In every work we do, we often find that there is very little time to do anything and we are rushed around a lot. Yet, if we look in the past to people far greater than anything we can dream of being, people like the Prophets, the Sahaabah and the great scholars and leaders of Islam, we see that they had the same 24 hour day as us but there was so much barakah in their time.
When Ibn al-Qayyum asked his teacher, Ibn Taymiyyah, how he managed to accomplish so much in a single day – writing books, articles, giving dars, helping muslims, training, looking after the community, Ibn Taymiyyah said that after fajr, he goes and spends some time alone with Allah until sunrise.
During this time, he would do the morning adhkar from the sunnah, recite Quran aloud, make dhikr, until shrook time. He would then pray 2 rakas and make dua. He said that it was this “nourishment” which energised him for the day.
The early riser wins the rewards of blessed health, time, age and wealth while the lazy and spongers will get the left offers or none altogether.
Here comes the story of the dog and the goat. This story highlights the importance of waking up early in the morning, a practice that is related with working hard.
A dog is awake throughout the night but falls into deep sleep just before morning prayers missing out on this blessed hours, the goat however sleeps throughout the night but wakes up just before fajr enjoying the blessing of the morning. Experienced herders will tell you that early in the morning the goat roams, bleats and tries to get out of the boma.
A dog gives birth to about a dozen of puppies, however little survive sometime none of them, yet in a lifetime a goat can give birth to about two kids or sometimes none at all, but then the population of goats in the world is too huge and surpasses that of dogs in millions while every day the goat is slaughtered in every home and restaurant throughout the world.
The goat is so blessed that you will always see a boma of goats with thousands of heads. What happened to the dog that gives birth to a dozen puppies?
The boundless blessings of Allah is accessible to those who ask for it, those who make efforts towards it and those who wake up in the morning, pray to their Lord and go out to work
Working hard should be within the framework of Islamic life, we don’t need to burn the candle on both end. We just make sure that we are on a constant roll to improve our situations and reach our objectives not just our worldly ones but also of the next world.
Seizing golden chances for success is inspired by the believe that opportunities don’t happen but they are created. If we internalize hard work, visualize its rewards and set our sight on success, we will certainly make high-fliers.
The morning spiritual nourishment is what charges us during the day, Just like breakfast in the morning gives us that energy for the whole day, we need our spiritual nourishment every morning. Without it, we get tired easily, cranky, and stressed.
Allah has repeatedly praised His creation who glorify Him before sunrise and sunset. All of creation – the sun, the birds, the fish, the rocks, the stars, the moon, everything glorifies Allah at these times. So imagine the beauty of us all joining in perfect harmony.
The key is sleeping early – the Prophet (SAW) encouraged people to sleep after eesha and disliked useless talk into the late hours of the night. We will have had a good night’s sleep. Wake up fresh – pray tahajjud, read some quran, make dua and then pray fajr. After fajr, more dhikr, until shrook – pray 2 rakas. Key then is not to sleep – go for a walk, shower, shake off the sleep and start doing some work.
The Prophet (SAW) said that Allah has put barakah into this period after shrook so we should utilise it. Use this time for studying Arabic, the deen, preparing any classes you are giving, organising yourself, college work. You will find that by about 3 o’clock, you will have finished a lot of your personal stuff and work stuff and have a lot more time on your hands.
Insha’Allah, try it out and if you find it beneficial, share it with other brothers and sisters.
