I often intend to stand for night prayer and prepare for it, and I recite the prescribed supplications before I sleep, and I set an alarm so that I will wake up, but when the middle of the night comes and
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The questioner : The questioner, may Allah preserve you, says: I often intend to stand for night prayer and prepare for it, and I recite the prescribed supplications before I sleep, and I set an alarm so that I will wake up, but when the middle of the night comes and the alarm rings, I quickly turn it off with the intention of waking up, but despite that, I do not wake up. This happens to me often, and I always call upon Allah to make me one of those who strive in worship, but I have not reached that station. Is this because of my sins? I hope you will guide me to the straight path, may you be rewarded.
The Shaykh : There is no doubt that if a person is deprived of good, there are reasons for it, because it is established in the authentic hadith that Allah the Exalted said:Sahih Muslim 2687a The obstacles to performing obedience are many, and perhaps one of their causes is sins.
As for the specific issue you asked about, which is that you set the alarm for a specific time to wake up, then you wake up to it, turn it off, and remain in your sleep, the reason for that is that you do not have sincere determination to wake up when the clock rings. If you had sincere determination, you would get up. If a person has an appointment with someone at a specific time and sets the clock for that time, and it rings, he will get up quickly because he has determination. One of the reasons in this specific case is that you may be delaying going to sleep, and delaying sleep necessitates that the time for waking up comes while you are deeply asleep, so you do not get up. For this reason, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) disliked talking after the 'Isha' prayer, meaning conversations where people talk and become preoccupied with them, except for a legitimate religious reason, such as talking with family or with a guest. Most people today stay up late in the early part of the night, and you hardly find anyone who sleeps before the middle of the night except a few. This is the reason that makes them, or this is one of the reasons that prevents them, from standing in night prayer. If they had gone to sleep early, as the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) guided, their bodies would have been healthier and their waking up would have been easier. So I say to this questioner: let you have sincere determination to get up when the alarm rings. And I also say to her: sleep early, for sleeping early is one of the reasons for the ease of standing in prayer in the last part of the night. Yes.
The questioner : May Allah reward you, O Shaykh.
The Shaykh : There is no doubt that if a person is deprived of good, there are reasons for it, because it is established in the authentic hadith that Allah the Exalted said:
he who draws close to Me by the span of a palm I draw close to him by the cubit, and he who draws close to Me by the cubit I draw close to him by the space (covered) by two hands, and he who walks towards Me I rush towards him
من تقرّب إلى شبرا تقرّبت إليه ذراعا ومن تقرّب مني ذراعا تقرّبت منه باعا ومن أتاني يمشي أتيته هرولةAs for the specific issue you asked about, which is that you set the alarm for a specific time to wake up, then you wake up to it, turn it off, and remain in your sleep, the reason for that is that you do not have sincere determination to wake up when the clock rings. If you had sincere determination, you would get up. If a person has an appointment with someone at a specific time and sets the clock for that time, and it rings, he will get up quickly because he has determination. One of the reasons in this specific case is that you may be delaying going to sleep, and delaying sleep necessitates that the time for waking up comes while you are deeply asleep, so you do not get up. For this reason, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) disliked talking after the 'Isha' prayer, meaning conversations where people talk and become preoccupied with them, except for a legitimate religious reason, such as talking with family or with a guest. Most people today stay up late in the early part of the night, and you hardly find anyone who sleeps before the middle of the night except a few. This is the reason that makes them, or this is one of the reasons that prevents them, from standing in night prayer. If they had gone to sleep early, as the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) guided, their bodies would have been healthier and their waking up would have been easier. So I say to this questioner: let you have sincere determination to get up when the alarm rings. And I also say to her: sleep early, for sleeping early is one of the reasons for the ease of standing in prayer in the last part of the night. Yes.
The questioner : May Allah reward you, O Shaykh.