Tahajjud Prayer: How to Pray, Time & Dua

Tahajjud is voluntary night prayer offered after waking from sleep, after Isha and before Fajr. It is also called Tahajjud Salah, Salaah, or Namaz. It is recommended worship rather than one of the five obligatory daily prayers.

You do not need to begin with a long prayer routine. Learn one complete pair of rakats, check your local Fajr time, and build a practice you can maintain.

The following explains a simple two-rakat prayer when praying alone. Use the recitations and posture details taught in your school. Our How to Pray Salah guide explains the basic movements and sitting recitations.

1. Prepare and make your intention

   After praying Isha and sleeping, wake before Fajr. Make wudu as needed, cover appropriately, and face the Qibla. Intend in your heart to offer voluntary night prayer; no special spoken Tahajjud formula is required.

2. Begin the first rakat

   Say Allahu akbar to begin. Recite your usual opening supplication, Al-Fatihah, and another surah or Quranic passage you know. There is no unique Tahajjud surah that every worshipper must recite.

3. Bow and prostrate

   Perform ruku with its usual remembrance, return to standing, and then perform two prostrations with a sitting between them. Rise for the second rakat.

4. Complete the second rakat

   Recite Al-Fatihah and another surah or passage. Complete the bowing, standing, and two prostrations as in the first rakat.

5. Sit and finish with salam

   Sit for the tashahhud, blessings upon the Prophet, and the concluding supplication according to your school. End the two-rakat prayer with salam.

6. Continue if you wish

   You may stop after two rakats or offer further pairs. Make dua and leave enough time for Witr, if you have not already prayed it, before Fajr enters.

Beginning night prayer with two short rakats is reported in Sahih Muslim 768. Short does not mean rushed: complete each posture calmly.

The prayer window is after performing Isha and before the start of Fajr. For Tahajjud in its specific sense, sleep first and then wake to pray. The end of the window is true dawn, not sunrise and not the later time when a mosque holds its Fajr congregation.

Best time for Tahajjud prayer

The last third of the night is a particularly blessed time for prayer, asking Allah, and seeking forgiveness, as described in Sahih al-Bukhari 1145. You do not have to wait until that period for your earlier night prayer to be valid.

How to calculate the last third of the night

Use the interval from sunset (Maghrib) to the following Fajr. Divide that duration by three, then subtract one third from Fajr. Do not use the Isha-to-Fajr interval for this calculation.

Your times change with your location and date. Use the evening’s sunset and the following morning’s Fajr from the same local timetable. On a daylight-saving clock-change night, use the actual elapsed duration with the correct time offsets.

Ibn Abbas reported this supplication from the Prophet when he rose for night prayer. The text below follows Sahih al-Bukhari 1120, using its “la ilaha illa anta” ending. This is a reported night-prayer supplication, not a mandatory formula to recite after every two rakats.

What should I ask for in Tahajjud dua?

Ask Allah for forgiveness, guidance, help in your responsibilities, and what is good for you and others. After finishing the prayer, you may make personal dua in your own language. Rules about wording and language inside Salah differ by school.

You do not need to memorize the full supplication before beginning Tahajjud. Learn it gradually. Do not treat a fixed number of nights or repetitions as a guarantee that a particular request will happen.

Begin with two rakats. A straightforward way to continue is 2 + 2 + 2 + 2, ending each pair with salam. Witr is separate from those pairs.

Eight rakats are a well-known recommended practice. Aisha’s report in Sahih al-Bukhari 1147 describes eight followed by three, making eleven in that account. Do not turn “eleven including Witr” into a requirement to pray eleven rakats of Tahajjud before adding Witr.

Scholarly descriptions of the maximum differ: some Hanafi manuals describe eight for Tahajjud, while other guidance permits additional voluntary night prayer without a fixed ceiling. Two rakats remain a practical starting point; you do not need eight to begin.

Qiyam al-Layl is the broader term for night worship, including prayer and other worship. Tahajjud, in the specific definition explained by Egypt’s Dar Al-Ifta, is night prayer after sleep.

If you pray after Isha without sleeping, that is still valuable voluntary night prayer. Calling it Qiyam rather than Tahajjud does not mean the prayer is invalid. The practical two-rakat prayer method remains the same.

How to pray Qiyam al-Layl

After Isha, offer voluntary prayer in pairs using the steps above. You may do this before bed or after waking. If your aim is specifically Tahajjud, sleep first, then wake before Fajr.

If you expect to wake for night prayer, offer your Tahajjud pairs and then finish with Witr. If you are unsure you will wake, pray Witr before sleeping.

You can pray Tahajjud after Witr. If you already prayed Witr earlier, offer your later voluntary prayers in pairs without repeating Witr that night. This also applies if you prayed Witr with the imam after Taraweeh.

Witr’s form differs by school. See our Witr prayer guide for the three-rakat Hanafi method and the separately explained two-plus-one method.

• A highly valued voluntary prayer: Sahih Muslim 1163a gives night prayer a special rank after the obligatory prayers.
• A time for supplication and forgiveness: Sahih al-Bukhari 1145 highlights asking Allah and seeking forgiveness in the final third of the night.
• An opportunity for attentive worship: a manageable prayer routine gives you time to recite, reflect, and make dua without rushing.

These teachings encourage worship and hope. They do not establish a guaranteed timetable for marriage, wealth, healing, or any other specific worldly result.