As Salaamu Alaikum and good morning. Today is schedule Sunday. I am coming to you today not to show you how to make schedules, or what schedules you should be making. Instead Insha Allah I am going to help you to move past procrastination insha Allah and into regular paced routine that you can follow. Procrastination you say? Yes, sisters we all know that we need schedules, we need them in order to organize our super busy days. We purchase charts, we surf the net, we seek advice, and we finally make a schedule. That's great! However the schedule is sad, it is lonely, he has sat on your desk, or hung on your fridge and collected dust. He really wants you to use him, and you really miss him too,but you just can't seem to give it its full rights. I propose the reason for this is procrastination, it hinders us, it makes us lazy, it tells us that we can get to it later, or tomorrow. It lies to us, telling us we don't really need it, we are fine and have been doing fine on our own for this long. It is our comfort, our cheerleader and dare I say our companion. However procrastination, has help entering our lives and help staying, he has a companion stronger than we think, but in reality his companion is weak if we know how to fight him. He is Shaitan!
"During your sleep, Satan ties three knots at the back of your necks. He breathes the following into them, 'The night is long so keep on sleeping.' If the person wakes and praises Allah, then one of the knots is unfastened. And if he performs ablution, the second knot is unfastened. When he prays, all of the knots are unfastened. After that he will be energetic and happy in the morning. Otherwise he would get up listless and grouchy."
It is also recorded in Sahih al-Bukhari and Sahih Muslim that he said,
"When one of you rises from your sleep he should make ablution. He should rinse his nose three times. For Satan stays in the upper part of one's nose during the night."
Al-Bukhari also records that the Prophet (Salla Allahu Alaihi wa Sallam) was asked about a man who sleeps until the morning comes, that is, after the time of the dawn prayer. He said,"That is a man whom Satan has urinated into his two ears."
What is mentioned is from among the ways that Satan hinders the human from doing some actions. He also whispers into the human a love for laziness, postponing or procrastinating actions and thinking about what a long period of time we have to complete actions or work.
Sisters, there is so much benefit in being organized and in rising early in the morning. So much more gets accomplished. I am not saying that i don't get stressed or tired, but what I am saying is that since I have been practicing this method of rising and staying awake after fajr and scheduling my day, it has been so much easier. Wallahi I have less confusion in my day, less headache, less chaos, less worry. I am able to do all the things I need to do. I am able to study Islam and Quran where as before I had to compete for time for it, because there was just so much else to do. I am able to take care of my home, my children, myself and my husband and still have free time at the end of the day. I swear by Allah this is my case now. I have practiced this for 10 years now and the benefits are amazing. Alhumdulilah. I am reaching my goals and that is what is important to us all. Set goals, prioritize, and shake off procrastination.
"Early to bed, early to rise makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise" - a famous maxim coined by the American scientist, writer and inventor, Benjamin Franklin. And he was not alone in these beliefs. The writer Samuel Johnson also warned that "nobody who does not rise early will ever do any good".
So how can we turn getting up for Fajr into a double advantage? Certainly not by slinking back into bed again and snuggling up for another few hours. As prophet Mohammed (salla allahu alaihi wa sallam) said:"The most excellent jihad is that for the conquest of self." (Bukhari)
In the context of fajr, what this means is, once up, stay up! Stay up and do something useful. Work on your goals. If you don't have any, set some. Decide what you want to achieve in life. Devise a plan to make those goals a reality then take action. You will be amazed at what you can get done in those few quiet hours when most of the rest of the world is still asleep. You can organise your day, learn a language,memorize Quran, review Quran, prepare your dinner early freeing up more time to rest later,or get fit by going jogging in the coolness of the morning. Whatever you want to do! Just do it!
According to a hadith recorded in Sahih Muslim, prophet Mohammed (salla allahu alaihi wa sallam) stated that the action which is dearest to Allah is salat at its proper times. On another occasion prophet Mohammed(salla allahu alaihi wa sallam) also said to his companions:
"The five set prayers may be compared to a stream of fresh water, flowing in front of your house, into which you plunge five times each day. Do you think that would leave any dirt on your body?' When they replied: 'None at all!' Mohammed (salla allahu alaihi wa sallam) said: 'Indeed the five prayers remove sins, just as water removes dirt." (Bukhari, Muslim)
Prophet Mohammed (salla allahu alaihi wa sallam) also tells us that fajr salat along with isha is particularly rich in blessings:
"If people only knew what blessings are in the fajr and isha prayers, they would come to them, even if they had to crawl." (Bukhari and Muslim)
So Alhumdulilah we understand the blessing and benefit of getting up for Fajr Salat.
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