Fadl Qiyam al-Layl wa al-Tahajjud lil-Ajurri

Fadl Qiyam al-Layl wa al-Tahajjud (The Merit of Night Vigil and Tahajjud Prayer) is a treatise by the hadith scholar and jurist Abu Bakr al-Ajurri (d. 360 AH / 970 CE) dedicated to the virtues, practices, and spiritual rewards of the voluntary night prayer (qiyam al-layl) and tahajjud Fadl Qiyam al-Layl wa al-…+1.

Purpose and Scope

In his introduction, al-Ajurri explains that God praised those who engage in tahajjud at night, promising them noble reward, while the Prophet ﷺ and the scholars continually encouraged the practice Fadl Qiyam al-Layl wa al-…. He composed the work to expound the great virtue and bounty of night worship so that anyone seeking to stand in prayer at night would do so with clear insight and knowledge, seeking proximity to God Fadl Qiyam al-Layl wa al-….

Content and Method

The work combines Quranic exegesis, prophetic traditions, poetry, and reports from the early generations (salaf) Fadl Qiyam al-Layl wa al-…+1:

• Quranic Verses and Exegesis: al-Ajurri opens by citing verses praising the righteous who spend their nights in prayer and seek forgiveness before dawn, such as passages from Surat al-Dhariyat, Surat al-Mu'minun, and Surat Al 'Imran, accompanied by early interpretations Fadl Qiyam al-Layl wa al-…+1.
• Poetry and Ascetic Wisdom: He incorporates verses of ascetic poetry describing the devotion and weeping of night worshipers, including lines attributed to Abdullah ibn al-Mubarak Fadl Qiyam al-Layl wa al-….
• Hadith and Transmitted Reports: al-Ajurri records prophetic traditions and narrations from the Companions and Successors with their full chains of transmission (asānīd) Fadl Qiyam al-Layl wa al-…+1. These include reports narrated on the authority of figures such as Abu Hurayrah, Salman al-Farisi, Ali ibn Abi Talib, and al-Hasan al-Basri concerning the virtues of night prayer, its expiation of sins, and its radiance on the face of the worshiper Fadl Qiyam al-Layl wa al-…+2.

He transmits these reports through his direct teachers, including Ja'far ibn Muhammad al-Firyabi, Ibn Abi Dawud, Yahya ibn Muhammad ibn Sa'id, Ahmad ibn Yahya al-Hulwani, and Muhammad ibn Makhlad al-'Attar Fadl Qiyam al-Layl wa al-…+3.

Transmission and Publication

The surviving text was transmitted through the narration of Abu 'Amr al-Muqri' from Abu al-Qasim Salamah ibn Sa'id ibn Salamah al-Astaji and others from al-Ajurri Fadl Qiyam al-Layl wa al-…. A printed edition of the book was edited and annotated by 'Abd al-Latif ibn Muhammad al-Jilani al-Asafi and published by Dar al-Khudayri in Medina (1417 AH / 1997 CE) Fadl Qiyam al-Layl wa al-…+1.