Nāfilah Ibādah

Nāfilah means extra. Worships other than farḍ and wājib are called Nāfilah Ibādah.

The farḍs are our duties of servitude that we must do, its rewards are great and if we do not fulfil them, we are obliged to give account for them. On the other hand, nāfilah are acts of worship that we perform as a manifestation of our sincerity and ikhlās, even though we are not obliged to do so, which helps us gain the riḍāof Allāh Ta‘ālā.

No nāfilah ibādah can replace the abandoned farḍ, but the nāfilah ibādahs performed alongside the farḍ ibādahs both completes the shortcomings in the farḍs and brings the servant closer to Allāh Ta‘ālā.

In a hadīth al-sharīf narrated by Abū Hurayrah (raḍiyallāhu anhu), Rasūlullāh (sallallāhu ‘alayhi wa sallam)said:

“The first deed the servant will be questioned on the Day of Qiyāmah is salāh. If they have established their salāh, they will be saved, if they have not established their salāh, Allāh Ta‘ālā will say to the angels “Look at my servants nāfilah ibādah!” If they have any nāfilah ibādah, then it would be said “Complete his farḍ with his nāfilah salaḥ.”

This Hadīth al-Qudsī explains how important the nāfilah worships are: “By fulfilling the farḍ, My servant is saved from My punishment, and by performing the Nāfilah, they become closer to Me.”

Nāfilah ibādahs had a very important place in the life of Rasūlullāh (sallallāhu ‘alayhi wa sallam). In fact Allāh Ta‘ālā commanded him to pray Tahajjud, which is a nāfilah, with this āyah:    “Wake up at a part of the night, pray salāh at night as an additional worship specific to you, pray the night prayer with āyahsfrom the Holy Qur’ān, and your Rabb will enter you to Makām Mahmūd (a praised station).”

Rasūlullāh (sallallāhu ‘alayhi wa sallam) would pray Nāfilah Salāh at night for so long that his feet would swell. Hadrat Āisha (r.anhā) saw him and asked;

“Yā Rasūlallāh, why are you praying so much like this, when you are protected from all paths of previous and coming sins?”

Rasūlullāh (sallallāhu ‘alayhi wa sallam) replied: “Yā Āisha! Shall I not be a thankful servant of Allāh?

Although the first thing that comes to mind when we say nāfilah ibādah is nāfilah salāh, the field of nāfilah is very wide. For example to fast outside the month of Ramaḍān, to give sadaqah without the intention of zakāh, to read and listen to the Qur’ān al-Karīm, to attend gatherings of sohbah, to engage with dhikr and similar things are all nāfilah ibādah.

In terms of salāh, the salāh prayed before and after the farḍ and Tahajjud Salāh prayed by waking up at night, are the main nāfilah salāhs.

Ḍuḥā Salāh prayed after the karāhat time has passed after sunrise, and Awwābin Salāh prayed after Maghrib are salāhs with exceptional rewards. Is it better to pray these salāhs as 6 rak‘ahs. Also, Tasbih Salāh, which is recommended to be prayed from time to time, is the greatest istighfār.