Fajr nafl prayer ( ar, رَغِيبَةُ الْفَجْرِ ; ''dawn supererogatory prayer'') is an
Islamic
prayer
Prayer is an invocation or act that seeks to activate a rapport with an object of worship through deliberate communication. In the narrow sense, the term refers to an act of supplication or intercession directed towards a deity or a deifi ...
(''salat'') that is performed after the second
adhan
Adhan ( ar, أَذَان ; also variously transliterated as athan, adhane (in French), azan/azaan (in South Asia), adzan (in Southeast Asia), and ezan (in Turkish), among other languages) is the Islamic call to public prayer (salah) in a mosq ...
of
dawn
Dawn is the time that marks the beginning of twilight before sunrise. It is recognized by the appearance of indirect sunlight being scattered in Earth's atmosphere, when the centre of the Sun's disc has reached 18° below the observer's ho ...
and before ''
Fajr'' (dawn-time prayer).
Presentation
The supererogatory or optional dawn prayer is a pair of
rakat
A Rak'ah ( ar, ركعة ', ; plural: ') is a single iteration of prescribed movements and supplications performed by Muslims as part of the prescribed obligatory prayer known as salah. Each of the five daily prayers observed by Muslims consis ...
s which are offered to ''God'' (''
Allah
Allah (; ar, الله, translit=Allāh, ) is the common Arabic word for God. In the English language, the word generally refers to God in Islam. The word is thought to be derived by contraction from '' al- ilāh'', which means "the god", ...
'') Almighty just before performing the obligatory
Fajr prayer
The Fajr prayer ( ar, صلاة الفجر ', "dawn prayer") is one of the five mandatory salah (Islamic prayer), to be performed anytime starting from the moment of dawn, but not after sunrise. As an Islamic day starts at sunset, the Fajr praye ...
which is ''
fard
' ( ar, فرض) or ' () or fardh in Islam is a religious duty commanded by God. The word is also used in Turkish, Persian, Pashto, Urdu (''spelled farz''), and Malay (''spelled fardu or fardhu'') in the same meaning. Muslims who obey such c ...
''.
This
nafilah is considered by
Muslim jurists (''
fuqaha'') to be a ', and it represents the beginning of the daytime prayers of the ''Muslim'' day, while the
Witr
Witr ( ar, وتر) is an Islamic prayer (''salat'') that is performed at night after '' Isha'' (night-time prayer) or before '' fajr'' (dawn prayer). Witr has an odd number of ''raka'at'' prayed in pairs, with the final raka'ah prayed separate ...
is the closing of the nighttime prayers just after the
Chafa'a prayer.
This ''Fajr nafilah'' is included in the prayers of ''
regular Nafl prayers (ar - صلاة النافلة)'', which are the ''Sunnah prayers'' that follow the five obligatory prayers ( ar, الصَّلَوَاتُ الْخَمْسَةُ).
This supererogatory is performed before the obligatory ''dawn prayer'', is classified as a ''confirmed Sunnah'' according to Islamic legal evidence, is made of two ''rakates'' before the ''Fajr prayer'' are sealed with one
taslim, and
Muhammad
Muhammad ( ar, مُحَمَّد; 570 – 8 June 632 CE) was an Arab religious, social, and political leader and the founder of Islam. According to Islamic doctrine, he was a prophet divinely inspired to preach and confirm the monot ...
used to preserve it in his home, in his travel, and advise his companions (''
Sahaba
The Companions of the Prophet ( ar, اَلصَّحَابَةُ; ''aṣ-ṣaḥāba'' meaning "the companions", from the verb meaning "accompany", "keep company with", "associate with") were the disciples and followers of Muhammad who saw or m ...
'') to pray it.
Muhammad confirmed it by doing it when he was not traveling, and even when he was on the move, as he preserved it and never left it, and encouraged it in the ''
hadith
Ḥadīth ( or ; ar, حديث, , , , , , , literally "talk" or "discourse") or Athar ( ar, أثر, , literally "remnant"/"effect") refers to what the majority of Muslims believe to be a record of the words, actions, and the silent approval ...
'' that Imam
Muslim ibn al-Hajjaj
Abū al-Ḥusayn ‘Asākir ad-Dīn Muslim ibn al-Ḥajjāj ibn Muslim ibn Ward ibn Kawshādh Banu Qushayr, al-Qushayrī an-Naysābūrī ( ar, أبو الحسين عساكر الدين مسلم بن الحجاج بن مسلم بن وَرْد ب� ...
narrated in his book
Sahih Muslim
Sahih Muslim ( ar, صحيح مسلم, translit=Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim), group=note is a 9th-century ''hadith'' collection and a book of ''sunnah'' compiled by the Persian scholar Muslim ibn al-Ḥajjāj (815–875). It is one of the most valued bo ...
within the chapter on ':
}
,
, author =
Hadith
Ḥadīth ( or ; ar, حديث, , , , , , , literally "talk" or "discourse") or Athar ( ar, أثر, , literally "remnant"/"effect") refers to what the majority of Muslims believe to be a record of the words, actions, and the silent approval ...
Imam
Al-Tabarani
Abū al-Qāsim Sulaymān ibn Aḥmad ibn Ayyūb ibn Muṭayyir al-Lakhmī al-Shāmī al-Ṭabarānī (Arabic: أبو القاسم سليمان بن أحمد بن أيوب بن مطير اللَّخمي الشامي الطبراني) (AH 260/c. 87 ...
also narrated in his book
Al-Mu'jam al-Kabir another ''hadith'' about the encouragement of this supererogatory, which reads:
}
,
, author =
Hadith
Ḥadīth ( or ; ar, حديث, , , , , , , literally "talk" or "discourse") or Athar ( ar, أثر, , literally "remnant"/"effect") refers to what the majority of Muslims believe to be a record of the words, actions, and the silent approval ...
See also
*
Fajr prayer
The Fajr prayer ( ar, صلاة الفجر ', "dawn prayer") is one of the five mandatory salah (Islamic prayer), to be performed anytime starting from the moment of dawn, but not after sunrise. As an Islamic day starts at sunset, the Fajr praye ...
*
Dawn
Dawn is the time that marks the beginning of twilight before sunrise. It is recognized by the appearance of indirect sunlight being scattered in Earth's atmosphere, when the centre of the Sun's disc has reached 18° below the observer's ho ...
*
Adhan
Adhan ( ar, أَذَان ; also variously transliterated as athan, adhane (in French), azan/azaan (in South Asia), adzan (in Southeast Asia), and ezan (in Turkish), among other languages) is the Islamic call to public prayer (salah) in a mosq ...
*
Witr
Witr ( ar, وتر) is an Islamic prayer (''salat'') that is performed at night after '' Isha'' (night-time prayer) or before '' fajr'' (dawn prayer). Witr has an odd number of ''raka'at'' prayed in pairs, with the final raka'ah prayed separate ...
*
*
*
References
{{Authority control
Salah
Salah terminology