When to recite end of soorah Al-Baqarah and soorah Al-Mulk

12-10-2016 | IslamWeb

Question:

Assalaamu alaykum. Regarding the virtues of the last few verses of Surat Al-Baqarah and Surat Al-Mulk at night, does this start at the time of Maghrib or only after the Isha?

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Answer:

All perfect praise be to Allaah, The Lord of the worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah and that Muhammad is His slave and Messenger.

It is confirmed that we are encouraged to recite the last verses of Soorah Al-Baqarah; one of the pieces of evidence for this is the hadeeth that was reported by Al-Bukhari and Muslim and narrated by Ibn Mas'ood and says that the Prophet said, “Whoever recites the last two verses from Soorah Al-Baqarah in a night, they will suffice him.”

The time for reciting these two verses begins with the beginning of the night, as the Prophet said, “in a night.”

Tuhfatul-Ahwathi reads:

“Whoever recites the last two verses from Soorah Al-Baqarah, i.e. {The Messenger has believed…} to the end of the Soorah, in a night. ‘Ali ibn Sa’eed al-’Askari reported with the following wording: Whoever recites them after the ‘Isha’ prayer, it is sufficient (for him): {The Messenger has believed….} until the end of the Soorah. Ibn Hajar mentioned, 'It is sufficient for him, i.e. it is sufficient for him instead of Qiyaam (voluntary night prayer).' It was also said, 'It is sufficient for him as recitation of the Quran (i.e. he does not need to recite more), whether it is inside the prayer or outside it, or: It is sufficient for him in regard to what is related to belief because of the belief and deeds that the two verses contain in general, or: it is sufficient for him from every evil, or: it is sufficient for him from the evil of the devil, or: they repel from him the evil of the humans and jinn, or: the reward that he gets from them suffices him from asking for other things.'”

Regarding Soorah Al-Mulk [Quran 67], Jaabir narrated, “The Prophet did not use to sleep until he would recite Soorah As-Sajdah [Quran 32] and Soorah Al-Mulk [Quran 67].” [At-Tirmithi - Al-Albaani graded it saheeh (sound)]

Besides, Tuhfatul al-Ahwathi reads:

“The saying: the Prophet did not use to sleep until he would recite Soorah Tanzeel As-Sajdah, i.e. Soorah As-Sajdah [Quran 32] and Tabaarak, i.e. Soorah Al-Mulk [Quran 67]. At-Teebi said, 'Until the time before he sleeps and it is probable that the meaning is when bedtime starts; he does not sleep until he recites them, and he never sleeps until he recites them, so the meaning is that it was not his habit to sleep before he would recite them, so the time of reciting them is any time before sleeping. If it was said that the Prophet used to recite them at night, it would not mean this meaning.'” 

Al-Qaari’ said, “The benefit is that it means before he would sleep, and there is no doubt that the second probability is more likely as it does not need an estimate of restricting the time."

Based on the above, Soorah Al-Mulk is recited at bedtime, or a Muslim recites it at any part of the night before he sleeps; what is important is that he does not sleep until he recites it.

For more benefit, please refer to fatwas 223699 and 85582.

Allaah knows best.