Assalaamu alaikum
Alhamdulillah and below is part two of the treatise.
Recitation during three rak'ahs of witr
14 - It is Sunnah to recite Sabbih bi ismi Rabbika al-'A'laa in the first rak'ah, Qul Yaa ayyuha'l-Kaafiroon in the second rak'ah, and Qul Huwa Allaahu ahad in the third rak'ah. Sometimes Qul a'oodhu bi Rabbi'l-Falaq and Qul a'oodhu bi Rabbi'l-Naas may be added as well.
It was reported in a saheeh report that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) once recited one hundred aayaat of Soorat al-Nisa' in one rak'ah of witr.
Du'aa' al-Qunoot
15 - A person may also humble himself before Allaah by reciting the du'aa' which the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) taught to his grandson al-Hasan ibn 'Ali (may Allaah be pleased with him), which is:
"Allaahumma'hdinee fiman hadayta wa 'aafinee fiman 'aafayta wa tawallanee fiman tawallayta wa baarik lee fimaa a'tayta wa qinee sharra maa qadayt, fa innaka taqdee wa laa yuqdaa 'alayk. Wa innahu laa yadhillu man waalayta wa laa ya'izzu man 'aadayt. Tabaarakta Rabbanaa wa ta'aalayt. Laa majaa minka illa ilayk (O Allaah, guide me along with those whom You have guided, pardon me along with those whom You have pardoned, be an ally to me along with those whom You are an ally to, and bless for me that which You have bestowed. Protect me from the evil You have decreed for verily You decree and none can decree over You. For surety, he whom You show allegiance to is never abased and he whom You take an enemy is never honored and mighty. O our Lord, Blessed and Exalted are You. There is no refuge from You except with You)."
Sometimes one may send blessings on the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him), and there is nothing wrong with adding other du'aa's that are known from the Sunnah.
16 - There is nothing wrong with reciting Qunoot after rukoo', or with adding curses against the kuffaar, sending blessings on the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) or praying for the Muslims in the second half of Ramadaan, because it is proven that the imaam used to do this at the time of 'Umar (may Allaah be pleased with him). At the end of the hadeeth of 'Abd al-Rahmaan ibn 'Ubayd al-Qaari mentioned above, it says: ". They used to curse the kuffaar in the middle, saying, 'Allaahumma qaatil al-kafarata alladheena yasuddoona 'an sabeelik wa yukadhdhiboona rusulak wa laa yu'minoona bi wa'dik. Wa khaalif bayna kalimatihim wa alqi fi quloobihim al-ru'b wa alqi 'alayhim rijzaka wa 'adhaabak ilaah al-haqq (O Allaah, destroy the kuffaar who are trying to prevent people from following Your path, who deny Your Messengers and who do not believe in Your promise (the Day of Judgement). Make them disunited, fill their hearts with terror and send Your wrath and punishment against them, O God of Truth)." Then he would send blessings on the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him), and pray for good for the Muslims as much as he could, and seek forgiveness for the believers.
After he had finished cursing the kuffaar, sending blessings on the Prophet, seeking forgiveness for the believing men and women and asking for his own needs, he would say: "Allaahumma iyyaaka na'bud wa laka nusalli wa najud, wa ilayka nas'aa wa nahfud, wa narju rahmataka rabbanaa wa nakhaafu 'adhaabak al-jadd. Inna 'adhaabaka liman 'aadayta mulhaq (O Allaah, You do we worship, to You do we pray and prostrate, for Your sake we strive and toil. We place our hope in Your Mercy, O our Lord, and we fear Your mighty punishment, for Your punishment will certainly overtake the one whom You have taken as an enemy." Then he would say "Allaahu akbar" and go down in sujood.
What should be said at the end of witr
17 - It is Sunnah to say at the end of witr (before or after the salaam):
"Allaahumma innee a'oodhu bi ridaaka min sakhatika wa bi mu'aafaatika min 'aqoobatika, wa a'oodhu bika minka. La uhsee thanaa'an 'alayka, anta kamaa athnayta 'ala nafsik (O Allaah, I seek refuge in Your good pleasure from Your wrath, and in Your protection from Your punishment. I seek refuge with You from You. I cannot praise You enough, and You are as You have praised Yourself."
18 - When he gave salaam at the end of witr, he said: "Subhaan il-Malik il-Quddoos, subhaan il-Malik il-Quddoos, subhaan il-Malik il-Quddoos (Glory be to the Sovereign, the Most Holy), elongating the syllables, and raising his voice the third time.
Two rak'ahs after witr
19 - A person may pray two rak'ahs after witr if he wishes, because it is proven that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) did this. Indeed, he said, "This travelling is exhausting and difficult, so after any one of you prays witr, let him pray two rak'ahs. If he wakes up, this is fine, otherwise these two rak'ahs will be counted for him.
20 - It is Sunnah to recite Idha zulzilat al-ard and Qul yaa ayyuha'l-kaafiroon in these two rak'ahs.
From Qiyaam Ramadaan by al-Albaani
Following the imaam until he finishes Taraaweeh
The most correct opinion is that the number of rak'ahs for Taraaweeh is eleven, but I pray in a mosque where they do twenty one rak'ahs. Can I leave the mosque after the tenth rak'ah, or is it better to complete the twenty one rak'ahs with them?
It is better to stay with the imaam until he finishes, even if he is doing more than eleven rak'ahs, because it is permissible to do the extra rak'ahs, as the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: "Whoever prays qiyaam with the imaam until he finishes, Allaah will record it as if he prayed the whole night" (reported by al-Nisaa'i and others. Sunan al-Nisaa'i, Baab Qiyaam Shahr Ramadaan), and because the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: "Prayer at night should be two by two (rak'ahs), and when dawn approaches, pray one for witr." (Reported by the seven; this version reported by al-Nisaa'i).
There is no doubt that adhering to the Sunnah of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) is better and brings more reward, so long as it is done properly and without haste, but if it is the matter of a choice between leaving the imaam because of the number of rak'ahs or going along with the extra that he does, it is better to go along with him, because of the ahaadeeth referred to above. At the same time, you should advise the imaam to follow the Sunnah.
Which is better during the day in Ramadaan - reading Qur'aan or praying voluntary prayers?
Which is better during the day in Ramadaan - reading Qur'aan or praying voluntary prayers?
Praise be to Allaah.
The Sunnah of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) was to do a lot of different kinds of worship during Ramadaan. Jibreel used to review the Qur'aan with him at night, and when Jibreel met with him, he was more generous in charity than the blowing wind. He was the most generous of people, and he was at his most generous in Ramadaan. At this time he used to give more in charity and treat people even more kindly; he would read more Qur'aan, pray more, recite more dhikr, and spend time in I'tikaaf (retreat). This is the guidance of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) in this aspect of this holy month.
As to whether it is better to read Qur'aan or to pray voluntary prayers, this depends on people's circumstances, and the true evaluation of this is up to Allaah, because He knows all things.
(From al-Jawaab al-Saheeh min Ahkaam Salaat al-Layl wa'l-Taraaweeh, by Shaykh 'Abd al-'Azeez ibn Baaz, p. 45).
A specific action may be better in the case of any given individual, and another may be better for another individual, according to the degree to which a particular action brings a person closer to Allaah. Some people may be influenced more by naafil prayers and may focus on them and do them properly, which will bring them closer to Allaah than other deeds might, so in their case those deeds are better. And Allaah knows best.
Adding another rak'ah to the imaam's witr because one wants to pray some more
Some people, when they pray witr with the imaam and he says salaam, they get up and do another rak'ah, because they want to do more prayers before praying witr later in the night. What is the ruling on this action? Is it considered to be forsaking the prayer with the imaam?
Praise be to Allaah.
We do not see anything wrong with this, and the 'ulama' stated that there is nothing wrong with doing this, so that his witr will be at the end of the night. He will be considered to have prayed with the imaam until he finished, because he stayed with him until he finished, and added another rak'ah for a shar'i reason, which was so that he could pray witr later in the night. There is nothing wrong with this, and it does not mean that he did not stay with the imaam until he finished, but he did not finish with him - he delayed it a little longer.
From al-Jawaab al-Saheeh min Ahkaam Salaat al-Layl wa'l-Taraaweeh by Shaykh 'Abd al-'Azeez ibn Baaz, p. 41.
May Allah make the night prayers easy for us and accept our worship in this auspicious period. He answers the call of the suplicant when he supplicates. He is the All-Hearer and All-Knower.
Allahumma salli wasallim alaa Nabiyyina Muhammad. Wasalaam.
Modou Mbye
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