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500 children in Gaza, Sudan & 13 more countries are waiting for a guardian — earn 12 months of sadaqah jariyah today.
Sponsor a child500 children are waiting for a guardian — earn 12 months of Sadaqah Jariyah today.
Sponsor a child
21st September 2026
As the days grow shorter and the nights grow colder, there's a well-known winter hadith that Muslims quote every year: 'winter is the spring of the believer.' But what does this hadith actually say, is it authentic, and how can Muslims put its meaning into practice? This guide looks at what's reported about winter in Islam, and how to make the most of the season spiritually.
Winter is also a season where many people struggle with cold, hunger and hardship — you can support our Winter Emergency Appeal to help provide warmth, shelter and essentials to families who need it most.
The saying most people know goes something like: 'Winter is the spring of the believer — its nights are long, so he stands in prayer, and its days are short, so he fasts.' The meaning is straightforward and beautiful: winter's long nights give believers extra time for voluntary night prayer (qiyam), while its short daylight hours make voluntary fasting easier than in the height of summer.
It's worth being honest about the authenticity of this specific wording, though. Several versions of this hadith are recorded — including in Musnad Ahmad — but many hadith scholars class the chains of narration as weak (da'if), due to certain narrators being considered unreliable. Some scholars raise its status slightly, to 'hasan li ghayrihi' (sound because of supporting narrations), since multiple weak chains reinforce one another. Either way, the meaning behind it is well supported by other authentic teachings encouraging extra prayer and fasting when it's easier to do so.
Beyond the 'spring of the believer' saying, a few other narrations are commonly cited about winter:
"Fasting during winter is an easy reward" — reported in Jami' at-Tirmidhi, often translated as 'the cold, easy spoils of war', referring to how little effort winter fasting takes compared with its reward.
A hadith in Sahih Muslim describes performing wudu thoroughly despite hardship as something that erases sins and raises one's rank — commentators have long connected this to the extra effort of making wudu in cold weather.
A well-known saying from the companion Ibn Mas'ud (RA) welcomes winter as a season in which blessings descend, again describing its long nights for prayer and short days for fasting — recorded by Ibn Rajab in Lata'if al-Ma'arif.
As with the main winter hadith, not every one of these narrations is graded equally strong by scholars, but together they reflect a consistent theme in Islamic teaching: winter is seen as a season of opportunity, not something to simply endure.
Winter in Islam is viewed as a season with several practical blessings for worship and reflection:
Longer nights — more time available for tahajjud and other voluntary night prayers.
Shorter days — making voluntary fasts (such as Mondays and Thursdays, or the White Days) noticeably easier to complete.
Extra reward for hardship — scholars point to the additional effort of wudu in the cold as a source of increased reward.
A reminder of gratitude — for warm homes, food and clothing, at a time when many people around the world have none of these.
Over the past 4 winters, Human Appeal has shielded 544,900 families from the cold across 11 countries, distributing more than 279,701 winter items — from just £20 per person for warm clothing.
This last point is central to how many scholars encourage Muslims to respond to winter — not just with extra personal worship, but with compassion for those facing the season without shelter or warmth. You can put this into action directly through our Winter Emergency Appeal, which helps provide blankets, shelter and essentials to vulnerable families during the coldest months.
A few practical ways to put the spirit of these narrations into practice:
Use the longer nights to add extra voluntary prayers, such as a few rakats of tahajjud before Fajr.
Take advantage of shorter daylight hours to fast voluntarily on Mondays and Thursdays, or the White Days (13th-15th of the Islamic month).
Make wudu mindfully in the cold, remembering the extra reward associated with performing it thoroughly despite the discomfort.
Give in charity toward those facing winter without adequate shelter, food or warm clothing.
Spiritual
Learn how to pray tahajjud step by step, how many rakats to pray, when to read tahajjud prayer, and practical tips for building the habit.
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Discover what the white days in Islam are, their spiritual and physical benefits, how to calculate them, and how to observe this monthly Sunnah fast.
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Learn how to do wudu correctly with this step-by-step guide, including guidance for women, teaching children, and what breaks your wudu.
Most hadith scholars class its chains of narration as weak, though a few consider it strengthened to 'hasan li ghayrihi' due to multiple supporting narrations. Its underlying meaning — that winter's long nights and short days make extra prayer and fasting easier — is well supported by other authentic teachings.
There isn't a distinct set of 'winter Sunnahs' as such, but scholars encourage making the most of the season's long nights for prayer, its short days for voluntary fasting, and performing wudu carefully despite the cold, in light of the hadith on the reward for hardship in worship.
Islamic teaching frames winter as a season of opportunity rather than something to simply get through — a chance for extra worship, reflection, and gratitude, alongside compassion for those who face the season without warmth or shelter.
