| The most beautiful face!! Who wouldn't want to be beautiful? Who wouldn't want to wake up and go to sleep with an enlightened face? Oh Muslim(ah)�think seriously about doing qiyam layl (pray at night)!! Important points that will help you do qiyam layl inshallah� Translation of Article written by Amr Khaled (11/25/2003): Hasan Al-Basri was asked: Why is it that the people who get up to pray at night have beautiful faces? He replied: Because they spent time with the Merciful and He gave them some of His nur. Yes, the people who get up to pray at night are known among the people for their nur and their beauty; they seem different than the rest. I ask Allah that we long for the night and long to stand in front of Allah. Let's get rid of laziness and sluggishness. If you're worried about what you should recite in qiyam, Imam Abu Hanifa used to recite only one ayah during his qiyam, the same ayah over and over again: �Nay, the Hour (of Judgment) is the time promised them (for their full recompense), And that Hour will be most grievous and most bitter.� And another night he would recite: �But Allah has been gracious to us and He has saved us from the punishment of the hot wind.� The important thing is to feel the beauty of qiyam; reciting small portions of the quran is ok. Imagine, Imam Abu Hanifa prayed the whole night reciting only one ayah, contemplating his whole life in one night!! The following words are bound to free you from being chained to this world. It is time - push yourself and call to Allah with your own language, your own understanding, your own personal way of expression. Don't spend too much time choosing what to say because it is not as important as the feeling that you get. The point is not what you say but what you get out of it. Anas ibn Malik says in the middle of the silent night: "Oh Allah, you are the only One who knows the dwellers of Paradise and the dwellers of Hellfire - where am I going to be, among the dwellers of Paradise or among the dwellers of Hellfire?" Sulayman Al-Dari used to call amidst the dark night�before you read this, please renew your intention and your faith and recharge the battery of your heart because you're going to read now a call that will shake you from the inside and may even make you cry (imagine yourself in that actual time and situation)... He says: "When you ask me, oh Lord, about my sins on the Day of Judgment, I will ask You about Your Mercy. When you ask me, oh Lord, about my negligence, I will ask You about Your Forgiveness. When You ask me, oh Lord, about my going astray, I will (again) ask You about Your Mercy and Forgiveness. When You throw me into Hellfire, I will tell the people of Hellfire that I love You." Our beloved Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) used to prepare himself for qiyam. He used to say this dua'a before qiyam: "Oh Allah, praise be to You, You are the Guardian (Qayyum) of the earth and the heavens and everything in them, and praise be to You, You are the Nur of the earth and the heavens and everything in them, and praise be to You, You are the Owner of the earth and the heavens and everything in them, and praise be to You, You are the Real One, and Your promise is real, and meeting You is real, and Your word is real, and Your Paradise is real, and Your Hellfire is real, and the Prophets are real, and Muhammad peace be upon him is real, and the Day of Judgment is real. Oh Allah, to You I have submitted myself and it is You Whom I believe in, and in You I have faith, and to You I look upon, and for Your sake I leave (what is against You) and by You I judge. Forgive the sins I have done, and will do in the future, and what I have kept secret, and what I have made obvious, and whatever you know of me that I don't. You are the Mukaddim and the Mu'akhir, there is no God but You." Consider this dua'a as the first step for doing qiyam. Helpful points for doing qiyam: 1) Avoid eating and drinking too much. A follower once said: "Oh people, do not eat a lot because if you do, you will drink a lot, and if you do that, you will sleep a lot, and if you do that, you will miss a lot and if you do that, you will lose a lot and if you do that, you will regret a lot when you die." This is very important advice: eating a lot may cause you to miss qiyam. Be responsible and follow this rule - it's not easy!! 2) Avoid excessive work during the day. One of the things that may help you get up for qiyam is not tiring yourself during the day. You might be saying: How can we not work too much when our jobs call for us to work hard anyway? Yes, but try to rest yourself by taking a nap during the day, for example. 3) Avoid sins. One of the followers once said: If you don't commit sins during the day, you will be able to get up for qiyam during the night. Sufyan Al-Thawri says: "I have missed qiyam for 5 months because of a sin I once committed - I saw a man crying and I said, What a hypocrite!!" Indeed, sins chain the human being and being regretful, asking for forgiveness and repenting are all necessary steps if one wishes to free oneself from these chains. 4) Be gradual. This is a very important point. You might be overly enthusiastic and say: I�m going to do qiyam the whole night starting from tonight!! Instead, be realistic. Start with 2 light rak'at before you go to sleep and do this for a mon, and don't ever miss it. Then, add to it a little more the next month, depending on your ability, but be consistent and know that this religion is firm and serious. Start with the 2 rak'at and remember that a strong man was once a small child who went through his life, his natural steps, gradually. 5) Set aside a certain portion to read at night. Just as you have set for yourself a certain portion to read from the quran every day - for example, one juz' a day - you should also set for yourself a certain portion of quran to read just at night, so that your goal would be to finish the khitmah, which you would only be reading in qiyam. If you don't have a lot from the quran memorized, you could get a large-print quran and put it on a stand in front of you when you pray so that you can read from it, or get a small quran that you can hold. Give yourself plenty of time to reach your goal so that it will be easy for you to fulfill it; for example, aim to finish the khitmah recited only in qiyam in one year. These are realistic steps that have been tried before and all you have to do is follow them, and don't forget to follow your achievements and to judge yourself carefully. Judge yourself before you are judged. 6) Don't forget your loved ones. The Prophet (peace be upon him) said: "Allah has mercy on a man who prays qiyam and wakes up his wife to pray. If she doesn't get up, he sprinkles water on her face so that she will get up. Allah has mercy on a woman who prays qiyam and wakes up her husband to pray. If he doesn't get up, she sprinkles water on his face so that he will get up." Notice how the Prophet taught us that our homes should be built out of love and devotion to one another. Our homes are lacking love and happiness. Getting up for qiyam at night will surely fill your home with happiness, pleasure, and love. The Prophet (peace be upon him) said: "Whoever wakes up his wife (or her husband) to pray 2 rak'at together, they will be among the "thakireen and thakirat" (people who remember Allah constantly). Suggestion: wake up your fianc� for qiyam by cell phone. Help your husband/wife get up for qiyam and fill your home with love and happiness. Make your home a place of worship to do qiyam. It is up to us to make our homes paradises on this earth by doing qiyam at night�the world will be happier and more joyful by doing qiyam�our hearts will finally feel qiyam's true value. |
| The Most Beautiful Face!! (an article about Qiyam ul-Layl) |