What are the best times for duʿāʾ to be answered?
The Prophet ﷺ identified specific windows: the last third of the night, between adhān and iqāmah, during sujūd, on Friday at a hidden moment, when rain falls. The classical scholars added layers of context.
10 passages from 5 books in the library
The most blessed time for supplication is the last third of the night, alongside other windows the scholars preserved. Al-Ghazali, in the Mysteries of Supplication, relates the hadith that Allah descends to the lowest heaven in the last third of the night, asking who is calling upon Him so that He may answer. In his arrangement of litanies he counsels standing in prayer during that final portion, when one's worship occurs in the depths of the night. Ibn Kathir notes Mūsā too turned to Allah as a third of the night passed.
Drawn from the classical sources below — in the scholars' own words.
The classical approach.
These passages are drawn from 5 books by Ibn Kathir, Ibn Battuta, and 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.
14th century · Bosra, Syria
Monumental history Al-Bidāyah wa al-Nihāyah, the world's most widely read Qurʾanic commentary, and the classical Stories of the Prophets.
More on Ibn Kathir →
· Provenance →
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"Musa did so when a third of the night had passed he was overcome by drowsiness and fell to his knees"
14th century · Tangier, Morocco
The Riḥlah — a 30-year, 75,000-mile journey across three continents, and the most important travel account of the pre-modern world.
More on Ibn Battuta →
· Provenance →
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"third of the night, along with Quranic recitation, making it one of the blessed mosque's glories."
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"the last third of the night, whereupon one of the poor cried out and lost consciousness."
14th century · Tangier, Morocco
The Riḥlah — a 30-year, 75,000-mile journey across three continents, and the most important travel account of the pre-modern world.
More on Ibn Battuta →
· Provenance →
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"We left at one third of the night when the horns were sounded, a custom that when sounded,"
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"I traveled until a third of the night passed, arriving at a mountain where I slept beneath"
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.
More on Imam al-Ghazali →
· Provenance →
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"third of the night and the last sixth, allowing one's standing to occur in the depths and"
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"remembrances of the day, perform prayers for a third of the night from the latter half,"
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"The third level is to stand for a third of the night, sleeping the first half and the"
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.
More on Imam al-Ghazali →
· Provenance →
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"The hadith, Allah descends to the lowest heaven every night when a third of the night"
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"when the last third of the night remains, and says, Who is calling upon me so that I"
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