Transliteration:( Inna Rabbaka ya'lamu annaka taqoomu adnaa min sulusa yil laili wa nisfahoo wa sulusahoo wa taaa'ifatum minal lazeena ma'ak; wal laahu yuqaddirul laila wanna haar; 'alima al lan tuhsoohu fataaba 'alaikum faqra'oo maa tayassara minal quraan; 'alima an sa yakoonu minkum mardaa wa aakharoona yadriboona fil ardi yabtaghoona min fadlil laahi wa aakharoona yuqaatiloona fee sabeelil laahi faqra'oo ma tayassara minhu wa aqeemus salaata wa aatuz zakaata wa aqridul laaha qardan hasanaa; wa maa tuqaddimoo li anfusikum min khairin tajidoohu 'indal laahi huwa khayranw wa a'zama ajraa; wastaghfirul laahaa innal laaha ghafoorur raheem. )
20.Verily, your Lord knows that you remain standing in devotion nearly two-thirds of the night, night, and sometimes half of it, and sometimes a third (28) of it, along with a party of your Companions (29) with you.
And Allah measures (30) the night and the day. He knows that you (31) are not able to calculate it. So He has turned to you (mercifully.) Therefore, recite (32) how much is easy out of the Quran. He knows that some of you will fall ill (33), and others will travel in the land seeking the Bounty of Allah, and others will fight (34) in the Path of Allah.
Therefore, recite (35) as much of it as is easy (for you) and keep up Salaah and pay the Zakaah (36) and offer to Allah a good loan (37).
And whatever of good you send beforehand (38) for yourselves, you will find it with Allah, better and greater in reward. Certainly, Allah is Most Forgiving, Ever Merciful (39),
28. This means sometimes half the night, sometimes one third of the night, sometimes more or less than this.
29. This means O My Beloved! Your believing companions are two groups: one engages in worship like you for the duration of half, third, or two-thirds of the night, while the second group engages in worship for the entire night, because at that time Tahajjud Salaah was obligatory upon everybody, but the fixing of time was left to their discretion. The purpose of this verse is not to show that one group of believers performs the Tahajjud Prayer with the Holy Prophetصلى الله عليه وآله وسلم and the second group neglects it.
None of the Companions of the Holy Prophet صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم were ever negligent. This verse is quite clear.
30. This means Allah Almighty is fully aware e of who worships Him at which part of the day and night. He will reward every one of them for their actual duty, as well as time.
31. Because at that time there were no watches, etc. For that reason, some believers engaged them in Salaah for the entire night so that the duration did not become less than half or one-third of the night. The believers began to get inflammation in their feet. In response to this, these were revealed, which abrogated the previous verses.
32. Then Allah Almighty excused the long-standing in Salaah at night. Now, the minimum Qiraat in Salaah is obligatory consisting of one long verse or three small verses.
33. This means Tahajjud Salaah in future will be burdensome for the ill, the travellers and the Muslim soldiers. For this reason, Allah Almighty abrogated the obligation of Tahajjud Salaah. But this does not mean that today no one becomes ill among you or the travellers. Those great people would perform their Tahajjud Salaah under every condition. Nothing would stop them from performing their Salaah.
34. This means Allah Almighty abrogated the obligation of Tahajjud because He Knows that in future some believers will become ill, and some will be commercial travellers. some worshippers will be travellers and the obligation of Tahajjud would place a burden on them.
35. In Salaatul Tahajjud recite only that much Qiraat which is easy for you. It should be remembered that from this verse the time of fo Qiyaam (standing in Salaah) became abrogated.
Thereafter the actual obligation of Tahajjud, Salaah was abrogated from the Five Daily Prayers (Tafseer Khazainul Irfaan).
36. This means when Zakaat becomes obligatory then give it, because Surah - Muzammil is Makkan and Zakaat only became obligatory after Hijrah. This is like how Hazrat Isa (On whom be peace) had said after his birth: reaching the age of puberty I was commanded to perform Salaah" (Ahmed Yaar Khan).
37. By loan here is meant other voluntary charities besides the obligatory Zakaat. These charities should be given with joy and good intentions so that you may get rewarded for it.
38. The good deeds that you perform in your lifetime which include Salaah, charities, maintaining good extending hospitality, relations with your family, etc.
39. This tells us that every person should offer a prayer for forgiveness. Every sinner should repent for his sins; the pious should seek forgiveness after doing good deeds. Allah Almighty is the Forgiver of our faults.
The tafsir of Surah Muzzammil verse 20 by Ibn Kathir is unavailable here.
Please refer to Surah Muzzammil ayat 19 which provides the complete commentary from verse 19 through 20.
18. About this verse in which reduction has been made in the injunction concerning the tahajjud Prayer, there are different traditions. Musnad Ahmad, Muslim and Abu Daud have related a tradition, on the authority of Aishah, saying that this second command was sent down one year after the first command, and the standing up in the Prayer at night was made voluntary instead of obligatory. Another tradition which Ibn Jarir and Ibn Abi Hatim have related, again on the authority of Aishah, says that this command came down eight months after the first command, and a third tradition which Ibn Abi Hatim has related again from her, says that it came down sixteen months later. Abu Daud, Ibn Jarir and Ibn Abi Hatim have cited the period of one year from Abdullah bin Abbas. But Saeed bin Jubair has stated that it was sent down ten years later. (Ibn Jarir, Ibn Abi Hatim). In our opinion this last view is most sound, for the subject matter of the first section clearly shows that it was sent down in Makkah and that too in the earliest stage when at the most four years might have passed since the advent of Prophethood. Contrary to this, this second section, in view of the express evidence of its subject matter, seems to have been revealed at Al-Madinah when fighting had started with the disbelievers and the zakat also had been enjoined as an obligatory duty. On this basis inevitably the two sections should have been sent down at an interval of at least ten years between them.
19. Although the initial command to the Prophet (peace be upon him) was to keep standing up in the Prayer for half the night, or thereabout, it was difficult to compute the time precisely in the absorption of the Prayer, especially when there were no watches either to measure time accurately; therefore, sometimes two thirds of the night passed in the prayer and sometimes only one-third of it.
20. In the initial command only the Prophet (peace be upon him) was addressed and only he was instructed to stand up in the Prayer by night. But since the Muslims at that time were ardently desirous of following him in everything he did and of earning more and more good and virtues, many of the companions also performed this night Prayer regularly. 21. As the Prayer is prolonged due mainly to a lengthy recital of the Quran, it is said: You may recite as much of the Quran as you easily can in the tahajjud Prayer This would automatically cause the Prayer to be shortened. Although the words here are apparently in the imperative mood, it is agreed by all that tahajjud is not an obligatory but a voluntary Prayer. In the Hadith, it has also been explained that on an enquiry by a person the Prophet (peace be upon him) replied: Five times Prayer in the day and night is obligatory on you. He asked: Is anything besides this is also binding on me. The Prophet said: No, unless you may like to offer something of your own accord. (Bukhari, Muslim). This verse also shows another thing. Just as the bowing (ruku) and prostration (sajdah) are obligatory in the Prayer, so is the recital of the Quran. For just as Allah at other places has used the words ruku and sajdah for the prayer, so here He has mentioned recital of the Quran, which implies its recital in the Prayer. If somebody objects to this conclusion, saying: When the tahajjud Prayer itself is voluntary, how can recital of the Quran in it be obligatory? The answer is: Even in case of the voluntary Prayer it is incumbent on one to fulfill all the pre-requisites of the Prayer and to perform all its basic elements and obligatory parts. No one can say that in case of the voluntary Prayer, purity of the garments and body, ablutions and concealment of the satar (minimal part of the body to be covered) are not obligatory, and the standing up and sitting and performance of ruku and sajdah in it are also only voluntary.
22. Travelling to earn one’s living by lawful and permissible methods has been described in many places in the Quran as the seeking of Allah’s bounty.
23. Here, the way Allah has made mention of seeking pure livelihood and fighting in the way of Allah together and declared these two, besides the compulsion on account of illness, as reasons for exemption from the tahajjud Prayer, or concession in it, shows how meritorious it is in Islam to earn one’s livelihood by lawful methods. In the Hadith, Abdullah bin Masud has reported that the Prophet (peace be upon him) said: The person who came to a city of the Muslims with food grains and sold it at the rate of the day, will attain to a place nearest to Allah, and then the Prophet (peace be upon him) recited this very verse. (lbn Marduyah). Umar once said: Except for fighting in the way of Allah, the state in which I would love to be overtaken by death, is the state when I am overtaken by it while passing through a mountain pass in search of livelihood and then he recited this very verse. (Baihaqi, Shuab al-Iman).
24. Commentators agree that this implies observance of the obligatory Prayer five times a day and giving away of the obligatory zakat. 25. Ibn Zaid says this implies spending one’s wealth in the cause of Allah besides the zakat, whether it is in the cause of fighting in the way of Allah, or for helping the needy, or for public utilities, or other good works. The meaning of giving to Allah a good loan has been explained at several places above. See (Surah Al-Baqarah, ayat 245) note 267; (Surah Al-Maidah, ayat 12) note 33; (Surah Al-Hadid, ayat 11) note 16.
26. It means: Whatever you have sent forward for the good of your Hereafter is more beneficial for you than what you withheld in the world and did not spend in any good cause for the pleasure of Allah. According to a Hadith reported by Abdullah bin Masud the Prophet (peace be upon him) once asked: Which of you has a greater love for his own wealth than for the wealth of his heir. The people said: There is none among us, O Messenger of Allah, who would not have greater love for his own wealth than for the wealth of his heir. He said: Consider well what you are saying. The people submitted: This indeed is our considered opinion, O Messenger of Allah. Thereupon the Prophet (peace be upon him) said: Your own property is only that which you have sent forward (for the good of your Hereafter), and whatever you held back, indeed belongs to the heir. (Bukhari. Nasai, Musnad Abu Yala).
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