204. Is There Any Special Virtue Or Reward Of Doing Ibaadah On The Night Between Thursday And Friday?

By Asma bint Shameem 

It is not allowed to *specifically* pick Thursday night for ibaadah and Qiyaam, etc. thinking that’s there’s any special virtue for doing so. 

You see, all acts of ibaadah are “tawqeefi”

That means that you have to have PROOF of that act of ibaadah from the Qur’aan and/or authentic ahaadeeth. 

When we look at these two sources of Sharee’ah, meaning the Qur’aan and Sunnah, we see NO PROOF of any *“special virtue”* or any *“special rewards”* to do ibaadah just because  it’s the night between Thursday and Friday. 

In fact, the Prophet sal Allaahu Alayhi wa sallam specifically *FORBADE* that.

 He Sal Allaahu Alaiyhi wa Sallam said

*“Do not single out the night of Friday for voluntary prayer to the exclusion of other nights. Do not single out the day of Friday for fasting to the exclusion of other days, UNLESS it is the ROUTINE of one of you.”* (Muslim 1144)

 Al-Nawawi said: 

“This hadeeth clearly indicates that it is *forbidden* to single out the night of Friday from other nights for praying, and to single out that day for fasting.“

(Sharh Muslim, 8/20)

Similarly, there is NO PROOF of any specific *duaas* to be recited or any special *prayers* to be read on this night.

The Prophet sal Allaahu Alayhi wa sallam is our role model and teacher.

If he did any act of ibaadah or taught it, we should do it too. 

And if he didn’t do it, we should not do it either.

Remember... ALL goodness lies in following the Prophet sal Allaahu Alayhi wa sallam and his Sahaabah  

And all success and salvation comes ONLY by following them.

However, as per the above hadeeth, if you’re USED to praying tahajjud EVERY DAY, and it’s your ROUTINE, then you can continue with that, even if it’s a Friday.

Or if you’re specifically praying on the night between Thursday and Friday because it’s more *convenient* for you because you’re off on Fridays or because it just so happened coincidentally WITHOUT associating any special virtues to it or thinking that ibaadah on this night has special meaning, then in that situation, it is allowed to single out the night between Thursday and Friday for ibaaah and prayers. 

Shaykh Ibn Baaz said: 

“ The Prophet sal Allaahu Alayhi wa sallam said: “Do not single out Friday for fasting, and do not single out the night of Friday for praying qiyaam.” So this hadeeth refers to singling it out, i.e., when a person does that JUST BECAUSE it is Friday or the night of Friday..”

(Majmoo’ Fataawa Ibn Baaz, 15/414)

And Allaah knows best