The world is at peace and the sky wakes up with the most beautiful colors at Fajr but those aren’t the only reasons to aspire to wake up in time for it.

It truly is the only time in the day when you can focus without distractions. The work day hasn’t begun, the demands of daily life haven’t intruded upon your consciousness and you’re still in that zen state after sleep. You’re calmer and the world around you is quieter. At this point during the day the only sound you hear is birds chirping. In this quiet moment before you enter another day, you have the perfect opportunity to be thankful for days past and to be thankful for the promise of another day.

It’s also the one prayer of the day that you shouldn’t have an excuse to be late for, or to pray with less than your utmost concentration. Zuhr usually comes while we’re at work, and we stretch it out, and leave it to pray together with Asr. Sometimes we even save Zuhr and Asr till we get home praying it just before Maghrib while we’re exhausted. By the time we pray Isha even if it’s in it’s proper time, we’re usually so tired from the demands of our day that we just pray it to get it out of the way.

So Fajr is the time to pray in earnest and sincere devotion because it is a quiet time. Because it is after we have rested from the day before.

Despite all that, Fajr sometimes feels more difficult than other prayers because we have to wake up so early to do it.

Every day I wake up for Fajr on time is a little victory. Because each time we go to sleep, we have no guarantees that we will wake. And each time we go to sleep, shaytan ties three knots around us to keep us from getting up to pray Fajr. The first knot is broken the moment we think about Allah. Which is why it’s important to say Alhamdu lillaahil-lathee ‘ahyaanaa ba’da maa ‘amaatanaa wa’ilayhin-nushoor which means Praise is to Allah Who gives us life after He has caused us to die and to Him is the return. The moment you say that you’ve remembered Allah and acknowledged His power so shaytan’s hold over you is weakened.

The second knot is broken after you perform Wudhu and the third knot is broken after you pray salatul Fajr.

There’s a video on YouTube of shaytan lying next to you in the morning and whispering in your ears encouraging you to sleep more. The first time I saw it, it created such a powerful image in my mind that I would shoot out of bed in the morning once my alarm went off. I didn’t want shaytan anywhere near me! Check it out hopefully it motivates you as it did me.

But as with all things, over time that image faded away. Now I wake for Fajr by reminding myself that tomorrow, I may try to wake up and fail, either because I’m dead, or because I’m too sick to get up. So for that I wake up, thank Allah for this Fajr and pray that He helps me make it tomorrow as well.

What wakes you up for Fajr on time?

pic via pinterest