Dhuha ( Morning Prayer )

بِسْــــــــــــــــــمِ اﷲِالرَّحْمَنِ اارَّحِيم

On the authority of Abu Huraira who said that the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him said), “Every small bone of everyone has upon it a charitable act for everyday upon which the sun rises. Bringing about justice between two is an act of charity. Helping a man get on his mount, lifting him onto it or helping him put his belongings onto it, is a charitable act. A good word is a charitable act. Every step you take toward the prayer is a charitable act. And removing a harmful thing from the path is a charitable act.” (Recorded in al-Bukhari and Muslim)

In a hadith recorded in Sahih Muslim, the Prophet (s) said :

“Every morning there is on the bones and joints of any of you a charitable act. Every tasbeehah is a charitable act; every tahmeedah is a charitable act; every tahleelah is a charitable act; every takbeerah is a charitable act; ordering the good is a charitable act; eradicating evil is a charitable act. To fulfill that charity, it is sifficient to pray two rakats of Dhuha.”

This hadith contains elements of both the hadith recorded above, and the previous hadith, whilst also containing the important addition of the Dhuha prayer fulfilling the obligations of charity due upon the human being for each day the sun rises. The Dhuha prayer consists of at least two rakaats, but can contain as many as eight rakaats broken up into sets of two rakaats each. It is prayed in the time from just after sunrise until just before high noon, but it is preferred to delay it, based on the hadith of the Prophet (s):

“The prayer of the pentinent is when your weaned camels feel the heat of the sun.” (Recorded in Muslim)

Due to the fact that the hadith states that charity is due on the body on every day that the sun rises, and that the Dhuha prayer fulfills this charity, it is highly recommended that we strive to pray at least two rakaats of prayer to fulfill this requirement.

Let’s make it our practice to perform at least two rakaats of prayer during the morning time to show our gratitude to Allah (swt) for the blessing of our bodies, and to fulfill this act of charity that is due upon us each day the sun rises.