Friday sermon: the benefits of praying at night

The sermon will tell worshippers those who pray at night will have their sins forgiven

Prophet Mohammed said that whoever prays at night throughout Ramadan will have all their previous sins forgiven.

On Friday, the sermon will encourage worshippers to fast during the day and pray at night for the duration of the holy month and to call upon God with sincerity.

The main prayer carried out each evening during Ramadan is tarawih. It is an extra prayer that Muslims are advised to carry out at a mosque among fellow worshippers.

But others may also chose to pray Qiyam Al Layl – or night prayers – to develop their taqwa [piety] throughout Ramadan.

“Fasting is a shield; charity extinguishes sin (as water extinguishes fire); and the praying of a man in the depths of the night remove his faults," the Prophet told one of his companions before reciting from the Quran: "[Those] who forsake their beds, to invoke their Lord in fear and hope, and they spend (charity in Allah's cause) out of what We have bestowed on them." [Qur'an: 32:16]

Those who pray at night should call upon God and ask for His grace and mercy. Night prayers are said to be ideal for asking God for blessings because it is said he is more likely to listen.

“The most excellent prayer after what is prescribed is prayer during the night,” the Prophet said.

“The most beloved prayer to Allah is the prayer of Dawud (peace and blessings be upon him). He used to sleep half the night, stand for one-third of it (in prayer), and sleep for one-sixth of it,” he said.

Praying at night will calm the spirit and purify the soul, the sermon will say before inviting worshippers to call upon God to bless them by helping them become someone who stands for night prayers.

“May Allah bless me and bless you with the Noble Qur'an and with the Way (Sunnah) of His Noble Prophet.”