Abu Zakariyya Ahmed Al-Hudaydi

Do Not Let Your Night Pass Without Prayer — Allah Has Made the Night Prayer Easy! O Muslim, reflect upon the tremendous ease and mercy that Allah has placed within His legislation. How often do we tell ourselves that the night prayer is difficult—that we are too tired, that standing is too burdensome, or that we cannot manage a lengthy prayer—yet when we return to the Sunnah, we find that Allah has opened for us door after door of ease. The night prayer is not restricted to one rigid manner. If you have strength, pray standing, for this is better and carries the complete reward. Yet if you are tired and find standing difficult, you may pray sitting. And even if you have no excuse whatsoever, your voluntary prayer while sitting is still valid, though the one who sits without an excuse receives half the reward of the one who stands. Our Mother ʿĀʾishah (may Allah be pleased with her) said: “The Prophet ﷺ would pray for a long time during the night standing, and for a long time during the night sitting. When he recited while standing, he would bow and prostrate while standing, and when he recited while sitting, he would bow and prostrate while sitting.” [Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim, no. 730] And if you do not wish to remain standing for the entire prayer, nor sitting for the entire prayer, combine between the two. Sit and recite, then stand shortly before the rukūʿ and complete what remains of your recitation while standing. ʿĀʾishah (may Allah be pleased with her) said: “The Messenger of Allah ﷺ used to pray while sitting, and he would recite while sitting. Then, when there remained from his recitation approximately thirty or forty verses, he would stand and recite them while standing. Then he would bow, then prostrate, and he would do the same in the second rakʿah.” [Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī, no. 1119; Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim, no. 731] And if you begin standing but become tired, sit down and continue. If you begin sitting and later find strength, stand and continue. If you pray sitting, you may sit in whichever position brings you comfort and allows you to concentrate upon your Lord, while sitting cross-legged (mutarabbiʿan) is preferable in the places mentioned. ʿĀʾishah (may Allah be pleased with her) said: “I saw the Prophet ﷺ praying while sitting cross-legged.” [al-Nasāʾī, no. 1661; al-Ḥākim, no. 947; authenticated by Shaykh al-Albānī] Look at the vastness of this legislation: stand if you can; sit if you wish; combine between standing and sitting if that is easier; and if sitting, sit in a manner in which you find comfort. Allah did not make drawing near to Him during the night dependent upon possessing extraordinary strength. And if you are genuinely unable to stand due to a valid excuse, you should not imagine that your reward is diminished. As for the one capable of standing who chooses to offer a voluntary prayer sitting, the Prophet ﷺ said: “The prayer of a man sitting is half of the prayer.” [Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim, no. 735] So even the one who is healthy, but on a particular night finds himself overcome by tiredness, still has a door open before him. Rather than saying, “I am too tired to pray tonight,” sit down and pray. Rather than allowing the entire night to pass without a single voluntary rakʿah, offer what Allah has made easy for you. Two light rakʿahs are better than a night from which your share of voluntary prayer is nothing. Perhaps you return home exhausted from work or study. Pray sitting. Perhaps your body is tired but your heart still desires to stand before Allah. Begin sitting and stand when you find strength. Perhaps you begin standing with enthusiasm but fatigue overtakes you. Sit and continue. Perhaps you cannot manage lengthy recitation. Recite what is easy for you. The objective is not that every night must resemble the worship of those capable of standing for hours; the objective is that you do not abandon this tremendous door of drawing close to Allah merely because you cannot do the most complete form of it.