By Fardawsa Yusuf بِسْمِ اللهِ الرَّحْمٰنِ الرَّحِيْم
We crave a wholesome day. A day we can get a lot done even in little time. We want better sleep, some of us just want to sleep period. We want to be active, to be happy, to be productive, to feel like we’ve done something at the end of the day. We want to spend time with our families, but somehow we can just never find enough time. We want to take care of ourselves, our bodies, our appearance, we want to hit the gym and then stay committed. We just want to do the best we can with what we have.
But the trouble is finding the time to do all these things. Where possibly is all this time? Balance is so important and we crave it, aiming for it, but always falling short with something. We have our priorities. But there are other priorities too. Too many priorities actually haha.
I believe there is only one solution to this problem. And it’s a solution we all know but fail to implement properly. You know, we’re humans. We’re all busy with something. Our minds are always preoccupied with something. All of us. Just trying to do what we can to get by. We are bogged down by our responsibilities and daily tasks that we forget to look around sometimes and just think.
There are a bigger world and existence outside of ourselves. Much bigger. We are kept between two levels. The sky and the earth. And this earth is kept inside of the Universe, amongst billions of other Universes. And those Universes are amongst the lowest of Heavens, and we are in the lowest of the heavens by the way. Doesn’t get any lower haha.
There is a world much bigger world above and around us. And as we have plans, there is a plan for us too. The one who placed us in this earth amongst billions of other galaxies has a plan for us too. Just as everything in the Universe is fixed and measured. So are we.
Ever notice how our date of birth was calculated and fixed, and neither ourselves or our mothers knew when exactly we’d be delivered into the world? There was a time when she didn’t even know if we’d be a boy or a girl, she didn’t even know our period. We were just considered a baby. That’s it. The new baby. But that baby would grow with a future of its own. No one would know except one who placed in Mothers womb.
Our Rabb, the one who gave us this life, has a plan for us, and even as we are busy with our daily routines of life, everything in our destiny is calculated and measured.
And yet we fail to realize what exactly our priorities are. Showing thanks to the one who gave us life should be our number one priority because, without our Rabb, we would not be here living.
Gratitude. That’s all it is. This is the solution. If we recognize Allah as our Lord, then gratitude is the action.
When we are truly grateful for what someone has done for us, we thank them, we never fail to think well of them, we hold them in high esteem, we don’t ever forget the favor they’ve done for us, we mention them to our friends, we remember them. If not on our tongues, then in our hearts.
But us, even though we know Allah created the heavens and the earth, we have a hard time translating this into action. Allah says in the Qur’an
And if thou ask them, ‘Who has created the heavens and the earth and pressed into service the sun and the moon? They will, surely, say, ‘ALLAH.’ How then are they being turned away from the truth?(39:38)
Many of us recognize the Lordship of Allah. But most leave it at that and don’t show gratitude.
The Muslim knows that showing gratitude is a part of faith. He starts his day off thanking Allah. The first one he communicates with is Allah. In the darkness of night as he rises, his tongue is moist with the remembrance of Allah, thanking him for giving him another opportunity to live and breathe. When he first wakes up, the mind of the believer doesn’t wander to the current day’s upcoming struggles and hurdles, but his mind first remembers Allah and thanks him. That’s how he begins his day. Reciting praise of Allah, even before he’s becomes engaged with his family and the ones dearest to him.
He rises from his bed although his body is tired and wishing for more rest, he rises. Although they may be sleeping beside the love of their lives, their wife or husband, Allah is much more dear to them.
Of all the blessing his Lord has given him, how can he not sacrifice the things he loves. It is because Allah blessed him that he has these gifts now. The believer not only shows gratitude but also encourages others to show gratitude to. So they’ll wake up their loved ones, encouraging them to rise and remember Allah. They do this because they both want the pleasure of Allah, and they are a team. They are a team, who race with each other for the pleasure of their lord, because they both want to reach paradise, together, to finally meet their Lord. They help each other in doing good deeds because they love each other, and want the best for each other. They know the reward is great, so they wish for their loved ones to have reward too. Allah mentions these ones in Surat As-Sajdah
“They slip quietly away from their beds to appeal to their Lord in fear and anticipation, and spend [charitably] whatever We have provided them with.
‘And no soul knows what has been hidden for them of comfort for eyes as reward for what they used to do.(32:16-17)
The believer wishes for the pleasure and reward of Allah, so they do all that they can that pleases Allah. And more. For example, the believer invests in his late night hours and early morning hours. And this is where they find their success. This is where they connect with the remembrance of Allah, this is where they seek Allah’s help, and ask for his aid, and seek his forgiveness.
Allah says recognizes these people.
“And in the hour of early dawn, they (were found) praying for Forgiveness” (51:18)
This is what they would do, those truly grateful to Allah, as the world would sleep, they’d rise early. That is what makes them successful. A person who is awake before dawn would surely be awake for the Fajr Salaah. The salaah is not easy for everyone. The Hour of Fajr is a special hour. Allah makes an oath by it in the Quran. In fact, an entire Surah is named after it. Allah says
“By the dawn.” (89:1)
This is a time Angels witness a person’s prayer and recitation of Qur’an.
“Say your prayer when the sun declines until the darkness of night and also at dawn. Dawn is certainly witnessed (by the angels of the night and day). (17:78)
The morning hours are a time for barakah. The believer who is awake reciting the words of Allah can never miss that. The more they recite the Qur’an at this hour, the more rewards they are receiving, to be enjoyed in this life and the next. The person who is sleeping at this time would be missing out on this blessing.
Rasulallah (s) made the following dua for his Ummah: “O Allah, bless my Ummah (in their work) in the early part of the morning” (Tirmizi).
The morning hours are a time of blessing! Have you ever compared the person who wakes up and prays his morning prayers to the person who wakes up late? You’ll notice a difference not only between their attitudes but on their faces as well. The one who missed out on the salah will probably have more a groggy tired annoyed kind of attitude.You will this in the following hadeeth”.
Narrated Abu Huraira:
Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ) said, “During your sleep, Satan do three knots at the back of the head of each of you, and he breathes the following words at each knot, ‘The night is, long, so keep on sleeping,’ If that person wakes up and celebrates the praises of Allah, then one knot is undone, and when he performs ablution the second knot is undone, and when he prays, all the knots are undone, and he gets up in the morning lively and in good spirits, otherwise he gets up in low spirits and lethargic.”
And you see that all the time, even in yourself sometimes. The later you wake, the lower your spirits, the earlier you wake the more energy you have during the day. If you look carefully even at the face of a person, you can tell the one who has prayed his morning prayer and the one who hasn’t. The blessings a person get for praying his morning salaah is even evident on his face. If the person has a bright shining face, full of Noor, you will now he was praying that morning or that night before, his face will be a beauty to look at.
A man said to al-Hasan al-Basri:
O Abu Sa’eed, I sleep in good health, and I love … (those who pray Tahajjud at night) have the most beautiful faces?
Truth is, our pious predecessors were so successful because of the way they incorporated the Qur’an into their lives. They pray at the right times, they stayed away from what they were commanded to stay away from them. They strove for the pleasure of Allah. And because they held the religion of Allah in high Esteem, they were held high in Esteem. They implemented the teachings of Qur’an, loved it, acted upon it, taught it, did whatever they could, and went out of their way to do what they could.
They prioritized correctly. And hence their lives fell into place. Us, our priorities are backward. When it is Allah and seeking his pleasure and reward that should be our main focus, we’ve made other things our priority. And you can see the result of this. Utter chaos and confusion. And a ton of unhappiness.
If we go back and appreciate the teaching of Qur’an and implement them carefully, we will find everything we’re looking for. We’ll find that inner contentment, we will find the time we so desperately want to have. We’ll find the blessing.
*Hope you enjoyed. For more good stuff be sure to follow me on any of my social media websites, and be sure to check out my latest course here http://uaalim.com/courses/salaah
Baarakallah Feekum
