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:

Asalamualikum... I am a frequent visitor of your site.. I have learnt alot... and shared your knowledge with my friends and family... I have basically two questions to ask you..

1) My mother was asking me the other day about the times to pray tahhajud... I know that it is to be performed in the later 3rd part of the nite.. but what i wanted to ask was that is it important for a person to sleep and then wake up to pray tahhajud.. or one can pray this when they are simply later sleepers and are awake till that time?? Please clearify this..

2) Another thing is that i read the article that mentioned that women can wear nail polishes after performing wadhu... This is fine but what i really wanted to know was that.. since i pray five times a day.. will i have to take my nail polish off five times and apply it five times.. or is this procedure only done once..... Please clarify....

Allah Hafiz

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Answer:

Sleep for tahajjud and nail polish

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.

May Allah Subhanah reward you with the best of this world and the Hereafter for your kind comments of encouragement for our humble efforts in the propagation of the Truth. If our humble and modest efforts have helped even one brother or sister get closer to Allah and His Deen of Truth, then we would consider ourselves indeed fortunate to have been given this opportunity by the Lord Most Merciful to serve in His Cause. We hope, beg, and pray the Merciful Lord accepts our humble and weak efforts, forgives us our shortcomings, and saves you, us, and all the believers from the torment of the Hell Fire. Ameen.

Q-1: My mother was asking me the other day about the times to pray tahhajud... I know that it is to be performed in the later 3rd part of the nite.. but what i wanted to ask was that is it important for a person to sleep and then wake up to pray tahhajud.. or one can pray this when they are simply later sleepers and are awake till that time?? Please clearify this..

Fiqh-us-Sunnah Fiqh 2.25

It is best to delay this prayer to the last third portion of the night. Abu Hurairah reports that the Messenger of Allah (saws) said: "Our Lord descends to the lowest heaven during the last third of the night, inquiring: 'Who will call on Me so that I may respond to him? Who is asking something of Me so I may give it to him? Who is asking for My forgiveness so I may forgive him?"'

Related by Bukhari, Muslim and others.

Amr ibn Abasah reports that he heard the Prophet (saws) say: "The closest that a slave comes to his Lord is during the middle of the latter portion of the night. If you can be among those who remember Allah, the Exalted One, at that time then do so." Related by al-Hakim, Tirmidhi, and AnNasa'i.

'Abdullah ibn 'Amr reports that the Prophet (saws) said: "The most beloved fast to Allah is the fast of David. And the most beloved prayer to Allah is the prayer of David. He would sleep half of the night and then pray during the next third of the night and then sleep during the last sixth of the night. And he would fast one day and not fast the next."

Related by Bukhari, Muslim and others.

It is the Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah (saws) and best if one sleeps after Isha and wakes up again to offer the Tahajjud or late night prayers, but it is not obligatory. If one finds it difficult to wake up again for Tahajjud, then there is no harm if one offers these voluntary night prayers after the Isha prayers or before one goes to sleep.

Q-2: Another thing is that i read the article that mentioned that women can wear nail polishes after performing wadhu... This is fine but what i really wanted to know was that.. since i pray five times a day.. will i have to take my nail polish off five times and apply it five times.. or is this procedure only done once..... Please clarify....

Beloved and dear Sister in Islam, firstly it is not necessary to perform the wudu five times to offer the five obligatory prayers. If one has performed one’s wudu for one prayer, and is in the state of wudu till the time for the next prayer, then there is no need to perform the wudu again. If one’s wudu remains unbroken, one can even offer all the five obligatory prayers with the same wudu.

Thus if one applies nail polish after one has done the wudu for one prayer, and remains in the state of wudu till the time of the next prayer, there is no need to remove the nail polish to perform the prayer. But if the wudu is broken, then the nail polish must be removed in order to fulfill the requirement of wudu, as the wudu cannot be done over the nail polish applied on the nails.

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