بســـم اللــه الرحــمــن الـرحـــيــم

ADVICE TO CONTINUE OFFERING THE NIGHT PRAYERS BEYOND RAMAḌHĀN | by Sheikh Abdulḥamīd Az-Zu'kari -ḥafidhahullāh- All praise be to Allāh, and peace and blessings be upon the Messenger of Allāh. I bear witness that there is no diety worthy of worship except Allāh, alone without any partners, and I bear witness that Muḥammad is His servant and Messenger -peace and blessings of Allāh be upon him; an abundance of peace. As you're all aware, tonight is the 29th (of Ramaḍhān), and Allāh knows best if the month will be 29 or 30 days. Nonetheless, here is a piece of advice for those who've partaken in the night prayers with us; whether they are from the sisters or the brothers; because we know that some of the blessed sisters partook on the sister's side. So the advice is to continue offering the night prayers, because the night prayers are not limited to Ramaḍhān. Only that it is has more merit during Ramaḍhān, as the Prophet ﷺ said: “Whoever stands in prayer during the nights of Ramaḍhān, with faith and seeking Allāh's reward, will have his previous sins forgiven.” And the Prophet ﷺ also said, “Whoever prays on Laylatul Qadr, with faith and seeking Allāh's reward, will have his previous sins forgiven.” Otherwise, night prayer is legislated throughout the year. Everyone should pray however much they can - upto a maximum of 11 rak‘ahs. If a person is able to pray 11 rak'ahs, then that is the Sunnah of the Prophet ﷺ. And if a person wants, they can pray 9 rak'ahs, or 7 rak'ahs, or 5 rak'ahs, or 3 rak'ahs, and if they can't do that, then at least one. For indeed, the Prophet ﷺ said to Abū Hurairah, Abū Dharr and Abū Ad-Dardā' when counselling them: “perform Witr before going to bed.” So whoever is unable to pray during the last part of the night should pray before going to sleep. After praying ‘Ishā, he should pray whatever Allāh allows him to pray. But if one hopes to wake up during the last part of the night, then prayer during that time is witnessed (by the angels) and that is better. The Prophet ﷺ said: “Whoever hopes to get up during the last part of the night should pray during the last part of the night, for the prayer offered in the last part of the night is witnessed and that is better.” And the closer a person draws to Allāh, the closer Allāh is with him. And the closeness of Allāh implies aid, preservation, protection and assistance. Therefore, may Allāh bless you all, whatever is prescribed in Ramaḍhān there are deeds like it to be done outside of it. Because many people assume that acts of worship are limited to Ramaḍhān. No! Prayer is offered during Ramaḍhān, Charity is given during Ramaḍhān, ‘Umrah is performed during Ramaḍhān, a person engages in Dhikr as well as other voluntary acts during Ramaḍhān. And everything that I just mentioned is also performed outside Ramaḍhān. (for example, the Prophet ﷺ said) “Whoever fasts Ramaḍhān and then follows it up by fasting 6 days from Shawwāl, it will be as though he fasted the entire year.” And the same applies to what I mentioned previously concerning the recommendation of offering the night prayers, as well as being regular in offering the ḍhuḥā prayer and reciting the Qur'ān. All of that is beneficial to us. We ask Allāh to accept from us and you all our righteous speech and actions and to forgive our shortcomings, for He is the Gaurdian and the One capable of that. We seek Allāh's aid, and all praises belong to Allāh - Lord of the worlds. •═ᴊᴏɪɴ-🅻🅴🅰🆁🅽-sʜᴀʀᴇ═•