Observed on the night preceding the tenth of Muharram, the Night Prayer of Ashura comprises various traditional devotions—ranging from brief midnight prayers to extensive one-hundred-rak'ah vigils—each attributed in some sources with significant spiritual merits.
If you are looking to learn the Night Prayer of Ashura, don’t miss this article — read on to the end.
On the tenth day of Muharram, 61 AH, Imam Husayn (peace be upon him) and his companions fought, with lips drier than the desert, to the last drop of their blood to record the truth of Islam and the importance of prayer in history. Voluntary devotions are recommended for this day.
In the book 'Dastūr al‑Mudhakkirīn' it is reported that the Messenger of God (peace be upon him) said: 'Whoever keeps the night of Ashura (awake in worship), it is as if he has worshipped God to the extent of all the angels, and the reward for one who does a righteous deed on this night is equal to the reward of seventy years of deeds.'
Also in 'Dastūr al‑Mudhakkirīn', with an uninterrupted chain from Ibn Abī Imāmah, it is reported that the Messenger of God said: 'Whoever prays one hundred rak'ahs on the night of Ashura, and in each rak'ah recites Sūrat al‑Fātiḥah once and Sūrat al‑Tawḥīd three times, and says the salam after every two rak'ahs, and when he completes all one hundred rak'ahs he says seventy times:
“Subḥān Allāh, wal‑ḥamdu lillāh, wa lā ilāha illā Allāh, wa Allāhu akbar, wa lā ḥawla wa lā quwwata illā bi‑Allāh al‑ʿAliyy al‑ʿAẓīm.”
Whoever — man or woman — performs this prayer, God will fill his grave with the scent of musk and amber and every day light will enter his grave until the trumpet (of Resurrection) is blown; a table will be spread for him from which all the people of the world, from the creation of the world until the trumpet is sounded, may partake of its blessings. No man or woman will shed their hair upon being placed in the grave, except the one who has performed this prayer.'
'By the One who raised me by truth, whoever performs this prayer, God—mighty and majestic—will look upon him in his grave with mercy as a bride is looked upon in her bridal chamber until the trumpet of Resurrection is sounded, and when resurrection comes he will be brought forth from his grave like a bride being led to her husband.'
Our assurance in these types of hadiths rests on a narration from Imam Ja'far al‑Sadiq (peace be upon him), who said: 'Whoever receives a report of a righteous deed and performs that deed, the reward described for it will be his, even if the deed in fact is not in the exact form as it was reported to him.'
The night of the tenth of Muharram is the night of Ashura, and Sayyid in 'Iqbal' has transmitted many prayers and devotions with great virtues for this night: one hundred rak'ahs, each rak'ah with al‑Fātiḥah and three recitations of 'Qul Huwa Allāhu Aḥad'. After completing all rak'ahs, say seventy times:
“Subḥān Allāh wa al‑ḥamdu lillāh wa lā ilāha illā Allāh wa Allāhu akbar wa lā ḥawla wa lā quwwata illā bi‑Allāh al‑ʿAliyy al‑ʿAẓīm.”
In another narration, after 'al‑ʿAliyy al‑ʿAẓīm' it is advised to also seek forgiveness (istighfār).
Another of the prayers for this night: four rak'ahs at the end of the night; in each rak'ah after al‑Fātiḥah recite Ayat al‑Kursī, al‑Tawḥīd, al‑Falaq and an‑Nās ten times each, and after the salam recite Sūrat al‑Tawḥīd one hundred times.
