What is duha prayer? When is the duha prayer perform?
It is impossible to count the blessings of the Lord which have been bestowed upon the servants. They should thank and give charity for every one of those blessings. Even though it is impossible for weak and helpless human beings to afford to give enough charity for such abundant and various blessings, at least they should think about the blessings and do everything they can. Only this way, Divine mercy can be attracted. Allah the Almighty accepts His servants little deeds and bestows upon them great rewards in return. In this respect, the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) says that:
“In the morning charity is due from every bone in the body of every one of you. Every utterance of Allah’s glorification is an act of charity. Every utterance of praise of Him is an act of charity, every utterance of declaration of His Oneness is an act of charity, every utterance of declaration of His Greatness is an act of charity, enjoining good is an act of charity, forbidding what is wrong is an act of charity, and two rak’ahs which one prays in the forenoon will suffice.” (Muslim, Musafirun, 84)
In other words, two rak’ahs of duha (forenoon) prayer a day will be accepted, in the extent of our sincerity, as a statement of our gratitude for the endless blessings of our Lord. Thus, our Lord provides an easy means, which everyone can do, for us to show our gratitude for His blessings; which is also a blessing. No matter how much we thank Him, it cannot be enough.
Allah’s Apostle (pbuh) put great emphasis on forenoon prayer. According to reports, Allah’s Messenger (pbuh) prayed four rak’ahs at the forenoon prayer, but sometimes more as Allah pleased (Muslim, Musafirun, 78-79). There are other reports that he prayed eight and twelve rak’ahs. (Bukhari, Tahajjud, 31)
Abu Huraira narrates that:
“My friend (the Prophet (pbuh)) advised me to do three things and I shall not leave them till I die, these are: To fast three days every month, to offer the Duha prayer, and to offer Witr before sleeping.” (Bukhari, Tahajjud, 33)
One time the Prophet (pbuh) sent a military expedition to a place. The Muslim army came back with a lot of booty. Upon this Abu Bakr (r.a.) said:
“O Messenger of Allah! We haven’t seen any other military group which came back faster and brought more booty than them.” Allah’s Messenger (pbuh) asked:
“Would you like me to tell a faster thing which brings more booty?” And then he continued his words:
“If a man does his ablution well and goes to the mosque, performs the dawn (fajr) prayer and then performs the forenoon (duha) prayer, this is a much faster way, which brings more to him.” (Ibn Ḥibban, VI, 276)
The time for forenoon prayer begins about forty five minutes after dawn and continues until half an hour before the midday, when the sun is at its peak point. It is better and more rewarding if it is performed after one fourth of the morning passes. Worshipping the Lord at those hours of the day is considered valuable, because usually not many people pray at those moments of the day. Early hours of the morning are the times of gaining livelihood. Encouragement for praying at forenoon, which is maybe the busiest hours of the day aims to prevent humans from getting too deep into the worldly life, and so is like an antidote for it.
Source: An Excellent Exemplar, Osman Nuri Topbaş, Erkam Publications
