Reviving the night (worship through the night)

Reviving the night (ihya' al-layl). The jurists mean by it spending the night, or most of it, in worship: prayer, remembrance, recitation of the Qur'an and the like; so the period is most of the night and the act covers every form of worship. ¹ Related terms. Standing in prayer at night (qiyam al-layl) need not fill most of the night; an hour of it suffices, and the act in it is prayer; the term is sometimes used for reviving the night. Tahajjud is only after sleep, and many jurists use it for night prayer in general. ^{1 2} Its legal basis. The jurists agree that reviving particular nights named in a text is recommended, and so is reviving any night, since voluntary worship at night, such as supplication and seeking forgiveness, is strongly recommended, above all in the last part of the night and at the dawn hours; the hadith of Jabir speaks of an hour in the night in which a Muslim who asks God for good in this world and the next is given it. ^{1 2} Kinds. Reviving nights named by a text, such as the last ten nights of Ramadan and the first ten of Dhu al-Hijja; and reviving the time between sunset and the night prayer each night. ² Gathering to revive the night. The Hanafis and Shafi'is dislike a gathering in the mosques to revive a night other than the taraweeh; they hold the sunna is for people to revive the night alone. The Hanbalis allow night prayer in congregation as they allow it alone, since the Prophet ﷺ did both, though most of his voluntary prayer was alone. The Malikis distinguish a large group from a small one and a known place from an unknown one: a small group may gather in an unknown place without dislike, unless the night is one whose gathering is named as an innovation, such as the middle of Sha'ban or the day of Ashura, when it is disliked. ² Reviving the whole night. The Shafi'is and Hanbalis dislike spending the whole night in worship, relying on the report of Aisha that she never saw the Prophet stand the whole night until dawn; they excepted particular nights, relying on the report that when the last ten nights of Ramadan began he revived the whole night. ² Its manner. It is done by any worship: prayer, Qur'an recitation, hadith and listening to it, glorification, praise, and blessing upon the Prophet; one may pray at least two rak'as. The number of rak'as, and whether they are in pairs, is treated under «qiyam al-layl». ^{2 3} One may also revive the night by supplication and seeking forgiveness, and it is recommended to multiply them through the night, most strongly in the last part and best at the dawn hours. ³ Anas is reported to have said that they were commanded to ask forgiveness at dawn seventy times; Nafi reports that Ibn Umar revived the night and asked whether dawn had come, and when told it had, he sat seeking forgiveness. ³ The excellent nights. The nights whose excellence is reported are: Friday night, the nights of the two festivals, the nights of Ramadan (the last ten of them, including the Night of Power), the first ten nights of Dhu al-Hijja, the middle of Sha'ban, and the first night of Rajab. ^{3 4} Friday night. The Shafi'is state that to single out Friday night for night prayer is disliked, since a hadith forbids singling it out from other nights; reviving it without prayer is not disliked, especially by sending blessings on the Prophet, which is sought on it; combining it with the night before or after is not disliked, by analogy with fasting. ⁴ The two festivals. Reviving the nights of the two festivals is recommended by agreement, on the hadith that whoever stands the nights of the two festivals seeking reward will not have his heart die on the day hearts die. The Hanafis, following Ibn Abbas, hold that the reward of reviving them is obtained by praying the night prayer in congregation and resolving to pray the dawn prayer in congregation. ⁴ The nights of Ramadan. The Muslims agree that standing the nights of Ramadan is a sunna, and the last ten are singled out, since the Prophet, when they began, revived the night, woke his family and tightened his waist-wrap, seeking the Night of Power. ^{4 5} The middle of Sha'ban. Most jurists hold that reviving it is recommended, on the hadith of the descent of God in that night to the lowest heaven. ⁵ Al-Ghazali set out a special way of reviving it, which the Shafi'is rejected as a reprehensible innovation; al-Thawri called that prayer a forged, ugly and reprehensible innovation. ⁵ Gathering for the middle of Sha'ban. Most jurists dislike gathering for it; the Hanafis and Malikis say it is an innovation and that the authorities must forbid it; al-Awza'i disliked gathering in mosques for prayer on it. ^{5 6} The first ten nights of Dhu al-Hijja. The Hanafis and Hanbalis state that reviving them is recommended, on the report that no days are more beloved to God for worship in them than these, and that a night of them equals the Night of Power. ⁶ The first night of Rajab, the middle of Rajab, and the night of Ashura. Some Hanafis and Hanbalis mention reviving them as recommended. ⁶ Between sunset and the night prayer. This time is excellent, and it is legislated to revive it with acts of obedience, prayer being the best, or Qur'an recitation, or remembrance; a number of Companions, Successors and early pious people revived it, and the four imams are reported to have done so. Several hadiths support it; taken together they establish its legitimacy; one is the hadith of Aisha on whoever prays twenty rak'as after sunset, a house in paradise is built for him, which is weak; another is the hadith of Ibn Umar about six rak'as, which is also weak in its wording. ^{6 7} Its ruling. There is no dispute that reviving the time between sunset and the night prayer is recommended, and the Shafi'is and Malikis hold it strongly recommended. ⁷ Number of rak'as. Some hold it is six, the view of Abu Hanifa and the preferred Hanbali view, on Ibn Umar's hadith; a Hanbali narration says four, and a third says twenty. The Shafi'is hold its least is two and its most twenty, reconciling the hadiths. The Malikis set no maximum, but six is preferred. ⁷ This prayer is called the prayer of the penitents (salat al-awwabin), and also the prayer of heedlessness; the naming does not conflict with the hadith on the prayer of the penitents being when the young camels are roused by the heat, since each prayer may be called so. ⁷ The prayer of al-Raghaib. A report exists about a prayer called the prayer of al-Raghaib on the first Friday night of Rajab between the two night prayers; al-Ghazali mentions it in the Ihya; al-Iraqi said it is fabricated, and al-Hajjawi noted that it is an innovation without basis. ⁷