Mu' meneen Brothers and Sisters,

As Salaam Aleikum wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuh.  (May Allah's Peace, Mercy and Blessings be upon all of you)

One of our brothers/sisters has asked this question:

asalamu alikum wa rahmatulla

cud u tell me how to and when to perform the salats for tahajjud,aba beel,tasbee and the other salats u can do

ja zakallah

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Answer:

How to pray tahajjud?

In the name of Allah, We praise Him, seek His help and ask for His forgiveness. Whoever Allah guides none can misguide, and whoever He allows to fall astray, none can guide them aright. We bear witness that there is no one (no idol, no person, no grave, no prophet, no imam, no dai, nobody!) worthy of worship but Allah Alone, and we bear witness that Muhammad(saws) is His slave-servant and the seal of His Messengers.

Ref: Tahajjud Prayers

The number of rakah for Tahajjud have not been fixed. There is an authentic narration that the Messenger of Allah (saws) used to pray 11 rakahs including witr, and there is also another narration that states that he (saws) prayed 13 rakahs including witr.

The Messenger of Allah (saws) used to pray the Tahajjud in the last third part of the night, and he would perform it in a two rakah combination and advised the believers to do the same. There is no minimum set, thus the minimum if one wants to pray the voluntary night prayers would be two rakahs. And there is no maximum set, thus one can pray any number of rakahs in a two rakah combination and end it with the witr prayers. The Tahajjud or night prayers are voluntary and the more one prays, the more reward he/she will earn from Allah Subhanah.

Ref: Aba-beel

To the best of our knowledge ‘aba-beel’ is the name of a small bird in the Arabic language as used in the Quran in the 105^th Surah Al-Feel verse 3.

Maybe the prayer you are referring to is the ‘Salaat ul Awwa-been’. This prayer is also called the ‘Salaat ud-Duha’ and is prayed in the morning after the sun has completely and absolutely risen until the time of zawaal.

Hadrat Anas (r.a.) said : "During a journey, I saw the Messenger of Allah (saws) pray eight rak'at in the early day.”

Related by Ahmad and An-Nisai.

The Sunnah is to pray the Salaat ul-Awwa-been’ or early day prayer in a four x two rakah combination. There is no minimum set, thus the minimum if one wants to pray these voluntary prayers would be two rakahs. And there is no maximum set, thus one can pray any number of rakahs in a two rakah combination.

Ref: Salaat ut-Tasbeeh

'Ikrimah reports from Ibn 'Abbas that the Messenger of Allah (saws) said to 'Abbas ibn 'Abdal-Mutalib: "O 'Abbas, O Uncle, shall I not give you, shall I not present to you, shall I not donate to you, shall I not tell you ten things which, if you do, Allah will forgive your first and last sins, past and present sins, intentional and unintentional sins, private and public sins? The ten actions are: pray four rak'at, reciting in every rak'ah al-Fatihah and a surah. And when you finish the Qur'anic recitation of the first rak'ah, say, while standing, 'Subhanallah, al-hamdulillah, wa la ilaha illallah, wa Allahu Akbar' ['Glory be to Allah. All praise is due to Allah. There is no God except Allah. Allah is the greatest.'] fifteen times. Then make ruku', and while you are in ruku', say the same ten times; then stand, and say the same ten times. Then go down and make sajdah, and while you're in sajdah, say the same ten times. Then sit after the sajdah, and say the same ten times. Then make sajdah, and say the same ten times. Then sit after the second sajdah, and say the same another ten times. That is seventy-five [repetitions of the phrases] in each rak'ah. Do that in each of the four rak'at. If you can pray it once a day, do so. If you cannot, then once every Friday. If you cannot do that, then once a year. And if you cannot do that then once in your life."

This is related by Abu Dawud, Ibn Majah, Ibn Khuzaimah in his sahih, and at-Tabarani.

The above narration by Ikrimah is quoted as ‘sahih’ or authentic by many recorders of ahaadiths. Some scholars say that the above narration is not authentic, and there is no mention of the Prayer of Tasbih or ‘Salaat ul Tasbih’ in any of the four major schools of thought.

If one prays the above prayer and his intention is to follow the Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah (saws), he will have his due reward from Allah Subhanah, Insha Allah.

Whatever written of Truth and benefit is only due to Allah’s Assistance and Guidance, and whatever of error is of me. Allah Alone Knows Best and He is the Only Source of Strength.

Your Brother in Islam,

Burhan