Magazine Articles

The most beautiful of faces! Who doesn’t want to be beautiful? Who does not want to have a shiny and bright face? O’ Muslim, take it seriously and pray night prayers.

The following is an essay by Mr. Amr Khaled written for Al-mara’a Al-yawm Magazine (The Woman Today), on 25/11/2003

Once, Al-Hassan Al-Basry, one of the great Islamic ancestors, was asked “why do people offering night prayers have the most beautiful faces?”. He replied: “Because they are in solitude with the Most Gracious, and He endows them with His brightness.”

This is true. People who pray night prayers are known to people. They are not like any one else, as you find their faces are full of brightness and beauty. These are the countenances of obedient people. It’s no wonder that when you hear this from Al-Hassan Al-Basry, it is known that at that time, whenever people saw him, they increased in praying and worshipping Allah (SWT) for a whole week because of the beauty, serenity and pious countenance on his face.

I hope now you begin to long for night prayers. I urge you to try to get rid of laziness and dullness. Refuse the ties of earth and say “no” to it and welcome the openness of the sky. Never ask, “How many verses shall I recite while I am praying at night? “

Imam Abu-Hanifa prayed his night prayers with only one verse, which he repeated all night long. This verse can be translated as, “Nay, but the Hour is their appointed time (for their full recompense), and the Hour will be more grievous and more bitter.”(TMQ, 54:46)[1].

On another night he used to recite what can be translated as, “So Allâh has been gracious to us, and has saved us from the torment of the Fire.”( TMQ, 52:27).

This is the high sensitivity we are searching for. The quantity does not matter; small is enough, can you imagine? Praying all night long with only one verse during which he would flash back all what he had done in his life.

Hassan Ibn-Thabit (one of the companions of the Prophet PBUH) contemplated and whispered to Allah in the gloominess of the night, saying, “I’m at your door never leaving it, never I would seek help from anyone else. I’ll weave my cloth with consent. I’m honored to be thy servant. In the day the angels will ask me who is thy Lord I’ll shout, Allah is my Lord, The Creator of all creations. For only You I hurry to. O’ my Lord who cleaveth the daybreak from the dark, I’m honored to be Thy servant.”

These words came out of a pure heart, so they directly touched our hearts. I feel that while you are re-reading them, it seems you are never quenched from them. Hurry and memorize them and make them your contemplation in the hours before dawn.

The following words will enable you to break the ties; it is time to do so, isn’t it? Come on, begin contemplating and whispering to Allah in your own language, by your own words and style. Don’t select words; select emotions. The essence is not in words; it is in the purity of emotions.

In the silence of the night, Malik Ibn Dinar (one of our Islamic ancestors) said, “O’ Allah, You are the Only One who knows the residents of heaven and the residents of hell. And you are the only one who knows to which of them I belong, those who reside heaven or those who reside hell?”

The door is open. Don’t feel that there is a barrier between you and Allah. All what one has to do is just to knock at the door & it will be opened for whoever knocks on it. It seems that you are alert by curiously saying, “the door is open so how can we knock at it?”

It’s a good remark. It’s time to work and apply what you have learnt. Be like Malik.

Soliman El-Darey, also one of our Islamic ancestors, reflected and whispered in the gloominess of the night, saying… But! Before you know what he was saying, how about renewing your true intention and letting faith recharge the battery of your heart as you read a very effective and moving phrase from his contemplation. Let your tears flow.

“O’ Allah, if You ask me on the Day of Judgment about my faults, I’ll request You about Your mercy. And if You ask me about my negligence, I’ll ask You about Your forgiveness. O’ Allah, if You ask me about my oblivion, I’ll ask You about Your mercy and forgiveness, and if You threw me in hell, I’ll tell people of hell that I love You.”

Notice how the prophet PBUH prepared himself for night prayers. Listen to his pre- prayers supplication, “O’ Allah, all thanks be to Thee, the Self Subsisting & Eternal of Skies and the earth and whoever in them. All thanks be to Thee, the Light of skies and the earth and whoever in them. All thanks be to Thee, You are the Truth, Your promise is the truth, It is true we will meet you, Your words are the truth. Heaven is truth and Hell is truth. All messengers are truth, and Mohammed PBUH is truth and the Hour is truth. O’ Allah to Thee I surrender, and in Thee I believe. On Thee I put my trust and to Thee I return. For Thee we fight and to Thee we judge. I ask Thy forgiveness for my faults in the past and those to follow, for whatever I hide, whatever I declared and whatever You know best. You are the Advancer and the Delayer. None has the right to be worshipped to but You.”

I feel as if you are saying, “here is the first step towards night prayers. You are right my dear brother and sister. It is, so be serious and start.

Once, a strong worshipper advised the people, saying, “O’ worshippers of Allah, don’t eat too much, then drink too much and then sleep too much. There, you are too much deprived and you’ll feel extremely sorry when death comes.” This is a very important advice; do not exceed in eating so that you will be able to pray night prayers and not be deprived from it. Fit for it? Come on and start; do not think the matter is easy.

Another thing that helps you pray night prayers is to avoid overloading yourself with hard and tough work all day long! I hear you say that this only happens in dreams, and it is not applicable, we do not choose our work. “It is hard and tough by nature. What you are asking for is impossible.”

You are right dear brother, but try to overcome this by taking a nap for an hour. But don’t forget to make your intention to wake up for praying night prayers. I’m happy that the reader is reacting with the advice provided and wants them to be realistic and practical.

It is one of the most important things that help you praying night prayers. One of the followers of the prophet PBUH said, “Do not disobey Allah during the day to be able to pray night prayers”.

Sofian Al Thawrey, one of the companions of the prophet PBUH, said, “I was deprived from praying night prayers for five months because of a sin I committed.”

They asked, what was that sin? He said, “I saw a man crying (while praying) and I said this is hypocrisy.”

Our sins restrict us; so let us break the ties with repentance by feeling sorry and asking Allah’s forgiveness.

This point is very important as well. You have to beware of instant enthusiasm. You may say “I’ll pray night long every night.” Try to be moderate in your enthusiasm and beware of the entries of Satan. It is better to pray two simple Rak’ahs (a set of actions that begins with recitation and ends with prostration. It consists of one bowing and two prostrations with a sitting in between) before you sleep. Keep with this for a month and do not ever let a night pass without praying. Then begin the gradual progress by increasing your prayers in the second month, and so on. Beware that this religion is so solid; you have to go through it step by step. Dear brother, try to stick to these two Rak’ahs. Remember that the grown up man once was a little child and he passed through natural stages until he became a man.

Many of us maintain on having a certain portion of the Qur’an recited, a chapter per day for instance. Try to have a set portion of recitation every night in your night prayers; that is to have a complete cycle of recitation in your night prayers. It is known that the human soul aspires to achieve progress; once you put a target in front of you, you will work hard to achieve it. I hear you say that you do not memorize a good deal of the holy Qur’an. I have a good solution for you; there is an edition of the Holy Qur’an made especially for night prayers. Try to buy one and read from it while praying. You can also hold a small edition of the holy Qur’an while praying. Take this advice; make your target on the long run so that you can achieve it. For instance, your target is to end a complete cycle of recitation while praying night prayers for a yearlong. Don’t be surprised; these steps are very practical and they are tried as well. All you have to do is to go on and start. Don’t forget my dear brother, you have to be very strict when measuring your achievements, and have tough supervision upon your commitment.

The Prophet PBUH said, “Allah will have mercy on the man who wakes up in the night to pray then tries to awaken his wife and if she refuses, he gently sprinkles drops of water onto her face. As well, Allah forgives a woman wakes up in the night to pray then tries to awake her husband and if he refuses, she gently sprinkles drops of water on to his face.” See how the Prophet PBUH was constructing the bases of successful homes and implanting love there.

Our homes sometimes lack love and happiness. Pray in the night and you will find how the house will be filled with happiness, joy and love. The Prophet PBUH says, “Whoever wakes up in the night and awakens his wife and then they pray two Rak’ahs together, they will be listed among the men and women who remember Allah much with their hearts and tongues.”

Take this precious advice; arrange with your fiancée to call her at night to awake her. You laugh, eh? Virtuous wife, help your husband wake up and pray in the night to fill your home with love, happiness and joy. Let your home be a hedge for night prayers.

Come on, you can convert your homes to heavens on earth by night prayers. Life will become happier and joyful with night prayers. Night prayers let the hearts stay lively and feel its true value.

[1] TMQ=Translation of the Meaning of the Qur'an. This translation is for the realized meaning, so far, of the stated (Surah:Ayah) of the Qur'an. Reading the translated meaning of the Qur'an can never replace reading it in Arabic, the language in which it was revealed.

AmrKhaled.net © جميع حقوق النشر محفوظة
This Article may be published and duplicated freely for private purposes, as long as the original source is mentioned. For all other purposes you need to obtain the prior written approval of the website administration. For info: dar_altarjama@amrkhaled.net