Tahajjud — The Sufi and Islamic Night Vigil
The pre-dawn prayer of tahajjud, performed in the last third of the night, is celebrated in the Quran and Sufi practice as a time of nearness to God and the descent of blessing, or barakah.
Tahajjud is the voluntary night prayer offered in the final third of the night before the dawn prayer of Fajr, and the Quran praises those who forsake their beds to call upon their Lord in hope and awe. The Prophet Muhammad described the last third of the night as the hour when the divine mercy draws nearest and prayers are most readily answered. Sufis treasure these hours for dhikr, the remembrance of God, which they hold opens the heart to barakah — the subtle blessing that multiplies the good in one's wealth, time, and work. To rise in this hour is to seek not merely material increase but the grace that makes a little go far. The discipline parallels the Vedic Brahmamuhurta and Sikh Amrit Vela, a striking convergence of world traditions on the spiritual potency of the pre-dawn hour.
And in a part of the night, pray with it as an additional prayer for you; perhaps your Lord will raise you to a praised station.
The convergence of tahajjud, Amrit Vela, and Brahmamuhurta on the pre-dawn hour illustrates a cross-cultural intuition, now supported by chronobiology, that the early morning is uniquely conducive to focused devotion and clarity.
The Quran
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- What the prosperity traditions say about sleep
Islamic practice places a voluntary prayer in the last third of the night, outside the five that are obligatory. Its being voluntary is much of the point.