Qiyam al-Layl: The Night Prayer and Its Modern Practitioners
An optional prayer performed in the small hours has attracted a new generation of practitioners who find in it a form of spiritual solitude unlike any other.
Qiyam al-layl — literally, the standing of the night — is performed in the last third of the night, when the world is quiet and the texts promise that supplication is most readily heard. It is not obligatory, which is perhaps part of its particular quality: it is chosen. The worshipper who rises at three in the morning to pray does so out of longing, not duty, and that distinction matters to those who practice it.
In recent years, a quiet revival of night prayer has spread through Muslim communities in the West, partly through social media, partly through the influence of scholars who speak about the inner life of worship. Young Muslims who describe themselves as struggling with faith often report that tahajjud — another name for the night prayer — has been a kind of turning point: a practice that made the relationship with God feel personal rather than institutional.
