2nd day!
It did not start well. Saturday was a day full of people and doings in the wordly affairs. I held company with my sister in law, who by the way was in a great deal of pain. I also took my kids to the weekly swimschool and gymnastics. I stayed there for three hours, went back and took care of my sister-in-law and her boy. The night passed by. I did not stay awake the whole night as I used to, but I thought that if I leave the window open I will hear adhan.
I did not.
So, I woke up with the sun already risen. And it was too late. How shall I continue doing dawah, when I am not even capable of doing the prayer myself. What do I have to change?
I read these to know how to wake up for fajr, how to build up my character and how to become a strong muslim.
How to wake up to fajr-prayer
The first thing to do is to sleep early at night. This is also sunnah. The prophet Muhammad sws used to go to bed and then wake up at night before fajr.
This first thing is gonna be harder the more close to summer we gets, because the time between salat-ul 'Icha and Salatul-fajr is closer. In some countries it is only two hours, and for me it is right now six hours. That should therefore not be hard for me and even I should be ashamed if I did not go to bed early, because this rythme is very common for a lot of people who get to work every day. They only sleep for six hours and THEY get up. But I am a nightingale. I like to stay up until fajr, but that day I am tired all day long.
The next step is to decrease the amount of sugar, especially after lunch and dhohorprayer. Too much sugar makes us lazy and it keeps us awake longer. This suggestion is difficult for me. I really enjoy eating sugar in many forms, even though I have cut I great amount of it. I love eating croissants and other sweet stuff.
I eat pretty good otherwise, even though I am not slim at all. I just have to adjust my intake a little bit further.
The third suggestion is to get an alarm clock. I have the great opportunity to live in a muslim country right now, but the family and the people around me are not waking up to fajr either. That is a problem. But if I do the first two things on this list, perhaps I will get up in the morning while hearing the adhan.
The next step is to have friends who do fayr. I do not have friends who do this prayer and back in my homeland I have a friend, but she never woke me up or helped me in anyway.
So these four tips are the first ones. Then what else can I do? I can try to build up my character.
How to build up my character so that I wake up at fajr!
The first thing on this list is a hadith:
Rasulullah (SAW) said, “Shall I tell you who are the best among you? The best of you are those who when seen are a means of Allah being brought to mind.” Al-Tirmidhi)
It means, for me, that if you mention Allah often, that is a sign, inchallah, that you are amongst the best of characters. It will also help you increasing your faith and consequently also help you wake up at fajr in the mornings. It is also important that your behavior is in lign with your words, i.e. that you are an example for those around you.
The next thing to help wake up at fajr Rasulullah (SAW) said, “He who does not thank people does not thank Allah.” (Al-Tirmidhi)is to do other good things like spending in the cause of Allah, and teach wisdom of Allah, i.e. al-Qur'an.
The third tips is to be thankful and also patient. Patience is the one main characterbuilder. Without it you will certainly fail. Often I have experienced that when my patience is gone, there is only a short period before the thing that I wanted to happen realizes. If I had not get mad or anything I would be much happier and thankful. Instead all I got was shame of getting mad. So patience is the third tip and it will give me strength inchallah.
Rasulullah (SAW)) said, “If a man suffers injustice and endures it patiently, Allah will grant him strength.” (Fiqh-us-Sunnah)
The fourth tip is to remember Allah, i.e. dhikr. Dhikr with your toungue helps the heart to remember, and if the heart remember, then you will get up in the morning. I do dhikr, but perhaps not enough. I have to increase the amount after every prayer during the day.
Rasulullah (SAW) said, “When any group of people remembers Allah, angels surround them and mercy covers them, tranquility descends upon them, and Allah mentions them to those who are with Him.” (Fiqh-us-Sunnah)
الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا وَتَطْمَئِنُّ قُلُوبُهُمْ بِذِكْرِ اللَّهِ ۗ أَلَا بِذِكْرِ اللَّهِ تَطْمَئِنُّ الْقُلُوبُ
“Those who believe, and whose hearts find satisfaction in the remembrance of Allah. for without doubt in the remembrance of Allah do hearts find satisfaction.”
(Surah Radd 13:28)
الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا وَتَطْمَئِنُّ قُلُوبُهُمْ بِذِكْرِ اللَّهِ ۗ أَلَا بِذِكْرِ اللَّهِ تَطْمَئِنُّ الْقُلُوبُ
“Those who believe, and whose hearts find satisfaction in the remembrance of Allah. for without doubt in the remembrance of Allah do hearts find satisfaction.”
(Surah Radd 13:28)
The last characterbuilder I will try to follow is this one:
Do not be angry. When stressed or tired I easily get angry, especially at my family. But if I sleep well and have routines, it will be much easier not to get mad.
A man once said to Rasulullah (SAW), “Teach me some words that I can live by. Do not make them too much for me, lest I forget.” Rasulullah (SAW) replied, “Do not become angry.”
How to become a strong muslim
1. The first thing is to accept that Allah exist. This one I already do believe in, but how can I increase my faith, my iman? If I increase my iman, I will certainly have a lot easier to wake up in the morning, inchallah.
2. The most important thing after believing in the Creator is to pray. Allah will judge us on the prayer, so if we do not pray we will have problems later. When we pray we must pray with sincere intentions, cry and try to pray early after the prayer sets. This one is hard, because I am a sinner. I do a lot of things that I should not do. I really have to work on this one. Being calm, restful with inner peace is beautiful, but sometimes I feel bored. That is the time when somebody whispers in my heart. So, again, I have to increase my Iman. How do I do that?
3. Pray in the middle of the night! This is really hard for me. I do not pray much on the days except for the obligatory ones. At night I amuse me with chatting with other on facebook or so. That is worth nothing really. It would be much better for me to stop that during the night, get some sleep instead and then, after a couple of days, start praying before fajr. But I know in my heart that I am a sinner so this will be really difficult. Again, my iman has to increase. How do I increase my iman?
4. Keep my promises! For me it is really difficult to keep promises I have made with myself. I always fail. Whether it is starting a business, losing weight or visiting my family more often, I fail. How can I keep my promises? By increasing my iman. How do I do that?
5. Fast! I have not been fasting since last Ramadhan and a couple of times after that. I am really scared everytime, because during that day I always get really angry, because of low sugar and intolerance. I can be out of food and beverages, but it is my character that I have to work on more. I do not pray much either during that day.
6. Never waist time on use-less things like play-station, chatting about nonsense like singers or world cup or films and useless books. Books are good if they remind us of Allah. This one is hard for me too. I do not feel any pleasure yet to recite the Qur'an. Not the pleasure that I feel when I read or watch a movie. But that is all due to my sinths. I am a big sinner.
7. Repent. That is the last and most difficult. I am a sinner, and I always go back to do more sinths. That is why it is so hard to repent. Everytime the heart closes up tighter and tighter. So how can I have nur, light in my heart again so that I can repent?
How to increase the iman - the faith!
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