٩٥. عَنْ أَبِي هُرَيْرَةَ رَضِيَ اللّٰهُ عَنْهُ أَنَّ رَسُولَ اللّٰهِ صَلَّى اللّٰهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ قَالَ:
«يَعْقِدُ الشَّيْطَانُ عَلَى قَافِيَةِ رَأْسِ أَحَدِكُمْ إِذَا هُوَ نَامَ ثَلاثَ عُقَدٍ يَضْرِبُ عَلَى كُلِّ عُقْدَةٍ: عَلَيْكَ لَيْلٌ طَوِيلٌ فَارْقُدْ، فَإِنِ اسْتَيْقَظَ فَذَكَرَ اللّٰهَ اِنْحَلَّتْ عُقْدَةٌ فَإِنْ تَوَضَّأَ اِنْحَلَّتْ عُقْدَةٌ فَإِنْ صَلَّى اِنْحَلَّتْ عُقَدُهُ فَأَصْبَحَ نَشِيطاً طَيِّبَ النَّفْسِ وَإِلَّا أَصْبَحَ خَبِيثَ النَّفْسِ كَسْلَانَ».
95. It is narrated from Abu Huraira (r.a.) that the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) said:
“Satan puts three knots at the back of the head of any of you when you are asleep. On every knot he reads and exhales the following words, “The night is long, so stay asleep.” When one wakes up and remembers Allah, one knot is undone; and when one performs ablution, the second knot is undone, and when one prays, the third knot is undone and one gets up energetic with a good heart in the morning; otherwise one gets up lazy and with a mischievous heart.” (Bukhari, Tahajjud, 12; Bad al-khalk, 11; Muslim, Musafirin, 207. Also see Abu Dawud, Tatawwu, 18/1306; Ibn Majah, Iqamah, 174)
Explanations:
The night compared to the day and the hours of early dawn compared to the night are considered better periods of time. So, believers who want to be blessed with Paradise should take the advantage of these valuable periods of time. As a matter of fact, Allah the Almighty advises the following to His servants who do not want to neglect the Hereafter:
“And part of the night, prostrate yourself to Him; and glorify Him a long night through. As to these, they love the fleeting life, and put away behind them a Day (that will be) hard.” (Al-Insan; 76:26-27)
The Messenger of Allah (pbuh) said:
“Those who are afraid travel during the night. Someone who travels at night reaches where he wants to go. Know it well that Allah’s merchandise is very expensive, and Paradise is Allah’s merchandise.” (Tirmidhi, Qiyamah, 18/2450)
By this rhetorical narration, Allah’s Messenger (pbuh) wants the believers, who are in this world the travelers to the Hereafter, not to lose time. He advises us to take measures and take the advantage of the hour of early dawn to prepare ourselves for the Hereafter just like a person acting cautious during a war time and gains victory as a result of it.
When a period of time is so precious, the acts of worship performed at such periods of time also become very valuable. For this reason, performing a prayer, reciting the Qur’an, remembering Allah, and thinking about His blessings are even more valuable when performed during the early parts of dawn.
The Messenger of Allah (pbuh) said:
“The best prayer after the obligatory prayers is the late night prayer.” (Muslim, Siyam, 202, 203)
“Allah does not listen to anything as much as He lsitens to the Qur’an recitation of His servant who performs two units of late night prayer. Allah’s mercy descends upon the servant as long as his prayer lasts. The servants of Allah can never get as close to Allah as they do when they recite the Qur’an while praying.” (Tirmidhi, Fadail al-Qur’an, 17/2911)
Even the dreams seen in the hour of early dawn are different than the dreams seen at other times. As a matter of fact, the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) said:
“The most truıstworthy dream is the one seen in the early parts of dawn.” (Tirmidhi, Ru’ya, 3/2274)
In our first hadith, it is mentioned that waking up in the early parts of dawn is the custom of the righteous people. We are informed that this good deed which gets humans closer to Allah mot only becomes expiation for our sins but also treats our physical illnesses. In other words waking up for worship in the early parts of dawn is as good for our physical illnesses as it is for the spiritual ones.
The most prominent custom of the Messenger of Allah was to wake up for worship in the early hours of dawn. Allah the Almighty says:
“And pray in the small watches of the morning: (it would be) an additional prayer (or spiritual profit) for you: soon will your Lord raise you to a Station of Praise and Glory!” (Al-Isra; 17:79)
In other words, the best way to earn this level with which only one person will be blessed in the Hereafter is taking advantage of the early hour of dawn by worshipping Allah.
For this reason, the Messenger of Allah used to pay extra attention to the late night prayers and worshipped a lot without failing to get enough rest. Anas (r.a.) reported:
“If you wanted to see him praying at night, you could see him praying and if you wanted to see him sleeping, you could see him sleeping.” (Bukhari, Tahajjud, 11; Sawm, 52, 53; Muslim, Sawm, 178-180)
Allah’s Messenger (pbuh) would sometimes wake up for the late night prayer at early parts of the night, and sometimes in the middle of the night, but mostly at the early hours of dawn. The Companions used to be able to see him worshipping or resting in various times rather than a fixed time. However, towards the end of his life, the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) used to wake up for the late night prayer in the last third of the night, in other words, at the early hours of dawn.
Aisha (r.anha) explained the features of Prophet’s late night prayers as:
“Allah’s Apostle never exceeded eleven cycles (rak‘ah) of prayer in Ramadan or in other months; he used to offer four cycles — do not ask me about their beauty and length, then four cycles, do not ask me about their beauty and length, and then three cycles …” (Bukhari, Tahajjud, 16; Tarawih, 1; Muslim, Musafirin, 125)
The Messenger of Allah who used to perform indescribably beautiful and long prayers started to perform his prayers while sitting when he became old. He would recite for some time while sitting but when he wanted to perform a bowing, he wound get up, recite some more verses and then perform the bowing. (Bukhari, Tafsir, 48/2)
Allah the Almighty praises His good servants who follow the tradition of the Prophet and benefit from the hour of early dawn as:
“… and who pray for forgiveness in the early hours of the morning.” (Al-i Imran; 3:17)
“They were in the habit of sleeping but little by night, And in the hour of early dawn, they (were found) praying for Forgiveness.” (Al-Zariyat; 51:17-18)
Let’s give some examples from the beautiful states of the righteous people who used to regularly perform night prayers:
The Messenger of Allah (pbuh) said:
“I recognize the Qur’an reciting voices of the soft-hearted tribe of al-Ashariyun when they enter their homes at night. In military expeditions, I recognize their residences at night from their voices when they are reciting the Qur’an although I had not seen where they stay during the day time…” (Bukhari, Al-Maghazi, 38)
Aisha (r.anha) reported:
The Prophet performed the Tahajjud prayer in my house, and then he heard the voice of ‘Abbad b. Abdullah who was praying in the Mosque, and said,
“O Aisha! Is this Abbad’s voice?” I said,
“Yes,” He said,
“O Allah! Be merciful to ‘Abbas!” (Bukhari, Shahadat, 11)
For eight or nine nights, the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) performed the obligatory night prayer (salat al-isha) until the one third of the night. Upon that Abu Bakr (r.a.) said:
“O the Messenger of Allah! If you lead the salah al-isha a little earlier, it would be easier for us to wake up for the late night prayer!”
From that time on, the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) led the salah al-isha earlier. (Ahmad, V, 47)
When Umar (r.a.) woke up for the late night prayer, he used to pray as follows:
“O Lord! You know where I am and You know what I need! O Lord! Return me from Your presence as a servant whose needs are satisfied, who is safe from all kinds of fears and troubles, who fulfills Your commands right away, whose prayers are answered, whose wrongdoings You forgive and upon whom You have shown Your mercy.”
After performing his prayer, he would continue his supplication saying:
“O Lord! I cannot see anything eternal on this world. There is no upright state on it, either. O Lord! Make me among Your servants who speak with knowledge and keep silent with wisdom! O Lord! Do not make me too rich so that I won’t go astray, and do not put me in a difficult position so that I won’t forget my acts of worships and responsibilities. For sure, wealth that is not much but just the right amount is better than too much wealth that causes one to forget his worships and responsibilities.” (Ibn Abi Shayba, Musannaf, VII, 82)
The following story is an exemplary one that shows how the late night prayer (salat al-tahajjud) makes a believer among the righteous people and leads him to salvation:
Amir b. Rabia who paid extra attention to the late night prayers passed away while he was performing one. When people of his time were faced with an unsolvable disorder, a voice said to Amir in his dream as:
“Wake up! Ask Allah to save you from this unrest from which Allah saves His righteous servants!”
He woke up right away and performed a prayer. He got sick after the prayer and he passed away before going out of his house. (Haythami, IX, 301; Ibn Abi Shayba, Musannaf, VI, 362/32044)
Qatadah said:
Amir b. Abdiqais started to cry in his death bed.
When he was asked why he was crying, he said:
“I am neither crying form the fear of death nor from the passion of this world. However, I am crying that I will be deprived of fasting in hot days and waking up at night to perform a late night prayer.” (Dhahabi, Siyar, IV, 19)
Allah the Almighty mentions the other merits of such righteous people who paid attention to the early hours of dawn as follows:
“Their limbs do forsake their beds of sleep, the while they call on their Lord, in fear and hope: and they spend (in charity) out of the sustenance which We have bestowed on them.” (Al-Sajdah; 32:16)
In other words, taking advantage of the early hours of dawn directs them to good services such as charity.
In the rest part of this verse, our Almighty Lord gives the following good news for those who wake up leaving their beds in early dawn and live a life of charity:
“Now no person knows what delights of the eye are kept hidden (in reserve) for them – as a reward for their (good) deeds.” (Al-Sajdah; 32:17)
The Messenger of Allah (pbuh) explains this verse as:
“Allah the Almighty said:
“I have prepared for My righteous servants (such excellent things) as no eye has ever seen, nor an ear has ever heard nor a human heart can ever think of!” (Bukhari, Bad’ al-khalk, 8; Tafsir, 32/1; Tawhid, 35; Muslim, Jannah, 2-5)
This noble hadith shows that the blessings of the Paradise are far more than the blessings that are mentioned in other verses and ahadith. In some narrations, it is said that those blessings are not known even by the prophets or the angels.
This is the best sign that shows the love of Allah the Almighty for those who wake up for the early dawn worship. The following noble hadith is another proof of this fact:
“There are three types of people that Allah loves most, and there are three types of people the Allah hates most. The three types that Allah loves most are:
1. A man comes into a community and asks for something not because he knows them but only for the sake of Allah. They don’t give him what he asks for. One of them slowly and secretly goes towards the back of the community and gives something to the man. (He gives so secretly that) Only Allah and the man to whom he helped know about it.
2. A community is on a trip. They walk the whole night. Then they all feel sleepy and suddenly sleep becomes the most precious thing for them. The caravan stops and everybody falls asleep. One of them wakes up and prays to Me and reads my verses with passion and submission.
3. A person joins to a military expedition. They meet the enemy and lose the war. However, the person moves ahead and fights until he either wins or dies.
The three types of people that Allah hates most include the one who commits adultery in his old age, the haughty poor, and the cruel rich.” (Tirmidhi, Jannah, 25/2568; Nasai, Zakat, 75/2568)
The Messenger of Allah (pbuh) likes those who take advantage of the early hour of dawn as well. This is understood from the following hadith:
It is asked to the mother of the believers Aisha (r.anha):
“Who does the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) love the most?”
She replied:
“Fatima!”
“How about from the males?”
Upon this Aisha (r.anha) said:
“Her husband!” and then she pointed out an important fact and continued:
“To the best of my knowledge, he is a person who fasts a lot and performs late night prayers a lot.” (Tirmidhi, Manaqib, 60/3874)
The following report is quite important whivh gives the news that those who perform late night prayers will go to Paradise:
The Messenger of Allah (pbuh) said:
“There are some mansions in Paradise. (Due to their transparency and beauty) Their inside is seen from outside and outside is seen from the inside.”
A Bedouin who heard this stood up and asked:
“For whom are these mansions O the Messenger of Allah?”
Our Master the Pride of the Universe (pbuh) said:
“They are for the servants of Allah who say their words nicely, who feed others, who fast regularly, and who wake up for late night prayer while everyone sleeps!”
When the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) explained the way to the Paradise to Ansar[1] and Muhajirin[2] at the first days of the migration (from Mecca to Medina), he pointed out to the same fact and advised them to pray at night while everyone sleeps.
Abdullah bin Salam (r.a.), who had been a prominent Jewish scholar before he embraced Islam, reported this incident as follows:
When the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) came to Medina, people gathered around him.
It was announced as “The Messenger of Allah is here, the Messenger of Allah is here, the Messenger of Allah is here!”
I joined the crowd in order to see him. When I saw the holy face of the Messenger of Allah, I understood that his face cannot be the face of a liar. The first words that I heard from the Prophet were:
يَا أَيُّهَا النَّاسُ! أَفْشُوا السَّلَامَ وَأَطْعِمُوا الطَّعَامَ وَصِلُوا الْأَرْحَامَ وَصَلُّوا بِاللَّيْلِ وَالنَّاسُ نِيَامٌ تَدْخُلُوا الْجَنَّةَ بِسَلَامٍ
“O humans! Spread the salutation, feed others, keep your connection alive with your relatives and continue to help them! Pray at night when everyone is at sleeps! In this way, you will safely go to Paradise.” (Ibn Majah, At’imah, 1; Iqamah, 174; Tirmidhi, Qiyamah, 42/2485)
The matter in these two reports which draws our attention is to do something different than others by worshipping at night while everyone is at sleep. Something which most people cannot do is surely a thing that is difficult to do. One should acknowledge that waking up for late night prayer while everyone is asleep is a good deed that only exceptional people can perform. For this reason late night prayers hold great value. Another fact that makes this worship important is that it is an act of worship away from hypocrisy (showing off). Truly, an act of worship performed when everyone is at sleep is not seen by anyone else. Therefore, believers who wake up for prayer at dawn are the sincere servants of Allah who worship only for the sake of Allah.
As a matter of fact, the prayer that is not performed in this manner or the late night prayer performed for other reasons do not have any value. For them, the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) said:
“There are many who wake up for night worship and the only thing they receive from it is the lack of sleep.” (Haythami, III, 202)
In our first hadith, we are informed that the night prayers are expiation for our sins. This worship also protects one from committing sins and evil. As a matter of fact, this fact is clearly seen in the following narration:
A man came to the Prophet (pbuh) and said:
“There is a man who prays at night and steals in the morning.”
The Messenger of Allah (pbuh) said:
“If he truly performs a prayer, the verses of the Qur’an that he recites in his prayers will take him away from his wrongdoing.” (Ahmad, II, 447)
In the second hadith, we are informed of a period of time in every night when all the supplications coinciding with that period will be accepted. This shows that nights are more valuable than days. That is because there is only one period of time during the days, which is in Fridays, when all the prayers get accepted, whereas such a period of time exists in every night. This is a great blessing of Allah the Almighty to His servants. So, in order to find this period of time, believers should wake up at night to turn towards Allah and seek refuge in Him.
When we examine the third hadith, we can say that this time period is in the last third of the night, or, in other words, just before dawn. As a matter of fact, we are informed that Allah is closer to His servants who are awake at dawn and pre-dawn time, accepts their prayers, forgives who ask for forgiveness, and blesses them with health.
Amr b. Abasa (r.a.) reported that he asked to the Messenger of Allah (pbuh):
“O Messenger of Allah! Is there a period of time in which performing worship is better in terms of getting closer to Allah?”
The Messenger of Allah (pbuh) said:
“Yes, there is. The time that Allah gets closest to His servants is the middle of the last part of the night. If you are able to join those who worship Allah at that time, be among them! That is because angels came to the prayers performed from that time to sunrise and bear witness…” (Nasai, Mawaqit al-Salat, 35/570. Also see Ibn Majah, Iqamah, 182; Muslim, Salat al-Musafirin, 52)
The friends of Allah consider the dawn time the most precious treasure which the worships hold the utmost value, supplications get accepted, sins get forgiven, and the bodies become healthier. And they say:
Worshipping at night is the true wealth and power that Allah refers to in the Qur’an as “O Allah. Lord of Power (and Rule), You give power to whom You please…” (Al-i Imran; 3:26)[3]
In our fourth hadith, it is explained how Satan works to prevent believers to benefit from these rewarding times and hence from eternal salvation. Satan makes sleeping sweeter in the early parts of dawn in order to prevent people from worshipping and whispers into the ears excuses for them, such as “There is still time, go back to sleep,” to miss these valuable hours.
In order not to get deceived by such tricks, one should go to sleep with the intention to wake up for worship around dawn time. When one wakes up at night, one should remember Allah and think about His greatness, necessity of fulfilling His commands and the abundance of His rewards, and be filled with the desire of gaining His content. Then one should control his willpower, get up and drive away his sleepiness by performing ablution. And then, he should overcome Satan and perform the late night prayer and try to get closer to Allah.
Taking advantage of the nights like this surely brightens up the days, too. When the nights are lightened up with acts of worship, the days come to life with services to Allah and good deeds. Spending the nights sleeping by getting defeated by Satan also takes away the productivity of the days. When the nights of a person are dark, his days also become dark. The hearts of people who perform worldly duties without receiving the spiritual nourishment get weak. Therefore, we must receive strong spiritual nourishment at the early hours of dawn in order to be strong during the day, both physically and spiritually.
The believers who do not benefit from the nights will be empty handed in the Hereafter. The Messenger of Allah (pbuh) did not want this to happen to his followers and warned them by reminding the advice that Solomon’s mother gave to his son:
“O my child! Do not sleep much at night! As a matter of fact, sleeping much during the night leaves one poor on the Day of Judgment!” (Ibn Majah, Iqamah, 174)
Again, Messenger of Allah (pbuh) said to his companion Abdullah b. Amr (r.a.):
“O Abdullah! Do not be like so and so who used to pray at night and then stopped the late night prayer.” (Bukhari, Tahajjud, 19; Muslim, Siyam, 185)
Allah gives the reward of a late night prayer to those who regularly wake up for the night prayers but oversleep one night and miss the prayer. The sleep that the person gets that night would be considered a blessing from Allah. Since the intention of the person is sincere, even if he misses one night, he wakes up the next night with the help of Allah.
It is stated in a noble hadith that:
“Any person who offers prayer at night regularly but (on a certain night) he is dominated by sleep will be given the reward of praying. His sleep will be a charity (that is, it’s a gift from Allah to him).” (Muwatta’, Salat al-Layl, 1; Abu Dawud, Salat al-Layl, 20/1314; Nasai, Qiyam al-layl, 61)
Of course, this is the case for the supererogatory acts of worship. The responsibility of obligatory worships does not drop with excuses such as travelling, being ill, or sleep.
There are other ways to compensate not being able to wake up:
When the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) missed his late night prayer for reasons such as pain, ache, or something else, he used to perform twelve units of prayer the next morning. (Muslim, Musafirin, 140)
The Messenger of Allah (pbuh) also said:
“If a person falls asleep before he completes the supplications or the prayers that he used to perform and perform them the following morning between the dawn prayer and the noon prayer, he receives rewards as if he has performed it at night.” (Muslim, Musafirin, 142)