Bismillah
Islam teaches us to gain knowledge as it is the path to Jannah; but
knowledge and inspiration alone is not the end goal, it is just the
means to reach it.
The purpose is to gain
knowledge so that we are humbled and inspired enough to carry out
righteous actions, while also having an understanding of their
importance. Why is a righteous action, such as performing Qiyam,
so important to be accompanied by knowledge? Performing Qiyam without
knowing its virtues will have you doing the action in vain, and
likewise, having the
knowledge of the virtues of Qiyam is a great motivator but it is not useful until the
action
is implemented. They are both our responsibility to make use of since
Allah subhanahu wata’aa’aa gave us the ability to both learn and act.
For many of us, we may find it easier to gain the knowledge and feel the
inspiration, but more difficult to use them towards carrying out the
action. Here are some very helpful tips to help you pick up and maintain
the habit of consistently praying the night prayer, insha’Allah!
1) REFLECT ON THE BENEFITS OF QIYAM
Read about and reflect on how Qiyam gives you great success both in this dunya and the akhirah (
PART 1 and
PART 2).
Gaining knowledge on the importance and benefits will inspire you to
perform the night prayers, and reviewing them from time to time helps
you place your efforts towards it each night and maintain this habit for
a lifetime. After all, in each good deed we do, we need to do so with
the pure hope and sincere intention of seeking its rewards from Allah
subhanahu wata’aa’aa. The point after finding inspiration, is to
apply the practice!
2) START WITH THE MINIMUM TWO
When you first start to implement the
night prayer, start by performing only two rak’aat each night to make
sure that you are not overwhelming yourself. Then,
gradually
add more rak’aat to your night prayer, increasing them two by two. With
time you will feel that you are enjoying this, and that two rak’aat are
not enough! There is no maximum limit, but the sunnah of the prophet
salallahu aleyhi wasallam was to pray 8 rak’aat each night. You may
choose to increase it later or not. But it is simply
applying the
habit that is important. So make sure to keep within the boundaries
that you can maintain, as the prophet salallahu aleyhi wasallam said:
“The most beloved of actions to Allah are the most constant, even if little.” [Bukhari].
Increasing the amount gradually will help you to easily and
consistently pray each night, rather than tiring yourself out and
eventually quitting.
The prophet salallahu aleyhi wasallam said: “O Abd Allah! Do not be like so-and-so. He used to pray at night and then left it.” [Bukhari].
The key is to set realistic goals and not cross the bounds of
overwhelming yourself – even if it is one verse that gets you pondering
about your life, that one verse is enough.
3) AVOID SINS
Avoid sins so that you are not shackled by them at night and can get
up for Qiyam; and in return, praying will help you continue avoiding
them.
Sufyan Al-Thawri once said: “I have missed Qiyam for 5 months because of a sin I once committed.” When we hold fast to our night prayers, it becomes our
“shield from sin” [Tirmidhi].
Asking for forgiveness and repenting in the night are one of the best
ways to free ourselves from the chains of our sins, but being burdened
by and insisting on sin makes it much more difficult for us to seek such
forgiveness in the nights.
4) REALIZE ALLAH SUBHANAHU WATA’AA’AA IS CALLING YOU
The mentality we should maintain when we make the intention to perform
Qiyam is that this is a call from Allah subhanahu wata’aa’aa. When we
realize that He is seeking us at night and this is His call to success,
we will also realize that we need to respond.
We are responding to the One who has no need for us, but we are in need of worshiping Him.
5) MAKE QIYAM A JOY IN YOUR LIFE
Qiyam was a great source of joy and pleasure for the early Muslims,
and their inspiring examples express how much they really enjoyed it.
Abdullah ibn Wahb
said: “Every type of pleasure is enjoyed only once, except for acts of
worship, which are enjoyed three times: when you do it, when you
remember it, and when you are given the reward for it.”
Muhammad ibn al-Munkadir
said: “There is nothing left of the joys of this life except three:
qiyaam al-layl, meeting one’s brothers in faith, and praying in
congregation.”
Even as Omar bin Khattab radiallahu anhu was
dying, he did not forget his passion for Qiyam, and said “I do not
grieve on anything of this life except the night prayer.”
So keep in mind that this beautiful act is not meant to be a burden
on you, but rather a joy. There is nothing else of this dunya more
worthy of missing – no play, work, people, hobbies, nor activities of
this world.
6) AVOID EXCESSIVE EATING AND DRINKING
Sufyan al-Thawri said:
“You should eat little, so that you will be able to pray Qiyam al-layl.”
Try to avoid filling up your stomach with food and liquid because it
will make you lazy and want to sleep a lot, and if you do that, you will
miss out on a lot of great opportunities in life including Qiyam.
7) AVOID EXCESSIVE DAYTIME WORK
If you exhaust yourself all throughout the day, you will likely
crash at night, falling into deep sleep and becoming too tired to rise
for the night prayer. Make sure that you give yourself enough time to
rest during a tiring day, and do not work yourself too hard for too long
without a break. Try to spread out all your tasks and errands
throughout your days, and be productive so that you do not procrastinate
your work and have a workload to deal with on the last day.
8) TAKE A NAP
Taking a nap before Duhr (the early
afternoon) is from the sunnah of Prophet Muhammad salallahu aleyhi
wasallam, referred to as a Qaylulah. It helps
you to not sleep excessively and so heavily at night so that you can
wake up for Qiyam. Sometimes, you will have those exhausting days as
much as you try to avoid them, so making sure to take a short nap (30 to
60 minutes) will surely help balance out your day. Today, science has
followed the sunnah and shows how important napping is for our health.
Aside from allowing us to wake up for Qiyam, it also helps increase our
alertness and productivity throughout the day, and maintains good blood
pressure to decrease risk of heart attacks and stroke. Just remind
yourself, Allah subhanahu wata’aa’aa does not want to burden you and
keep you up at night overwhelming yourself. He wants to ease the
religion for you –
taking a nap with the intention of praying Qiyam alone gains you the ajr insha’Allah. Islam is all about balance and moderation!
9) USE IT AS A MONITORING TOOL
When you go through downhills and find that you can’t wake up for
Qiyam, ask yourself, are you sinning or doing something displeasing to
Allah subhanahu wata’aa’aa? If so, make the intention to purify yourself
and you will find that when you truly do want to improve from your
heart, Allah subhanahu wata’aa’aa makes it much easier for you to get up
at night and grants you that opportunity. This is the first indication
of your imaan getting back in check. Constantly checking ourselves and
improving our shortcomings is a sign of us being truthful to ourselves
and how we are doing as slaves of Allah.
The
Almighty says: “O you who believe! Fear Allah and keep your duty to Him.
And let every person look to what he has sent forth for the morrow, and fear Allah. Verily, Allah is All-Aware of what you do.”
{Surat Al-Ĥashr 59: Verse 18}
Allah is aware of all that we do, but we are commanded to also be aware of our own doings. Imam Ibn al-Qayyim said:
“If
the slave is responsible and accountable for everything, even his
hearing, sight and innermost thoughts, then he should check on himself
before he is brought to account.”
10) STRIVE AGAINST YOURSELF
Successful individuals who achieve their goals are those who go
beyond their comfort zone and make the effort to strive against
themselves. This is one of the best means to help you get up for the
night prayer. It is easy to let ourselves flow with our desires towards
destruction; but once we strive against ourselves, we insist on
righteousness and demand to be the ones in control.
Allah
subhanahu wata’aa’aa says: “And as for those who strive hard in Our
Cause, We will surely guide them to Our Paths. And verily, Allah is with
the muhsinoon (good-doers).”
{Surat Ash-Shu`arā’ 29: Verse 69}
The night prayer especially requires that we strive against
ourselves, because night time is a time for resting from the day, and
sacrificing our desire for sleep is a great struggle. The prophet
salallahu aleyhi wasallam also explains the virtue of striving against
oneself:
“When a man from my ummah gets up
to pray at night, striving against his own self to get up and purify
himself, there are knots on him. When he washes his hands in wudoo’, one
knot is undone. When he washes his face, another knot is undone. When
he wipes his head another knot is undone. When he washes his feet,
another knot is undone. Then Allah says to those who are veiled (in the
Unseen): ‘Look at this slave of Mine, he is striving against his own
self and asking of Me. Whatever My slave asks of Me shall be his.”
[Ahmad]
11) MAKE IT ESSENTIAL IN YOUR LIFE
Don’t take Qiyam as a light matter and degrade its worth, because
“it’s just a sunnah”. The sahabah, when they learned or witnessed a
sunnah of the prophet salallahu aleyhi wasallam, were quick in
implementing it into their lives and making it essential as well. If you
want to consistently pray the night prayer, you must first make it an
essential part of your life and have hope in the hereafter so that you
do not leave the habit so easily. With this intention, our efforts will
not be wasted insha’Allah. Remember that Qiyam was once an obligation in
the early stages of Islam, which should remind you of its greatness, as
Aisha radiAllahu anha said:
“Allah made
Qiyam obligatory at the beginning of this surah (Al-Muzzamil), so the
Prophet salallahu aleyhi wasallam and his companions prayed Qiyam for a
year, and Allah withheld the end of this surah for twelve months, until
He revealed something at the end of this surah to make things easier, so
Qiyam al-layl became voluntary after it had been obligatory.”
[Muslim]
12) KEEP IT SECRET
To help purify your intention and maintain the true motivation to
pray the nights, try to keep this act a secret hidden between you and
Allah subhanahu wata’aa’aa just as the salaf did. This protects you from
shaytan getting in the way and encouraging you to show off and gain
people’s admiration for your worship, and keeps you doing it for the
pleasure of Allah subhanahu wata’aa’aa alone. You do not want this to
turn into a habit in which you pray when others are around, but quickly
lose that motivation when you are alone. Although, this does not mean
that you need to go to the extremes of hiding such a deed.
If
you think that sharing how you are praying Qiyam will encourage your
family and friends to do the same, then gain that extra reward and do
so.
13) TODAY BEFORE TOMORROW
Make a pledge to yourself now that you will get up to pray Qiyam –
starting with tonight and continuing on a daily basis. If you are the
type of person that stays up late anyways, then drop what occupies you
at night for a few minutes, and
just do it. Don’t leave this
without thinking to yourself, how and with whom do you like to spend
your nights? Don’t let shaytan visit you with his whispers,
“I will, I will”
– let the reminders and words from Allah subhanahu wata’aa’aa and His
prophet salallahu aleyhi wasallam be the ones that cross your mind and
make the determination now. Think of how much shaytan will hate it, and
Allah subhanahu wata’aa’aa will love it for obeying Him. The best time
to pick up a good habit is always
now.
14) REMEMBER THE PROPHET’S SALALLAHU ALEYHI WASALLAM WISH
When we truly love someone, we love to know of their wishes and respect them enough make them come true.
The Prophet
salallahu aleyhi wasallam, our most beloved brother in Islam, once said
about his companion: “Abdullah is a good man. I wish he
prayed Tahajjud.” After that, Abdullah used to sleep but a little at
night.”
[Bukhari]
Imagine Prophet Muhammad salallahu aleyhi wasallam right now being
pleased with you for following his sunnah, and he tells you he thinks
you are a good person but wishes you just prayed Tahajjud. Would you not
be so inspired to go that extra mile to add that missing thing to the
good person you already are?
Your journey with Qiyam will have its ups and downs, just like it did
with the early righteous Muslims. So keep making the effort to
consistently maintain this habit – sacrifice a low desire of yours,
supplicate a higher desire of your heart, and leave the night putting
complete trust in Allah subhanahu wata’aa’aa for its immense rewards.
Peace and blessings upon our beloved prophet salallahu aleyhi
wasallam who has set an excellent example for his devotion to Qiyam.
Authored by Sister Ray
Edited by Shamsiya Noorul Quloob
http://www.theidealmuslimah.com