Keep it easy first and then regular, rather than make it feel pushed. Believe me, if you push yourself too much, you Nafs will push you back harder.

And, make dua' for more ability. Allah knows the best.

Answer 2

Allah's Apostle said to me, "The most beloved fasting to Allah was the fasting of (the Prophet) David who used to fast on alternate days. And the most beloved prayer to Allah was the prayer of David who used to sleep for (the first) half of the night and pray for 1/3 of it and (again) sleep for a sixth of it." (Source #631 here)

The essence of rising/awaking in the fear of Allah in the night to pray is what important.

As it is said, this sort of praying style is the most beloved, but that should not cost you at all in missing the prayer. Try your level best, to manage to make it possible to get up in the night, by taking short after noon naps, or not getting too tired in the day or something like that. If you couldn't manage to achieve the above, then may be your case could be exceptional i.e. of the people who live in those regions with little time frame of the night. Then remember,

Allah burdens not a person beyond his scope. He gets reward for that (good) which he has earned, and he is punished for that (evil) which he has earned. "Our Lord! Punish us not if we forget or fall into error, our Lord! Lay not on us a burden like that which You did lay on those before us (Jews and Christians); our Lord! Put not on us a burden greater than we have strength to bear. Pardon us and grant us Forgiveness. Have mercy on us. You are our Maula (Patron, Suppor-ter and Protector, etc.) and give us victory over the disbelieving people. (Qur'an 2:286)

Then I recommend you to lay great emphasize on the above invocation and ask forgiveness. But remember, what ever you do, it shouldn't cost you in missing the prayer.

May the creator guide us all.

Answer 3

The actual time for Tahajjud Salah is after one wakes up from his/her sleep and the most virtuous time is towards the latter portion of the night. [1] However if one is not able to awaken for the performance of Tahajjud Salah, then he/she should perform Nafl Salah before sleeping.