Author
- Anonymous student of Islamic knowlege with an introduction by Sheik Abdullah
Ibn Jibreen
{And then there followed after them
(the prophets) an evil generation who delayed the prayer and followed their
lusts. Soon will they face destruction, except he who repents, affirms
his faith and does deeds of righteousness} [Soorah Maryam: 59-60]
Introduction
Sufficient it is for me to praise
Allah and supplicate Him for peace on those servants of His whom he has
chosen. To proceed: I have read this letter entitled "Mending the Rift"
and found it to be valuable in the choice of its subject matter. Thanks
to Allah, the author succeeded in realising the growing tendency of people
to miss the Dawn Prayer in congregation inthe mosque. He noticed with dismay
that mosques are getting virtually empty of people at that time, except
for a few elderly people and some adults who, with Allah's assistance,
found their way back into the mosque. Indeed, even a sizeable majority
of these elderly people have stopped coming to the mosque to uphold this
prayer in congregation and have grown lazy about the other prayers as well.
Our Prophet (sallallaahu-alaihi-wasallam)
is our exemplar who provided the best example in spending long hours of
the night in prayer and waking intime for Fajr Prayer. This record was
authentically known of him both in his teachings and his living example
as he did not like sleeping before Ishaa [night] Prayer and discouraged
his followers from useless talk after it. In this he was followed by his
companions and all the muslims up to a time not very far from our own days.
They knew the reasons which cause laziness and lessen motivation to observe
prayers in time (be such prayers Fard [obligatory] or Nafla [optional]
and warned people against them so much that some of them are reported to
have said: "If you are unable to pray at night, then that is a clear sign
that your sins have shackled you and deprived you of good deeds". Al-Hasan
al-Basri was once asked: "Why is it that we cannot uphold prayers at night?"
He answered: "You are shackled in your own sins".
Motivation is presently lacking among
muslims. Otherwise they would not have given in to sleep even if they had
to stay awake in the first part of the night. When one of them is required
by his work arrangements or for his own worldly benefit to wake early at
dawn, he would no doubt take the necessary precaution not to miss his appointment.
He will forsake his peace of mind and have a restless sleep just for fear
he might be punished or have his salary reduced. When it comes to prayer,
they have no excuse especially when in our modern times Allah has provided
us with alarm clocks which would be set at any time we wish. The problem
therefore, is one of laziness. Such people do not know what they are missing.
The Prophet (sallallaahu-alaihi-wasallam) said with respect to those who
do not observe Ishaa and Fajr prayers: "Had one of them known that he would
find a wholesome meal or two good targets, he would have come for Ishaa
prayer."
All in all, for him who sincerely
wants to purify his soul from the attributes of the hypocrites, let him
steer clear of laziness, be active,put into practice the action inspiring
instructions laid out in our religion, accustom himself to take the initiative
and realise what he and everybody in his position are missing in terms
of the health of the body and great reward from Allah. Only then will his
performance improve, Allah willing, and he will make up for what he has
missed and follow the lead of the best of generations.
Allah, the Most High and Exalted,
is the Provider of success and assistance. Peace and Blessings be upon
Prophet Muhammed, his household and followers. Signed, Abdullah Ibn Abdur-Rahmaan
al-Jibreen.
The Text
Most surely all praise belongs to
Allah, we praise Him and we seek His Aid and Forgiveness. We seek refuge
in Allaah from the evils of our souls and from the evils of our actions.
Whomsoever Allaah guides there is none to misguides and whomsever He misguides
their is none to guide. I send prayers and blessing upon our leader Muhammed
with the best of prayers and the most complete submission.
To proceed:
One of the ill-seeming phenomena
and most serious precedents boding impending danger and punishment, giving
reason to fear and calling for most urgent consideration on our part requiring
immediate investigation into its causes and treatment of its symptoms is
the fact that a growing number of observers of prayer deliberately shun
Fajr prayer in congregation and only perform it at times other than its
lawful time.
It may be the case that this is due
to their wasting away long hours at night engaged in idle and leisure pursuits.
Our ancestors not very long ago used to make a point of going to bed early,
to lock their doors after Ishaaprayer and to make their dinner light so
as to be able to wake up for Fajr prayer in an energetic state. That is
why they led a happy, peaceful and healthy life experiencing the real taste
of life.
The advent of modern civilisation
spoiled both our religious observances and our worldly arrangements. As
a result, we have fallen into laziness and inertia; our bodies grew fat
and flabby; we move about less frequently whilst showing a greater readiness
to sleep and a marked inability to perform the most trivial of manual actions.
The present paper attempts therefore
to suggest ways which may be of help in inducing us to wake up for Fajr
Prayer; for instance:
ONE: To
make sure to go to bed early as the Prophet (sallallaahu-alaihi-wasallam)used
to discourage sleep before performing Ishaa prayer and especially engaging
in conversation after it. Certain cases were excepted, some of which are
enumerated by Imam Nawawi in his explanation of Muslim's account. Nawawi,
may Allaah have mercy upon him says:
The reason why conversation after
it is discouraged is the fear lest it leads to staying awake for long ,
which might induce drowsiness and difficulty with observing night prayers
or Subh [dawn] prayer in their permitted, preferred or best times. The
topics covered by this restriction are all fulfilling no good useful purpose.
However, as to useful verbal activities, such as the pursuit of knowledge,
listening to the wise tales of righteous people, talking to one's guest
or bride, or members of one's family for the sake of company, interacting
with travellers with a view to protect themselves and their goods, embarking
on talks designed to conciliate between people or intercede before them
in a good cause or to enjoin good and forbid evil and admonish people by
pointing to a beneficial course of action to follow etc... there are no
such restrictions.
TWO: To
be assiduous in observing the Aadaab [good manners prescribed in Islam]
as to what to do before sleep such as making Du'aa [supplication], bringing
one's palms together, very mildly spitting into them and reciting the last
three soorah's of the Qur'aaninto them and them wiping them over one's
face, head and body, being physically and religiously pure and performing
a two rakah voluntary prayer after wudhoo [ablution]. A muslim has to ask
his wife, parents, relatives or neighbours to help waking him up. Once
waken up, he should not linger lazily for long in bed, lest he acquiresthe
vices of the hypocrites who come to prayer showing ample signs of laziness
and lack of enthusiasm.
THREE:To
fill one's heart with faith and good deeds. Once faith is alive in the
heart, it induces the person to do good deeds and strive unremittingly
hard. Faith is like a tree which only yields good fruit when irrigated
from the streamlets of good deeds, thus bringing about an improvement both
in personal conduct and at the interactional level with society at large.
The lack of such streamlets or water supplies proportionately causes faith
to wither and wilt. The heart is highly sensitive to external hardening
stimuli, such as excess food or drink or aberrations in watching or listening
(letting your eyes and ears loose to what is unlawful for them). You should
therefore protect your heart from such external allurements.
FOUR: To
keep away from Ma'aasi [acts of disobedience to Allah] by protecting the
eyes, the tongue, the hearing and all the senses from indulging in the
perception of objects that Allah has made unlawful for us. As an alternative,
one should concern himself with matters pertaining to the worship of Allaah,
such as devoting one's sight to the reading of Allaah's Book, meditating
over the creatures that Allaah has created in this universe, reading books
of knowledge etc. One member of the rightly guided early generations was
asked about the reason why people found it difficult to uphold voluntary
prayers at night. He answered: "Your sins have shackled you". No doubt
sins can be a major cause for a persons inability to enjoy the blessings
of piety. As Imaam Ibn ul-Qayyim said, sins are wounds and some wounds
can be fatal.
FIVE: To
bear in mind the great reward for attending Fajr prayer in congregation
on time, and the strong rebuke for him to fails to observe it and to satisfy
its conditions. Uthmaan ibn 'Affaanrelated:
I heard Allah's Messenger (sallallaahu-alaihi-wasallam)
say: "He who prays Ishaa in Jamaa'ah [congregation] is as if he has prayed
for half the night. As to him who (also) prays Fajr in congregation, it
is as if he has prayed all night." [narrated by Maalik and the wording
is that of Muslim who also reported it]
Similarly, Bukhaaaree and Muslim
and An-Nasaaee related on the authority of Ibn Mas'ud (radiallaahu-anhu)
that he said: The case of a man who slept all the night up to sunrise (without
waking up for Fajr) was related to the Prophet (sallallaahu-alaihi-wasallam)
whereupon he said: "That was a man in whose ear Shaytaan has urinated",
or he said "in both his ears".
The urinating is literally true,
as Imaam Qurtubi says, since Shaytaan urinates and has sexual intercourse
and procreates in a manner that Allah alone knows (1). To ascertain for
yourself the truth of this assertion, look at the faces of those who come
to deal in their daily business withouthaving prayed Fajr in congregation
at due time; look at their faces at working hours. You will surely ask
Allaah for refuge from a lot as miserable as theirs. But, after all what
do you expect from a person in whose heart Shaytaan has urinated!!!
SIX: To
realise the bad effects resulting from one's failure to pray Fajr, such
as the melancholic and depressive state of mind and the loss of many religious
and worldly benefits, and the good effects resulting from managing to perform
it. In this respect the Prophet (sallallaahu-alaihi-wasallam)
said:
"Shaytaan ties three knots on the
crown of any one of you in your sleep. He says upon each knot that he ties:
"You have a long night before you, therefore sleep". But if you wake up
and mention Allah, Most Exalted in remembrance one knot will be untied.
If you then make ablution another knot will be undone. If you then proceed
to pray the last knot will be disentangled. Thus, you will feel in the
morning energetic and in good spirits. Otherwise you will feel in a despicable
state, lazy". [narrated by Maalik, Bukhaaree, Muslim and Abu Dawood]
The time following Fajr prayer is
full of goodness and blessings. At-Tirmidhee narrated upon the authority
of Al Ghamdi that the Prophet (sallallaahu-alaihi-wasallam) said: "O Allah
bless my Ummah in its early rising!" and whenever he dispatched an expedition
or army he sent them early at the beginning of the day. Sakhr was a merchant
who always sent his merchandise early in morning thus, becoming wealthy
(3). That is why we find the craftsmen and traders are particular about
making good use of this time. Those who sleep up to the late morning have
denied themselves the blessings of this early hour.
There are many benefits to the health
derived from waking up for Fajr prayer. For instance, the highest proportion
of ozone gas (03) in the atmosphere is registered at dawn. It then gradually
fades away until comlplete disappearance by sunrise. This gas has a very
beneficial effect on the nervous system as it vivifies the brain and energises
the muscles such that when a person inhales the beautiful breeze of the
dawn, known as the SABAA wind, he will experience a pleasure that is unparalleled
at any other time of the day or night (4).
SEVEN: To
lose no time to categorically clear yourself from the stigma of hypocrisy.
Because of the difficulty of waking for this time, praying Fajr in congregation
provides evidence that a person has firm faith and is free from hypocrisy.
That is why in a hadeeth narrated by Bukhaaree and Muslim, the Prophet
(sallallaahu-alaihi-wasallam) said: "Indeed, the most difficult of prayers
to bear, for the hypocrites, are Ishaa [night] and Fajr prayers. If only
they knew what they are missing , they would sooner come, even if crawling
on their knees".
The most worthy companion, Abdullaah
and Ibn Mas'ood (radiallaahu-anhu) asserts "The only one indeed who misses
them[i.e. Ishaa and Fajr prayers] is a confirmed hypocrite" (5). Ibn Umar
(radiallaahu-anhu) said "When we find a man missing from the Ishaa and
Fajr prayers we nurture suspicions about him"
(6)If you want a criterion for evaluating
a person's degree of faith and truthfulness monitor his observance of Fajr
prayer. If he passes the test, that should be taken as a sign indicating
the strength of his Eeman [belief, faith]. Let us then testify to his truthfulness
since he managed to achieve the greatest victory over himself and to be
superior to the pleasure of sleeping in bed. If he fails the test, this
is an index to his weakness in faith, a hardness in his heart, an indulgence
in self-gratification and a defeat against his own whims.
How is it then that he who indulges
in sleep and misses prayer should conceivably feel comfortable while people
are delighting in the mosques in the company of the Qur'aan, listening
raptuously to Allaah's message, and basking happily in His gardens. He
who prefers the pleasures of the bed to the pleasure of the communion with
Allaah is the real loser.
These are a few suggestions to help
you wake up for Fajr prayer. May Allah make them useful. Glory be to Allah,
Most Exalted over any false attributions and thanks be to Allah, the Lord
of all Beings.
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