Question Summary:
what are the rules for salat tahjjud as per hadish. can we pray it at night without sleeping we have common belief that one should take asleep then only tahjjud prayer can be…

Question Detail:

what are the rules for salat tahjjud as per hadish. can we pray it at night without sleeping we have common belief that one should take asleep then only tahjjud prayer can be performed but i have read some where that you can perform it without sleeping but after sleeping is afzal what is right ? 

Answer :

In the name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful

Assalaamu `alaykum waRahmatullahi Wabarakatuh
 
Tahajjud Salaah begins after half the night has passed; whether one sleeps or not, Tahajjud Salaah can be performed. Sleeping is not a condition for the validity of Tahajjud. This is the accepted opinion. However, it is better to sleep and thereafter to rise and perform the Tahajjud Salaah.
 
(Fatawa Rahimiyah vol4 p81)(Mahmoodiya vol7 p234)
(Radul Muhtaar vol2 p23)
 
There is great reward for performing Tahajjud Salāh.
Rasūlulah صلى الله عليه وسلم said:
قال عليكم بقيام الليل فإنه دأب الصالحين قبلكم وهو قربة إلى ربكم ومكفرة للسيئات ومنهاة للإثم
“Perform Tahajjud Salāh; for indeed it was the practice of those before you, and it is a means of gaining nearness to your Lord, and it is atonement for bad deeds and it prevents sins.”         (Tirmidhi)
 
أشراف أمتي حملة القرآن و أصحاب الليل
“The most noble of my Ummah are the Huffādh and those who perform Tahajjud.”       (Bayĥaqi)
 
قال يا أيها الناس أفشوا السلام وأطعموا الطعام وصلوا بالليل والناس نيام تدخلوا الجنة بسلام
“Oh people! Spread Salām, feed the people, perform Tahajjud whilst people are asleep, you will enter Jannah with peace.”      (Ibni Mājah)
 
أفضل الصلاة بعد الفريضة قيام الليل وأفضل الصيام بعد رمضان المحرم
 
“The most virtuous Salāh after the Fardh Salāh is Tahajjud and the most virtuous Fast after Ramadhān is Muĥarram.”              (Nasāi)
 
قالت عائشة رضي الله عنها
لا تدع قيام الليل فإن رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم كان لا يدعه وكان إذا مرض أو كسل صلى قاعدا
Hazrat Aysha رضي الله عنها said: “Do not leave Tahajjud; verily Rasūlulah صلى الله عليه وسلم would not omit it; when he was sick or tired, he would perform it sitting down.”       (Abu dawud)
 
And Allah knows best
Wassalaamu `alaykum
Ml. Zakariyya bin Ahmed,
Student Darul Iftaa
Checked and Approved by:
Mufti Ebrahim Desai
Darul Iftaa, Madrassah In'aamiyyah