All praises are due to Allah, we praise Him and ask Him for His Peace and blessings upon our prophet Muhammad. Brothers and sisters in Islam, there is no doubt that the Nawafil prayers also known as voluntary prayers that we normally observe before or after the obligatory prayers hold special benefits and bountiful rewards.
Despite the numerous benefits and rewards associated with these Nawafil prayers, many Muslims neglect their performance. These can be attributed to several factors such as a lack of understanding of the benefits involved or busy lifestyles.
Alhamdulillah, most Muslims are good at keeping the daily obligatory prayers but are only lazy in performing the Nawafil prayers (voluntary prayers). These voluntary prayers are performed either before or after the compulsory ones and are well established in the Sunnah that our Prophet (Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him) used to perform them regularly.
Significance Of Nawafil Prayers (Voluntary Prayers)
It’s quite unfortunate that a lot of Muslims today are not good at keeping up with the Nawafil prayers and are negligent in observing them. This negligence often stems from a lack of understanding about their significance. We should know that they are important because they complement the compulsory prayers if there is a deficiency or shortcoming on the Day of Judgment.
There is no how we will be observing the daily obligatory prayers without making mistakes and errors in these obligatory prayers. The voluntary prayers that we observe will be used to complement the mistakes and errors we make in our obligatory prayers. Who can guarantee that he observed all his obligatory prayers very well and perfectly without any error?
Of course, none of us are perfect, and no Salah (prayer) is free from distraction or mistake. In this situation, the reward from the Nawafil prayers (voluntary prayers) will be taken to complete and correct the compulsory prayers that have mistakes. The Prophet (Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him) said:
The first thing about which the people will be called to account out of their actions on the Day of Judgment is prayer. Our Lord, the Exalted, will say to the angels – though He knows better: Look into the prayer of My servant and see whether he has offered it perfectly or imperfectly. If it is perfect, that will be recorded perfect.
If it is defective, He will say: See there are some optional prayers offered by My servant. If there are optional prayer to his credit, He will say: Compensate the obligatory prayer by the optional prayer for My servant. Then all the actions will be considered similarly. (Sunan Abi Dawud, 864)
Benefits of Observing the Nawafil Prayers
Regularly observing the Nawafil prayers has a lot of benefits, which we are going to discuss below:
1. It strengthened one’s faith and a means to earn Allah’s pleasure: Repeated acts of worship like observing Nawafil fortify one’s Eeman (faith), making the heart more receptive to guidance, and bringing a believer closer to Allah while elevating one’s rank in Paradise. The Prophet (Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him) said:
“Allah says: My servant does not draw near to Me with anything more loved to Me than the religious duties I have obligated upon him. And My servant continues to draw near to me with nafil (voluntary) deeds until I Love him. When I Love him, I am his hearing with which he hears, and his sight with which he sees, and his hand with which he strikes, and his foot with which he walks. Were he to ask [something] of Me, I would surely give it to him; and were he to seek refuge with Me, I would surely grant him refuge. (Hadith 38, 40 Hadith an-Nawawi)
“The closest that a servant comes to his Lord is when he is prostrating, so increase supplication in prostration.” (Sahih Muslim, 482)
These Hadiths affirm that observing voluntary deeds like voluntary prayers draws us near Allah until He is able to take us as His friend and grant us all our wants.
2. Means of attaining paradise: By constantly adhering to observing the Sunnan Al-Rawatib (the twelve voluntary prayers) daily will be a means that Allah will use to prepare a house in paradise for someone in Heaven. The Prophet (Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him) said:
“Whoever prays twelve Rak’ah in a day and night, a house will be built from him in Paradise: Four Rak’ah before Zuhr, two Rak’ah after it, two Rak’ah after Maghrib, two Rak’ah after Isha, and two Rak’ah before Fajr in the morning Salat.”
Jami` at-Tirmidhi, 415
3. Improved focus in obligatory Salah: Practicing Nawafil prayer (voluntary prayers) enhances mindfulness and concentration in obligatory prayers. This is because someone who observes voluntary prayers very well will be used to correcting errors in his prayer, and also practice mindfulness in the prayer. This will make it easy for him or her to be more mindful of his obligatory prayers, too.
4. Means of getting previous sins forgiven: Two raka’at of mindful voluntary prayer after performing your ablution very well can be a means which your previous sins will be forgiven. The Prophet (Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him) said:
“Whoever performs ablution in the best manner, then prays two cycles, without being unmindful in either of them, his previous sins will be forgiven.”
Sunan Abi Dawud 905
Click here to read about the Times For Each Solat so as to keep the time of prayers in mind always and prepare yourself for the voluntary prayers.
Recommended Nawafil Prayers To Adhere To…
Two raka’at before Salat al-Fajr
The Prophet (Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him) said:
“The two rak’ahs (before) Fajr are better than this world and everything in it.”
(Sahih Muslim, 725 a)
And ‘A’isha reported that the Prophet (Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him) was not as particular about observing the nawafil as much as two rak’ahs of Fajr. He used to pray the two raka’at of Fajr very well.
It is from the Sunnah that there are two light raka’at immediately before Fajr, but not before the time of Fajr has entered. If you miss them before, then you can pray them after the Fajr prayer immediately.
Nawafil Prayers Before And After Dhur
There are different narrations for the nawafil of the Dhur prayer. Some have reported four before it and two after it. But it is more correct to pray four before and two after, or even four before and four after. It was narrated that he (Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him) said:
“Whoever preserves four cycles of prayer before noon prayer and after it, Allah will forbid him from entering the Hellfire.” (Sunan al-Tirmidhi 428)
Abu Qabus reported: My father sent word to Aisha, asking, “Which prayer did the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, most love to perform regularly?”
Aisha said, “The Prophet would perform four cycles before noon prayer, lengthening their standing, bowing and prostrating in the best manner.” (Sunan Ibn Majah 1156)
Nawafil Prayers After Magrib
Thirdly, the sunna of Maghrib is to pray two rak’at after it. The Prophet (Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him) said:
There are two cycles after sunset prayer (Sunan al-Tirmidhi 414)
One can increase this to any rakat that one is capable of, as confirmed in that sunnah that Hudhayfah reported:
I came to the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, and I performed the evening prayer with him. The Prophet continued to pray until the evening prayer. (Sunan al-Tirmidhi 3781)
Nawafil Prayers After Isha
The sunna of Isha is to pray two rak’at after it. The Prophet (Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him) said:
There are two cycles after evening prayer (Sunan al-Tirmidhi 414)
One can increase this to any rakat that one is capable of, as confirmed in that sunnah that Hudhayfah reported:
Aisha reported: The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, never performed the evening prayer and entered my home but that he would then pray four or six cycles. (Sunan Abi Dawud 1303)
Witr Prayer
One of the important Nawafil is Solatul Witr. The Prophet (Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him) said:
“Verily, Allah is numerically odd, and He loves what is odd in number.”
“Make the last of your prayers at night the witr prayer.”
(Muslim)
The timing of Witr is any time from Isha until Fajr. It has to be an odd number of raka’at, but it can be five, three, or even one. It was narrated by Abu Ayub Al-Ansari that the Prophet (Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him) said:
The Witr prayer is a duty upon every Muslim. Whoever likes to pray it with five cycles, let him do so. Whoever likes to pray it with three cycles, let him do so. Whoever likes to pray it with one cycle, let him do so.
Sunan Abi Dawud 1422
Duha (Forenoon) Prayer
The last nafila that we will talk about today is that of Duha. Abu Dharr reported Allah’s Messenger (Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him) as saying:
In the morning charity is due from every bone in the body of every one of you. Every utterance of Allah’s glorification is an act of charity. Every utterance of praise of Him is an act of charity, every utterance of profession of His Oneness is an act of charity, every utterance of profession of His Greatness is an act of charity, enjoining good is an act of charity, forbidding what is distreputable is an act of charity, and two rak’ahs which one prays in the forenoon (Duha) will suffice.
Sahih Muslim, 720
‘Uqbah ibn ‘Amir reported: The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said,
“Verily, Allah Almighty says: O son of Adam, suffice Me with four cycles of prayer at the beginning of the morning and by them I will suffice you for the rest of your day.”
Musnad Ahmad 17390
This means that it is highly recommended to observe four or more Nawafil prayers (voluntary prayers) around this time. Observing the Solatul Duha has a tremendous reward for the day’s action. Salat Al-duha can be prayed from about fifteen minutes after sunrise and until Salat al-Dhuhr.
Where should we observe our Nawafil Prayers?
It is highly recommended to observe the Nawafil prayers (voluntary prayers) at home. This is the practice of our Prophet as he used to observe the voluntary prayers at home. The Prophet (Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him) said:
“When you have finished your Fard Salat (obligatory prayer) in the mosque, you should observe some of your (Sunnah and Nawafil) Salat at home; Allah will bless your homes because of your Salat (in your homes)” (Riyad as-Salihin, 1130)
I pray to Allah (subhanahu wa ta’ala) to help us keep our obligatory prayers and Nawafil prayers and reward us for them. Aameen.
