How is the Tahajjud prayer performed?

The Tahajjud prayer is a night prayer performed between the ‘Isha prayer and dawn (fajr). The Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) said: “Whoever wakes up at night, wakes up his family, and performs two units (rak‘ahs) of prayer, will be recorded among the men and women who remember Allah much.” (Abu Dawud, Tafrī‘u abwābi’l-witr, 346 [1451]; Tatavvu‘, 306 [1309]) In another hadith, it is stated: “The most virtuous prayer after the obligatory prayers is the night prayer.” (Muslim, Sawm, 202-203 [1163]) This indicates that voluntary prayers performed at night are more virtuous than those performed during the day. In addition to such verbal encouragements, the fact that the Prophet (peace be upon him) consistently performed this prayer shows that the Tahajjud prayer is a Sunnah for us. (Ibn Abidin, Radd al-Muhtar, 2/24-25) Some narrations mention that after performing the ‘Isha prayer, the Prophet (peace be upon him) would sleep without performing the Witr prayer, then wake up after midnight, perform the night prayer for a while, then perform the Witr prayer, and finally, when the time for the Fajr prayer arrived, he would perform the Fajr prayer. (Bukhari, al-‘Amal fi’s-salat, 1 [1198]; Muslim, Salat al-Musafirin, 182 [763])

A person intending to perform the Tahajjud prayer may make the intention by saying, “I intend to perform the Tahajjud prayer for the sake of Allah.” It is recommended to perform the Tahajjud prayer in even numbers, between two and eight rak‘ahs. However, one may perform more if desired. In this case, it is more virtuous to offer salam after every two rak‘ahs, but it is also permissible to offer salam after four rak‘ahs. (Ibn Abidin, Radd al-Muhtar, 2/25-26) If more than two rak‘ahs are performed and no actions contrary to prayer (such as talking, eating, or drinking) are done in between, it is not necessary to renew the intention. When performed as four rak‘ahs, after sitting for tashahhud at the end of the second rak‘ah, “tahiyyat” is recited, followed by “Allahumma salli” and “Allahumma barik.” When standing for the third rak‘ah, “Subhanaka” is recited first, then “A‘udhu basmala” is said, and then Surah al-Fatiha is recited.

Source: T.C. Diyanet İşleri Başkanlığı, Din İşleri Yüksek Kurulu