Tips for how to wake up for Fajr Prayer

ONE:

To make sure to go to bed early as the Prophet (SAW) used to discourage sleep beforeperforming Ishaa prayer and especially engaging in conversation after it.

TWO:

To be constant 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, and reciting the last three surah's of the Qur'an, 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 acquires the 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. 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 'Affaan related: I heard Allah's Messenger (SAW) say: "He who prays Ishaa in Jamaa'ah [congregation] is as if he hasprayed 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 (SAW) whereupon he said: "That was a man in whose ear Shaytaan has urinated", or he said "in both his ears".

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]

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". Ibn Umar (radiallaahu-anhu) said "When we find a man missing from the Ishaa and Fajr prayers we nurture. suspicions about him"

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.


Oh, and set your alarm!

The adab of Visiting

Islam has taught us that while visiting others, we should follow prescribed rules of etiquette (Islamic Adab). Without doing this, we could easily lose our beloved friends.

Hadith - At-Tabaraanee collected it, and Albani authenticated it in Silsilatul-AHaadeethis-Saheehah (#432).
The Prophet (saaws) said: "The most beloved of Allah's servants to Allah are those with the best manners."

Sometimes people visit one another without calling ahead to announce that they are coming. However, it is sometimes difficult to receive guests unexpectedly. In that awkward situation, people often feel they have to apologize because they cannot receive guests when, actually, the fault is on the part of the visitor. Instead of understanding, though, many times the visitor becomes upset.

Allah (Subhanahu wa Ta'ala) said, "If you were asked to go back, go back; that makes for greater purity" [Surah Nur; 24:28].

We should do our best to not embarrass others with an unexpected visit. Choosing an appropriate time to request visiting our friends is also important. We should never disturb them at times that are reserved for resting or relaxing.

Imam al-Tabari, in his tafsir (Exegesis), reported that a man of the Muhajirin said, "All my life, I wanted to practice this verse, 'If you were asked to go back, go back; that makes for greater purity,' but I could not. I was hoping I would seek permission to visit a brother and he will tell me, "Go back!' I will gladly go back fulfilling this directive of Allah."

Volume 8, Book 74, Number 262:
Narrated Abu Said Al-Khudri:
While I was present in one of the gatherings of the Ansar, Abu Musa came as if he was scared, and said, "I asked permission to enter upon 'Umar three times, but I was not given the permission, so I returned." (When 'Umar came to know about it) he said to Abu Musa, "Why did you not enter?'. Abu Musa replied, "I asked permission three times, and I was not given it, so I returned, for Allah's Apostle said, "If anyone of you asks the permission to enter thrice, and the permission is not given, then he should return.' " 'Umar said, "By Allah! We will ask Abu Musa to bring witnesses for it." (Abu Musa went to a gathering of the Ansar and said). "Did anyone of you hear this from the Prophet ?" Ubai bin Ka'b said, "By Allah, none will go with you but the youngest of the people (as a witness)." (Abu Said) was the youngest of them, so I went with Abu Musa and informed 'Umar that the Prophet had said so. (See Hadith No. 277, Vol. 3)

Inside the house and also the back of the house are private quarters for the people who live there. Islamic adab teaches us not to look inside someone's home without first getting permission. Sa'd ibn Ubada (radiAllahu anhu) relates that, "A man stood facing the door of the Prophet (salAllahu alayhi wasalam) while asking permission (to enter). The Prophet (salAllahu alayhi wasalam) said, 'Turn this way,' turning him away and ordering him to move farther from the door, saying, 'Asking permission is prescribed to prevent intrusion'." [abu dawud and al-Tabarani].

If we follow the way of the Prophet (salAllahu alayhi wasalam) while visiting our friends, we will avoid many problems and we will be able to protect our friendships, Insha'Allah. And if we love our friends for the sake of Allah, we will respect their rights of privacy and our behavior will not cause them to feel offended by us or alienate them from us.

Knowledge

Lately I've been coming across so many Muslims who are quick to comment or say something about Islam but they got no idea where the evidence for it is. Either they just heard the information from someone else or read it in 'some' book.

They are doing exactly what I used to do 10 years ago! Over the years, as I read more, attended halaqahs and listened to lectures, I realised how wrong I had been, to open my mouth so quick without having real knowledge.

It is important to understand the grading of Ahadith and how scholars judge between difference of opinions. When reading books make sure references are given. A sister gave me a book once and as I was reading I soon realised there were a lot of things which were not quite right. I then noticed it had no references whatsoever. It's quite scary to know that a person will take something as truth just because the author or speaker claims to be a scholar or a person of knowledge.

If we study the four madhabs, one thing you will notice is all of them advise us to, 'Turn to where we took', meaning the Qur'an and Sunnah. Maasha Allah, one of the amazing things about Islam is that we still have our scriptures, preserved and unchanged. We don't need to look far when we want to find something out. The Qur'an is our guide, if we want true knowledge, we already have it in our hand.