What is qiyām al-layl? How did the Prophet ﷺ pray at night?
The night prayer is the defining mark of the righteous in the Qur'an. The scholars described it with loving detail — its rakʿahs, its duʿāʾ, its place in the spiritual life of the believer.
2 passages from 1 book in the library
The classical approach.
These passages are drawn from 1 book by Imam al-Ghazali — part of the classical Sunni tradition that carries over a thousand years of reflection on the Qurʾān, the authentic Sunnah, and the consensus of the early community. Nothing below is a paraphrase. The words are the scholars' own, translated from the original Arabic manuscripts.
11th–12th century · Ṭūs, Khurāsān
Reviving the inner life of Islam through the Iḥyāʾ ʿUlūm al-Dīn — one of the most influential works ever written in any religious tradition.
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"Aisha, may Allah be pleased with her, shared that if the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, was unable to perform his night prayer due to sleep or illness, he would make up for it by praying 12 units at the start of the day."
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"Aisha's Hadith, narrated by Muslim, states that if the Prophet, peace be upon him, was overcome by sleep or illness and missed his night prayer, he would make it up during the day."
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