Excited About A Vacation?

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
In the Name of Allah, Most Merciful, Most Compassionate
Assalaamu alaykum

Dear Friends

I pray that you are well.

You are excited about a vacation you have been waiting for or perhaps you have an important business trip in another city. You have been packing all day. Your flight is at 6 a.m. You make sure you get up to catch that flight. You calculate how much time you need to get ready--do last minute packing, shower, get dressed, get something to eat, get to the airport, check in, go through security and boarding. This would mean, perhaps waking up at 2 or 3 a.m. You set your alarm to make sure you wake up and not miss this important flight. You might decide to just stay up!

Are we this excited, this prepared, this conscious about getting up for tahajjud (night vigil) and fajr (dawn) prayers? If the answer is "No", "O Well", or the like, this is not a good sign especially if you sleep through fajr. It means you got a problem. Your priority is wrong. You don't have the right attitude towards prayer. You need to change and now.

Prayer is something big. Bigger than any other known human projects. When prayer time comes, you pray. Everything else can wait--your PHD project/thesis can wait, the shopping can wait, the oil change can wait, the boss can wait, the judge can wait, the pet walking can wait, cooking can wait, the food on the table can wait. But your prayer cannot wait.

Like if you missed your flight, you might be able to catch another flight, but it is not the same--You have missed the fun or business deals which you could have enjoyed had you not missed your flight and arrived at your destination on time. You cannot make up the lost opportunity ever.

حَـٰفِظُوا۟ عَلَى ٱلصَّلَوَٰتِ وَٱلصَّلَوٰةِ ٱلْوُسْطَىٰ وَقُومُوا۟ لِلَّـهِ قَـٰنِتِينَ ﴿٢٣

Guard strictly your (habit of) prayers, especially the Middle Prayer; and stand before God in a devout (frame of mind).

[Qur'an al-Baqarah 2:238]

If you want to wake up for fajr (and tahajjud), you can wake up. Nothing should stop you. You do whatever it takes to wake up, just as you did to make sure you don't miss your flight.

Our lives change at least 5 times a day, with our 5 daily prayers, and it is a wonderful change. Do more if you want Allah to love you.

إِنَّ ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوا۟ وَعَمِلُوا۟ ٱلصَّـٰلِحَـٰتِ وَأَقَامُوا۟ ٱلصَّلَوٰةَ وَءَاتَوُا۟ ٱلزَّكَوٰةَ لَهُمْ أَجْرُهُمْ عِندَ رَبِّهِمْ وَلَا خَوْفٌ عَلَيْهِمْ وَلَا هُمْ يَحْزَنُونَ ﴿٢٧٧

Indeed, those who believe and do righteous deeds and establish prayer and give zakah will have their reward with their Lord, and there will be no fear concerning them, nor will they grieve. (277)

[Qur'an al-Baqarah 2:277]

إِنَّ ٱلْمُتَّقِينَ فِى جَنَّـٰتٍ وَعُيُونٍ ﴿١٥﴾ ءَاخِذِينَ مَآ ءَاتَىٰهُمْ رَبُّهُمْ ۚ إِنَّهُمْ كَانُوا۟ قَبْلَ ذَٰلِكَ مُحْسِنِينَ ﴿١٦﴾ كَانُوا۟ قَلِيلًا مِّنَ ٱلَّيْلِ مَا يَهْجَعُونَ ﴿١٧﴾ وَبِٱلْأَسْحَارِ هُمْ يَسْتَغْفِرُونَ ﴿١٨﴾ وَفِىٓ أَمْوَٰلِهِمْ حَقٌّ لِّلسَّآئِلِ وَٱلْمَحْرُومِ ﴿١٩﴾

Indeed, the righteous will be among gardens and springs, (15) Accepting what their Lord has given them. Indeed, they were before that doers of good. (16) They used to sleep but little of the night, (17) And in the hours before dawn they would ask forgiveness, (18) And from their properties was [given] the right of the [needy] petitioner and the deprived. (19) And on the earth are signs for the certain [in faith]

[Qur'an adh-dhariyat 51:15-19]

I once had to do a last minute filing of a court document to appeal a case to a higher court. It has to be filed that day or we would be barred from the appeal. The courthouse was about 70 miles away and there was just enough time to get to the courthouse in normal traffic. As I was going out the door, I realized that I had not prayed the dhuhr prayer (afternoon prayer) yet and since I was under a time crunch, I decided to pray dhuhr at the courthouse after I finished filing the document. Then a thought came to me that Allah might become angry with me and cause a traffic jam or accident along my way that would cause me to miss the deadline for filing the papers after all. So, without hesitation, I prayed dhuhr first and then drove to the courthouse. The rush hour already started several miles before the courthouse and I was swamped with all kinds of thoughts. It would be a miracle if I could get to file the papers. AlHamdulillah, I arrived at the door of the filing office just as the clerk was pulling the second door to close the office. It was about 15 minutes after closing time. Normally, they don't wait a minute past closing time to lock the door but for some reason that day they were delayed. SubhanAllah.

May Allah grant us steadfastness in prayers and righteous works. Ameen. Please don't forget us in your night prayers. Jazakallahu khairan.

And Allah knows best.
Wassalaam