How To Daily Get Up Early For Fajr Prayer (Salah)

Saying prayers five times a day are mandatory upon every Muslim. The offering of prayers is a sign that a Muslim remembers Allah Almighty and worships Him throughout the day in the daily life. The five prayers are to be offered at specific times distributed throughout the day starting from dawn till night. among these prayers, the Fajr prayer is the first one.

Fajr is the first prayer of the day, which is to be offered at dawn. The prayer of Fajr marks the beginning of the day for a good and practicing Muslim and ensures that the first thing that a Muslim does after waking up is worship and praise Allah Almighty. Besides the prayer being mandatory, Quran has also emphasized heavily on establishing Fajr prayer.

In Quran, Allah Almighty says:

“So establish the Prayer after the declining of the sun (from its zenith, for Duhr and then Asr) to the dusk of night (Maghrib and then Isha) and the (Quranic) recitation of Fajr (prayer). Indeed, the (Quranic) recitation of Fajr is witnessed.” (17:78)

From this ayah of Quran it is clear that Fajr is given prominence over the other mandatory prayers, moreover, the recitation of Quran is also accompanied with Fajr prayer. Therefore, offering Fajr prayer is more than imperative for a Muslim.

Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) said in His hadith:

“Whoever performs the Prayer before the rising of the sun (Fajr) and before its setting (Asr), will not enter the Hell.” (Muslim)

From this hadith also, the imperativeness of Fajr prayer becomes clear and every Muslim must say Fajr prayer on time regularly.

The Problem:

The greatest problem that Muslims face all across the world pertaining to offering Fajr prayer is the waking up in the morning. People have abrupt sleeping routines and a tiresome routine which makes it difficult for them to wake-up in the morning to offer the prayer on time. The lines below discuss the solutions to this problem of waking up for Fajr prayers on two levels, first is the spiritual preparations for waking up, while the other is the general or apparent preparations that one can make to ensure waking up at the time of Fajr and saying prayer on time.

Spiritual Preparation:

If a person does not will to offer Fajr prayer or is not spiritually motivated enough to offer the prayer, then no matter how much preparations a person makes, he or she would never be able to wakeup on time. Therefore, it is of grave importance that one prepares him or herself spiritually to be able to wakeup on time for Fajr prayer. In this regard, the following tools can help:

Remember It Is For Allah – The first spiritual thought that can help in waking up on time for Fajr is the thought that all you are doing is for Allah Almighty. The prayers are for Allah Almighty, therefore, when it comes to waking up one must realize that Allah is the Creator, Sustainer and Provider of this world, therefore, cant you sacrifice a little sleep for Him? He who provides you with everything and every blessing, cant you face a little disturbance for Him? These and all such other thoughts can help in preparing you mentally and spiritually for waking up in morning, thus, when the next time your eyes open during the sleep, the first thing that comes to your mind is how much time is left for Fajr.

Sincerity – The second spiritual tool that can be used to prepare yourself for waking up at the time of Fajr is sincerity. Although it seem trivial that a Muslim is sincere with Fajr prayer, however, it is the fluctuations in the level of sincerity that causes a Muslim to sometimes skip the prayer or wakeup late for it. Therefore, it is imperative that you are sincere from the core of your heart about saying the prayer, if there is even a single doubt where you think that you wouldn’t be able to wake up on time, then you won’t. Therefore, be sincere about your intention of waking up.

Pray To Allah – The third spiritual tool that a Muslim can use to wakeup for prayer on time is to pray to Allah for help and support before going to sleep. When the heart and mind rest with such a prayer, then their chances of waking up at the time of Fajr definitely increase.

General Preparations:

In addition to preparing the soul for waking up at the time of Fajr, it is imperative that one does the general apparent preparations as well to ensure that the time never skips from the hands. In this regard, one can use the following tips for preparation:

Set The Right Alarm – Pertaining to setting of Fajr alarm, the biggest mistake that people commit is that they set alarm for such a time where they hardly have enough time left to prepare for the Salah and offer it on time, thus, when they occasionally get up slow, the result is the time of Fajr past. Therefore, it is imperative that you set the alarm half an hour before the time of Fajr so that you have ample time available to perform Wudu and offer the prayer even if you are slow in waking up.

Sleep On Time – Some people find it hard to even wakeup on the noise of alarm. They just turn off the alarm and go back to sleep and when they wakeup, it is late for Fajr prayer. This usually happens because of poor sleeping habits, where there is no fixed time for sleeping. When there is no proper and regular time for sleeping, the ultimate result is the eye not opening despite the alarm. Therefore, in order to make sure that alarm works for you, you need to sleep on time, so that by the time of Fajr your sleep hours are complete.

Seek Assistance – If the alarm does not work for you and you cant have sufficient sleep because of your routine, then the best option left for you is to seek assistance from peer or parents. You can ask them to wake you up at the time of Fajr so that you are able to offer prayer on time. This method of waking up for Fajr is the most effective compared to all the methods, however, it requires depending on other people.

Conclusion:

In a nutshell, the Fajr prayer marks the start of the day with the name of Allah. Therefore, it is more than imperative that every Muslim must try adopting as much ways as possible to ensure that he or she wakes up on time to offer the Fajr prayer with humility and sincerity.