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| How Tahajjud Removes Stress And Sins | Khutbah By Dr. Omar Suleiman |
How Tahajjud Removes Stress And Sins
Dear brothers
and sisters when the topicofthe night prayer comes upoutside of ramadanit can
feel a bit out of touch it canfeel a bit disconnected from peoplebecauselet's
bevery honest when we look at the state ofourselves collectivelyit's hard for
us to pray the fiveprayers we have a struggle withwith the mandatory prayersand
so some might say why talk abouttahajud why talk about the night prayerwhen
people are struggling with the fiveobligatory prayers and i ask myself thatquestion
as wellif someone's struggling with the farahhow can they even begin to
entertainto entertain the idea of praying atnight and ramadan is of course anexception
you find people that just likepeople fast ramadan that struggle withother
obligations in the deen and we askallah to make ramadan the fasting oframadan
means for them to fulfill theother obligationsbut just as people you know
confessramadan but they can't do a lot of thoseother things throughout the yearin
many ways people sort of relegatethis practice tothis special 10 nights and
that's it andwe don't really touch it and maybe oneday my faith will get to the
point thati feel connected enough to allahsubhanahu wa that i can start toentertain
that conversation and thenonce i start to dive into the books andi start to
read about the way that thesalaf the way that the piouspredecessors viewed the
amulet seeminglyas an obligation not an obligation inthe technical sense which
we'll get tobut as an obligation on themselves forspiritual health it can be
demoralizingand depressing because you read that andyou say where am i and
these people whowould blame themselves so much formissing one night of
priyamalid and idon't remember the last time that iprayed a meaningful night of
almost whenyou talk about coming close to allahsubhanahu ta'ala it is true that
notthatthan what i have already made obligatoryupon them you can't prioritize
thenawafin over theyou can't prioritize the voluntary deedsover the obligatory
deeds howeverif a person tastes the sweetnessof certain voluntary deeds not
only canit help them be more consistent with theobligatory deeds it can help
revive thespirit of those obligatory deeds in factwhich is whathas said about
suratul zemif you read surat inthe third revelation to the prophetsallallahu
alaihi wasallam it is a pageand a halfthe second halfis one ayahis one ayahand
aisays that allah withheld the second partof the muslim for an entire year from
usmeaning whatwhen allah first revealed to usrevealed to the prophetto saws up
and pray at nightto stand up and pray a significantportion of the night and to
recite asignificant portion of what was revealedfor a yearthe obligation uponmeaningthe
night prayer was an obligation onthe ummah for an entire year before theobligation
of the five prayers camelater on similar to how we have ayam andsome daysthat
were obligate that were obligatoryfor fasting but when ramadan camethey became
voluntary like the fastingof arafah and ashura and other days likethat okay so
with the prayer of qiyamaleshe says that for a whole year and thiswas the most
difficult timein the life of the prophet saws and bythe ummah who was facing
persecution andhad no community which is one of thewisdoms that the urimah
mentioned theydidn't have a community to gather theythey had no masjid they hadcome
to sneak into and to study and todo what they couldbut everyone really had to
pray bythemselves for a whole year she said weall prayed until our feet would
swelland then allah revealed the second partof it which rendered the night
prayervoluntarybut the prophet saw some still maintainthe habits meaning the prophet
saw somestill would pray until his feet wouldswell and of course many of thecompanions
would maintain that habit andthere was a wisdom to themthat when you are
strugglingthis practiceis not just a means of giving you greatperspectiveand
great connection to your lordbut it also provides a unique levelof reliefof hem
of stress and anxiety and that'ssomething that's very unique about thisparticular
habit this particular gooddeed when you read about it the way thatthe
companions and the salaf and thepious predecessors speak about this actin
particular as being one that removesstressyou stand up at nightyou have a
direct connection to yourlord it's quiet you don't have a meetingcoming upright
you you can you can create thescene set the scene the kids are mostlikely
sleeping they should be sleepingat that time it's just you and allahsubhanahu
wa tarana the the rules of kiamale are not as rigid and i don't saythat in a
negative way but with the themaktuba with the with the mandatoryprayers there
are certain things you canand can't do but with the qiyam you canspend the
whole night with one or twoayats you can allocate certain time toyour such that
certain time to yourstanding upit'sa moment of joyand when the scholars spoke
about itthat's what they sayit's very interesting because just likewith fasting
you know you always startreading about these studiesto try to make you feel
better aboutyour faith and you don't need to rightthe benefits of fastingit
just it it feels goodright when you hear about the physicalbenefits and things
of that sort as wellbasically these studies confirming whatyou already have
been acting uponbecause it was prescribed by your lordand so you read these studies
aboutmindfulness meditation20 minutes a day20 25 minutes a day but don't do it
allat one time because you need to break upyour mindfulness meditation
throughoutthe day because it will reset the cyclefor you and get you back to
where youneed to be and put put you know betweenthose breaks those meditation
breakseverything in perspective and it willimprove the quality of your sleepand
if you improve the quality of yoursleep then you're energized during theday i'm
like these people just needsalahthey just need prayer we already we havesomething
prescribed to us that is sobeautiful that doesn't mean thattimes of dura and
wikir andintrospection are not good as well butsalah really offers that vehicleand
improves the quality of a person'sday and a person's night and we when youthink
about the unique stress reliefyou know people spend the entire nightbinge
watching movies or uh you knowhanging outand they're halal ways to spend time
aswell right but you know there is acertain relaxation i need some relieftonight
so i'm going to spend some timeand i'm going to just you know kill sometime and
feel good and sometimes if it'shalal it's good for youbut what he was saying isthat
people who have established thisnight prayer even if it's a smallportionthat
they are in more joythan the people of lahu with their lahunow we're not even
talking about peopleof sinright that's a whole nother leveland he said you know
describing it hesayshe said it's as if i could see my heartlaughingwhen a
person enjoys that night ofprayer he said lolin living in this life right i
don'tthink about anything in life as givingme as much joy as i doi have not
found anything in my lifethat is just sweetergives more pleasure that's how
they'respeaking about itthenhe said that i love the night prayeror i love the
night because that's wheni get to meet my lord that's when i getto spend time
with allah and we weretalking about the last few weeks howpeople can be
exhausting he said in thedaytime i'm not so crazy about because ihave to meet
the creation of allahdealing with the lord at night dealingwith people during
the daythere is a peace and a tranquility thatcomes from thatthat makes what
comes throughout the daymore bearableand that joy is fresheningthat joy is
replenishingthat joy is meaningful it's you knowpeople are searching for it
here andthereand it's in those few moments at nightand i'm gonna get to this at
the end butthat doesn't mean praying all night thatmeans those few moments that
10 15minutes that 20 minutes of recalibratingevery single night at some point
in thenight between you and allah subhanahuta'alahe was askedhe said how come
the people that sleepthe least at nighthave the freshest faces during the dayit's
as if they're they're energizedhe said because they spent the night inseclusion
with the most merciful soallah dressed them with his lightsa person spends the
night praying toallah subhanahu ta'alain seclusion with their lord and soallah
subhanahu wa ta'ala gives them nurgives them light gives them somethingthat
would that that would connect themwith every single muslimto the point when you
talk aboutwhen we love each other for allahsubhanahu wa ta'ala you see a
brotheryou see someone in the masjidbrothers seeing brother sister seeingsister
and right away you love thatperson for allah subhanahu wa ta'ala sayyou know
there's a sukhena there is atranquility that is coming from thatpersona person
would see that person for thefirst timehe would say you know i really love thatman
for allah i don't know that personbut i love them for allahsomething is being
emitted from thatperson and that is that time thatthey're spending with their lord
atnightone of the things that the scholars alsomention particularly about thisis
thatduring the daythe challenge of salahis that you're thinking about what
comesnextthe greatest distractionand that's how you treat the nephs isthat you
learnwhat it is that ails it most people getdistracted in their prayersby the
appointments of what comes nextso you're in salah but you're you'replanning
your next step your next youknow i gotta go do this at four o'clockfive o'clock
you're going here you'regoing there your mind is racing ahead ofthe salahmost
people that's what catches them anddistracts themand you you indeed have
appointments youmight have to squeeze in your prayertime some of you right now
are still atwork thinking about your next thingit's it's natural right that's
yourstruggle but subhanallah what they sayaboutis that it's a gift from allah
becauseyou're not missing appointmentsyou're not distracted by this immediateneed
that you have nextit's at the quietest time of yourexistence and the only thing
that you'regiving up is sleepthere's a very beautifulexample that was given by
tabiri by thename ofbinhanihe likened it to physical exerciseyou know when you
physically exerciseinitially there is an exhaustion of thebody but then you
realize that you'reexhausting the body for the sake of whatthe bodyyou're
exhausting the body for the sakeof the body and so he said when you giveup
sleepyou realize at some pointthat your sleep is actuallyfilled with more
blessing has morebarakah in itthat 15 minutes or 20 minutes that youcompromise
is not gonna make you agroggy person throughout the dayit's not gonna mess
things up for youthe sleep has more blessing in it andwhat you gain from that
time in qiyamullel makes the sleep the easiest thingto give up in this dunyayou're
not giving up appointmentsyou're not thinking about i got this in10 minutes
hopefully you're not checkingwhat's up at 3 a.m or whatever it is or4 a.myou
have timeyou can pauseyou can focusit's quietand the day has not yet started
andthat's wisdom from allah subhanahu wata'ala so whether it's in the beginningof
the night when other people are goingto sleep or the end of the night whenmost
people are still asleep you candedicate and allocate that timeand this is where
we find this idea ofwhat it means to havecloseness to allahyour brothers and
sisters aim highif you seek to be an average muslimyou know and that's why i i
despise itwhen people self-label say i'm anon-practicing muslim you've
basicallysealed your salahi'm a non-practicing muslim i don't praythat's what
it means i don't pray fivetimes a dayaim high if you seek to be an averagemuslim
you're going to be a verydeficient muslimif you seek to be a person of taqwathen
maybe you'll fall short and you'llsin sometimes but if you seek to be aperson
ofseek to be a person of excellencethere's one way there and that's apersonal
connection with allahisaan does not come except throughpersonalizing that
connection with allahand that's where you find the salaf saythe pious
predecessors saynothingestablishes that connection likeit's too busy throughout
the day toomuch going on there is nothing thatconnects a person to allah like
thattime because allah subhanahu wa ta'alamentionsthat he descends at that time
in a waythat befits him subhanahu ta'ala he'scalling out to youand he's saying
who wants to come closeto mewho has an appointment allah has all thetime for
you allah does not take slotsit's not restricted for some religiouspeople
somewhere in the world no thebroken the sinner the the the righteousthe person
who's trying to be righteouseveryone calling upon allah that time ofthe night
that's your time to get closeto allah subhanahu wa ta'alahe said there is
nothingthere is nothing he said to a a personwho asked him what is it that
brings aperson closest to allah saysnothing brings you closer to allah thanhe
also one time he grabbed the shoulderof a man and he said to himcomes down
every single nightdunya to the lowest heavena person has not told the truth
theyhave lied when they claim to love mebut when the night comeshe sleeps on my
appointmentshe sleeps when i come down to meet himwhen i speak when i'm when
i'm ready tolisten to that person ready to listen tohim or her and you say you
love allahisn't it that every lover spends sometime with their loverand he sayshere
i am looking out to my servantswhen the night comes looking out to mylovers
those that love allah subhanahuwa ta'alaand he saysand tomorrow when they come
to methen i willsatisfy their eyes i will cool theireyes i will fill their
heartswith my jannah those same people that iloveyou want to be from those who
are muhibof allah those who really love allahsubhanahu wa ta'ala that's that
onlytime no distractions15 minutes 10 minutes something smalland the greatest
thing you can ask atthat timeis forgivenessthat's the greatest thing what am igoing
to ask allah forgivenessthe greatest cause of stress is yoursins because that's
what puts thebarrier between you and allahand that's why thatidea is always at
the forefront of anydiscussion on tahajud any discussion onthe night prayer
from the quran and fromthe sunnah as hari hum yesterday inthose last moments of
the night they'reseeking forgiveness from allah the last10 nights of ramadanyou're
asking allah for forgivenessis there anyone that's seekingforgiveness so that i
can forgive thatpersonas allah subhanahu ta'ala says to theangels as he sees
that slave of hisstanding up at nightgo see what he's asking go see whatshe's
asking me foroh my lordthey're asking for your pleasure and foryourforgiveness
allah says to the angelsbear witness o my angels annithat i have indeed been
become pleasedwith that person and forgiven thatpersonthat's your time to get
close to allahand ask allah for sins that sin that'swearing you down that sin
that's bearingon your conscienceit's sins that prevent qiyam and it'sqiyam that
prevents sinso you got to take that first step ofwalking away from that sin and
that stepforward is going to be at the nightprayerand that's where you say to
allahsubhana wa ya allah i'm sorrywhen everything's quiet when it's justme and
you i'm sorry allah and i'mseeking your forgiveness the last thingi will say to
your brothers and sistersin this regardis don't belittle the small amounts ofqiyambeginning
of the nightend of the night middle of the nightdon't be literallyit mattersand
that's why the prophet saws said inthe authentic hadithwhoever stands up and
just reads 10ayats 10 verseswill not be written as a person ofheedlessnessdo
not be from the refining those peoplewho are heedless heedlessness means youhave
a barrier you don't perceive godproperly you don't understand yourpurpose
properlyif you're standing up and praying justwith ten versesreading two two
short surahs you won'tbe written fromwomenand whoever stands up and recites ahundred
ayats then they are written fromthe exceedingly devout the piouswoman commaand
whoever stands up and recites athousand verses which by the way if youwant to
do it once in your lifetime thelast two jus of the quran is a thousandversesthen
they will be written amongst thosewho are piling up good deeds who havegone far
ahead of everybody else withtheir good deeds sometimes it takes thatexamplesometimes
it takes reminding yourselfthat the small thing counts while you'reaiming to
get better while you're aimingfor the bigger thing so that you don'tthink of
qiyamaal as some sort of habitthat's just reserved for this exclusivegroup of
people noit's not it's for the muslimsit's for those who want to stand up andpray
those who want to enjoy thatconnection with allah seeking first andforemost his
pleasure and hisforgiveness and that's why ibn omarallahu ta'alaumarin a
narration fromhe says that abdullah umar used to comeupon us in meccahe used to
pray at night long prayers inthe nightso one night he said to me right whenfajr
was about to come insaid once you stand up and pray even ifyou're going to read
just a third of thequrani mean a third of the quranyou know fajr is almost
around thecornerso i said to himis right around the corner what do youmean how
am i going to read a third ofthe quran that's maybe something thatyou know you
guys dowe don't do a third of the quranso he respondedwho would not want to
meet allahsubhanahu ta'ala saying every night iused to read a third of the
quranright before fajrso dear brothers and sisters i know itseems like a
distant habit one for theexceedingly piousbut it's a way to allah subhanahu wata'ala
that cannot be replaced by anyother way and insha'allah those who arestruggling
with their five prayers topray them on timethis will only help it bidit's not
in place of itit's a means of connecting yourself tothe lord that you call upon
day andnight we call upon him for forgivenessand for salvationforeign
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