The Islamic Bulletin Volume X IX No. 24 Page 21 time that will give him enough sleep to wake up refreshed for salaat al-fajr. * Making sure that one is clean (taahir) and reciting adhkaar (prayers) before sleeping. This helps a person to get up for fajr. * Having a sincere intention and being determined, when going to sleep, that one will get up for fajr. But a person who goes to sleep hoping that the alarm will not go off, and that no one will come and wake him up, will not be able to get up to pray fajr whilst he still has this bad intention. * Remembering Allah as soon as one wakes up. Some people may initially wake up, then they go back to sleep again. But if a person remembers Allah straight after waking up, this will loosen one of the knots of Shaytaan, and will motivate him to get up. When he performs wudoo, his determination becomes stronger, and Shaytaan is driven further away, and when he prays, his shaytaan is defeated, his balance (of good deeds) becomes heavier, and he will feel happy and energetic. * Seeking help from ones family and friends to pray fajr, and encouraging one another in this regard. This is essential, and is undoubtedly included in the words of Allah (interpretation of the meanings): «” Help you one another in al-birr and al-taqwa (virtue, righteousness and piety)» [al-Maaidah 5:2] «By al-asr (time). Verily! Man is in loss, except those who believe and do righteous good deeds, and recommend one another to the truth and recommend one another to patience.» [alAsr 103:1-3] * The Muslim should encourage his wife, for example by waking her up to pray fajr, and she should encourage him, no matter how tired and exhausted he may be. Children should also seek their father’s help to wake up, so he can wake them when it is time for the prayer. No father should say «They have exams, they are tired, let them sleep, poor kids.» It is a mistake to think that be doing this one is being a kind and merciful parent; true parental mercy means that the father wakes them up to worship Allah. « And enjoin al-salaah (the prayer) on your family, and be patient in offering them (the prayers)» [Ta-Ha 20:132)” interpretation of the meaning]. * Just as family members should help and encourage one another to pray fajr, so brothers in Islam can also help one another. For example, university students living in the same residence or neighbours in the same neighbourhood can help one another by knocking on a neighbours door to wake him for prayer and helping him to worship Allah. * Praying to Allah to help him to wake up to pray fajr in congregation. Duaa is one of the greatest sources of strength and success in all things. * Using various means of being woken up, such as alarm clocks. These should be put in the most appropriate place. Some people put the alarm clock next to their head, and when it rings, they turn if off at once and go straight back to sleep. Such a person should put the clock a little further away, so that he can feel that it is really waking him up. One can also arrange to receive alarm calls from the telephone company, and no Muslim should think that it is too much to pay for this service if he needs it, because this is spending in the way of Allah, and waking up to obey the command of Allah cannot be measured in terms of worldly wealth. * Throwing water in the face of the person who is sleeping. The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) praised the man who gets up at night to pray, and wakes his wife, and when she refuses to get up, he throws water in her face; and he praised the woman who gets up at night to pray, and wakes her husband, and when he refuses to get up, she throws water in his face. (Ahmad). Throwing water in a persons face is one of the means of waking a person for prayer that is prescribed by shareeah. In fact it is quite refreshing and energizing. Some people may become enraged when woken in this manner, and they may shout and swear and issue threats, so the person who is seeking to wake another should employ wisdom and patience, and remember that the pens are lifted from the record of one who is sleeping (i.e., his deeds are not being recorded while he is asleep) so he should put up with any bad treatment, and not let this put him off trying to wake people up for prayer. * Not sleeping alone. The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) forbade any man to sleep alone. (Ahmad). Perhaps the wisdom behind this prohibition is that a person could sleep too long if there is no-one to wake him up for prayer. * Not sleeping in remote places where it would not occur to anyone that someone could be sleeping there, such as a person sleeping on the roof of a house without telling his family where he is, or sleeping in a remote part of the house or student residence, so that no-one will know to wake him for prayer, but everyone will think that he is in the mosque when in fact he is fast asleep. Anyone who needs to sleep in a remote place should tell the people around him where he will be so that they can come and wake him. * Being lively and active upon waking. One should get up straightaway, and not wake up in stages, as some people do. A person could be woken up several times, and each time he gets up, but when his friend leaves, he goes back to bed. Waking up in stages usually ends in failure, and the only way to prevent falling asleep again is to get up straight away. * Not setting the alarm too early. If a person knows that there is still a long time to go until the time of the prayer, he may think, «I still have time, let me sleep a little more» Everyone should know how to handle himself and avoid this situation. * Lighting a lamp when waking up ” or, in our modern times, switching on the light. This has the effect of dispelling sleepiness. * Not staying up late, even to pray qiyaam al-layl. Some people may stay up late to pray qiyaam al-layl, then fall asleep a few minutes before fajr and be unable to wake up for the prayer. This happens a lot in Ramadaan people stay up late and sleep a little while before fajr, so they miss the prayer. No doubt this is a grave error, because fard (obligatory) prayer should take precedence over naafil (supererogatory) prayer. So what about those who stay up late not to pray but to commit sin, or at best to do permissible things? The Shaytaan may make the idea of staying up late to discuss important matters attractive to some daaiyahs (Islamic workers), then they sleep late and miss the prayer, thus losing much more than they gained. * Not eating too much before going to sleep. Eating too much makes one sleep deeply. The one who eats a lot gets very tired, and sleeps a lot, thus losing a lot. So one should try to eat lightly in the evening. * Warning about the misinterpretation of the sunnah to lie down after praying the sunnah of fajr. Some people may have heard the hadeeth in which the Prophet (SAW) said: «When any one of you has prayed, let him lie down on his right side.» (Tirmidhi). It was also reported that when the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) had prayed the sunnah of fajr,
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