Bis Millah Hir Rehman Nir Raheem...!!!

 It is more concealed and closer to sincerity. The righteous early Muslims (salaf) used to strive hard to hide their secrets [f: i.e. the actions between them and Allah].

Hasan [al-Basri] said, ‘It used to be that a person would have guests staying over and he would pray at night without his guests knowing…’

And because night prayer is harder on the lower self, because night is a time of rest from the tire of day, so leaving sleep despite the lower self being desirous of it is a tremendous struggle (mujahada). Some have said, ‘The best of works are those the lower self is forced to perform.’

And because recitation in night prayer is closer to contemplation, because things that busy the heart are mostly absent at night, so the heart is attention and is with the tongue in understanding, as Allah Most High said, ‘o! The night vigil is (a time) when impression is more keen and speech more certain. [Lo! You have by day a chain of business. So remember the name of your Lord and devote yourself with a complete devotion.]’ (Qur’an, 73: 6-7) It is because of this that we have been commanded to recite the Qur’an in night prayer in a steady recital (tartil).

And it is because of this that night prayer is a shield from sin…

And because night vigil time is the best of times for voluntary worship and prayer, and the closest a servant is to his Lord.

And because it is a time when the doors of the sky are opened, supplications answered, and the needs of those who ask fulfilled.

Allah has praised those who wake up at night for His remembrance, supplication, and to seek forgiveness and entreat Him, saying, ‘They forsake their beds to cry unto their Lord in fear and hope, and spend of what We have bestowed on them. No soul knows what is kept hid from them of joy, as a reward for what they used to do.’ [Qur’an, 32: 16-17]

And He said, ‘Those who pray for pardon in the watches of the night.’ [Qur’an, 3: 17]

And, ‘[The (faithful) servants of the Merciful are they who walk upon the earth modestly, and when the foolish one address them answer: Peace;] And who spend the night before their Lord, prostrate and standing…’ [Qur’an, 25: 63-64]

Allah most negated similitude between those who pray at night and those who do not: ‘Is the one who worships devoutly in the watches of the night, prostrate and standing, fearful of the Hereafter and hoping for the mercy of his Lord, (to be accounted equal with a disbeliever)? Say: are those who know equal with those who know know? But only people of understanding will pay heed.’ [Qur’an, 39: 9]” [Saffarini, Ghidha al-Albab Sharh Mandhumat al-Adaab]

Jazak Allah Khair;

Irfan Rabbani