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:

ASSALAMU ALAIKUM

I HAVE BEEN ASKING THE SAME QUESTION TWICE AND STILL HAVENT GOT AN APPROPRIATE ANSWER

CAN U PLS TELL ME HOW MANY SUNNAH,NAFL AND VITHR PRAYERS ARE THERE FOR ISHA PRAYER..INCLUDING HOW MANY RAKAAHS FOR EACH PRAYER

THANK U

MAY ALLAH REWARD U ABUNDANTLY

JAZAKALLAH HIER

(There may be some grammatical and spelling errors in the above statement. The forum does not change anything from questions, comments and statements received from our readers for circulation in confidentiality.)

Answer:

Prayers after Isha

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.

Firstly, please allow us to clarify the difference between Fard, Sunnah and Nafl prayers.

Fard prayers: These are the five obligatory prayers at their appointed times of the day. If one prays them, he will earn a huge reward from Allah Subhanah; and if one does not pray them, it will be considered a grave sin.

Nafl prayers: These are the voluntary prayers. If one prays them, he will earn a huge reward from Allah Subhanah; and if one does not pray them, there is no sin.

Sunnah prayers: These are the Nafl or voluntary prayers which were prayed by the Messenger of Allah (saws), and thus they become his (saw’s) Sunnah for us. If one prays them, he will earn a huge reward from Allah Subhanah; and if one does not pray them, there is no sin. The most that can be said of one who does not pray the Sunnah prayers is that he lost a great opportunity to earn huge rewards from Allah Subhanah.

Your Question: CAN U PLS TELL ME HOW MANY VITHR AND NAFIL PRAYERS ARE THR ALONG WITH THE NORMAL ISHA AND SUNNATH PRAYER PLS TELL ME THE NO OF RAKAAHS AS WELL

The ‘Isha’ or obligatory night prayer consists of four rakahs, followed by a two rakah Sunnah. There is absolutely no limit to the number of rakahs one may pray as ‘nafl’ or voluntary prayers. If one wishes not to pray any ‘nafl’ prayers, there is no sin upon him; and if he prays the ‘nafl’ prayers, he will earn extra reward from the Merciful Lord. One may pray any number of two-rakah combinations, as there is absolutely no minimum or maximum number of rakahs he can pray for ‘nafl’.

The Messenger of Allah (saws) used to pray the witr prayers in a number of two rakah formations, and then end the prayer with three rakahs of witr. The witr prayers can be prayed with a two rakah prayer, and then a one-rakah prayer; or a straight three-rakah prayer with only one tasleem. The Messenger of Allah (saws) guided the believers to pray the 3-rakahs of witr at the end of all his night prayers, and make the witr the last prayers of the night.

Hadrat Ali (r.a.) said: "The witr prayer is not required like your obligatory prayers, but the Prophet (saws) would perform the witr prayer and say: 'O you people [followers] of the Qur'an, perform the witr prayer, for Allah is one and He loves the witr.'" This is related by Ahmad, an-Nasa'i, Abu Dawud, Ibn Majah, at-Tirmidhi, and Al-Hakim.

Sahih Al-Bukhari Hadith 2.105 Narrated by Ibn Umar

Once a person asked Allah's Messenger (saws) about the night prayer. Allah's Messenger (saws) replied, "The night prayer is offered as two Rakat, followed by two Rakat, and so on, and if anyone is afraid of the approaching dawn (Fajr prayer) he should pray one Rakah, and this will be a Witr for all the Rakat which he has prayed before."

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